The Scandinavian style of landscape design originated in the Nordic countries, it is characterized by restraint and simplicity, freshness and closeness to nature. The design in the Scandinavian style is able to satisfy the taste of both lovers of modernity and those who appreciate tradition.

The bright and airy colors inherent in it perfectly solve the problem of the lack of daylight in northern homes. Houses decorated in this style are dominated by white colors, and the garden is a small area with a minimal amount of decoration. Scandinavian motifs in design simple shapes, light discreet tones and the obligatory lawn. Such a garden will be very cozy and easy to care for, and peace and harmony will always reign in it.

Scandinavian style and its attributes

The Scandinavian garden is characterized by "wild" stone, gravel, granite and all kinds of natural wood decorations. The latter are often painted, and if you see that restrained, neutral colors predominate in the garden, then individual elements can be painted in more lively, bright colors. It can be blue, red, orange. Benches in the garden can be made of stone, brick or wood.

Drawer benches are also popular in which you can store all sorts of garden tools. Benches can be made from different materials. The Scandinavian garden is often referred to as a "container garden" because of these benches. Garden furniture is usually wooden or wicker. Scandinavian style "loves" weaving. Interesting screens, wicker baskets, or stylized garden figures will take pride of place in such a garden.

Design in the Scandinavian style also implies the use of household items of the past - cart wheels, old inventory, large half-broken earthenware jugs, watering cans.

The most suitable plot size for a garden in this style is from 5 to 7 acres. The sites must be rectangular, preferably made of natural stone. In such a garden, regular shapes, square, predominate.

Be sure to have a small plot for a vegetable garden and a small lawn with lilies. An artificial reservoir can be replaced by a very large, roughly crafted tub of water. Large blocks of raw wild stone, scattered in a creative mess without any special system, will beautifully fit into the design of a Scandinavian garden - everyone who is familiar with northern culture will probably understand why such Scandinavian motifs are very significant.

A rather unusual solution would be to fence the garden with huge wild stones.

Plants for a Scandinavian garden

The simplicity of this style also influenced the choice of plants. You can focus on the flowers and trees associated with any of the Scandinavian countries, find a match with their symbols, official emblems, etc. The best choice is evergreen trees.

The garden is planted with both fruit and ornamental trees. Conifers are also very common.

Of the shrubs, elder, lilac, rhododendrons, spirea, cinquefoil shrub and snowberry are common. Poppies, daisies, geraniums, bluebells, swimsuits, cornflowers, carnations, lupins, rudbeckia, phloxes, asters, peony bushes, delphiniums and islands of perennial flax should enliven the garden and give it variety. Peonies are very popular.

Also in the set used linen of different colors. Flowers similar to the field will look harmonious.

The Scandinavian landscape of the garden can be decorated with cereals. The most valuable ornamental plants are grown in a small greenhouse located right in the garden.

Remember that in all the variety of plants, it is necessary to highlight some of them from the general background. "Leading" trees may differ in leaf color or crown shape. So it will be possible to focus on a particular plant. You can use any kind of coniferous trees.

The owner of this garden is an adherent of the northern Scandinavian style, where everything is extremely simple and functional. Therefore, the designer was immediately tasked with creating an easy-care garden with a minimum of pretentious details, in harmony with the restrained architecture of the house and evoking thoughts of the immeasurable value of ancient times.

After discussing the draft options and carefully working out the estimate (in the direction of decreasing, of course), we settled on the planning option with the Heather Garden, which formed the basis of the entire landscape project.

It should be noted that a rare Yaroslavl customer knows exactly what he wants to see in his garden. The owners of country houses are not spoiled by the design delights of our landscapers, and you can peep some ideas only in magazines or on Moscow sites. After viewing a lot of high-quality photographs, a mushy mass and many questions remain in my head from the future garden. That is why it is very important for the designer to understand the mood of the future garden from the first meetings with the owner of the site, to tune in “on the same wavelength” with the customer, to understand his ideas about the ideal landscape.

In the case of Heather Garden, the customer knew exactly what he liked and what he did not categorically accept, so it was quite easy to work on the project - clearly follow the chosen concept and be true to style when choosing materials and colors. And already after two and a half months of construction, land and planting work, it was possible to invite the first guests to the site. But everything is in order ...

The general architectural and planning solution was prompted by the uneven relief of the site - the slope went from the entrance area past the house to a steep cliff, from which a panoramic view of a small overgrown river and a picturesque birch grove opened. It was decided to build two retaining walls of old brick, which will territorially divide the site into three zones - the entrance, the reception area and the recreation and contemplation area. Chopped granite paving stones "gabbro" were chosen as the material for paving the entrance area.

Laid in a classic fan pattern, it immediately emphasized the good taste and solidity of the owner of the garden. Here, on the lawn at the entrance, a maple grove was laid out (one of the customer's wishes was maples and red foliage). In addition to the holly maple Acer platanoides "Crimson King" with a "support group" of Japanese spirea Spiraea japonica "Shirobana", the composition includes ash-leaved maple Acer negundo "Flamingo", silver maple Acer saccharinum and gannala maple Acer ginnala.

Going down the stairs to the middle terrace, you get to the actual entrance to the house. In the best traditions of the Scandinavian garden, it is guarded by two giant stones. According to the designer’s idea, a picturesque common juniper Juniperus communis "Horstmann" was planted next to the boulder, shaped like a silhouette of a kind soul of a person (do you agree, it looks like it?). The ancient inscription on the stone (at the request of the customer) reads: "Welcome!" “Welcome!” Horstman echoes him, holding out weeping branches.

The architectural dominant of this zone was the guest house, small but quite functional, with warm floors and a soft sofa. Initially, this element was conceived as a log with a small canopy for a clearer separation of the boundaries and view space of the garden. Unfortunately, we had to abandon the tiled roof, but the version of the slatted facade proposed by the customer exactly corresponds to the idea of ​​​​classical Scandinavian style functionalism.

• • The style of classical functionalism originated in Scandinavia at the end of the 19th century. Today it is a whole design philosophy based on the unity and harmonious combination of the aesthetic and consumer properties of the surrounding objects.
  • The current Scandinavian style is distinguished by naturalness, simplicity and naturalness. It's a no-frills style: light-wood plank floors, light-colored walls, simple wood furniture. Walls or their individual fragments made of brick or natural stone are in harmony with wooden surfaces. On the open surface of plain walls - paintings or photographs in thin frames.

In the reception area, large wooden decks were laid, uniting the entrance to the house, the guest house and the exit to the garden. There is also a small gravel garden. Two young pines already existing on the site became its dominants. It was decided to leave them, but tie them into one composition with other coniferous juniper plants, pines and larch on a trunk (Juniperus sabina "Blue Danube", Juniperus horizontalis "Wiltonii", Juniperus squamata "Blue Carpet" Pinus mugo "var. pumilio", Larix decidua "Repens"). So that the Scotch pine does not grow into a huge tree, its spring annual shoots will have to be shortened by a third annually.

From the windows of the kitchen overlooking the green lawn, designed for children's games. A geogrid was used in the construction of the lawn in this area, which increases the resistance of the lawn to trampling, especially on playgrounds. Here, according to the designer's idea, the "Viking camp" should be located - an impromptu children's town with wooden figures of ancient warriors.

Under the windows of the house overlooking the garden, the only perennial mixborder "Silver placer" was laid out on the site. White-silvery shades of woolly stakhis and felt stachis look great against the background of red foliage of geyhera.

The path to the next area of ​​the garden, a zone of relaxation and contemplation, lies along the steps through a wooden one-way pergola. One side of it is entwined with creepers, and honeysuckle honeysuckle is already beginning to boldly creep up. And on the other hand, a fabulous view of the heather garden opens. The time of flowering of heathers begins in the second half of summer and continues until the onset of snow cover. Even after the first frost, the heathers will be in bloom. The perianths of heathers do not fall off, but dry up to the fruits, so the bushes remain bright and elegant for a long time.

Heather (Calluna vulgaris) belongs to the heather family (Erikaceae). Its closest relatives are rhododendrons, erica, gaulteria, rosemary. It is they, and even coniferous shrubs and trees, that are the best companions of heather in garden compositions.

In nature, heather lives in sparse pine forests, on dry barren sands, on sphagnum swamps, in the tundra. It grows very slowly, adding only 1.5-2 cm per year, lives for more than 30 years. To this day, its thickets cover vast areas in Scotland, Germany, the Baltic states, Poland, Belarus and Russia. Heather culture has been known since the middle of the 18th century and originates in England. Later, varietal plants appeared in Holland, Belgium and Germany. Fashion for heather gardens came to Europe several decades ago. In total, over 500 varieties of this shrub are known in the world. The largest collection (about 300 varieties) is collected in Germany. From there, the heathers came to Moscow - in 1994, 18 plant varieties were donated to the Main Botanical Garden, where the first heather garden in Russia appeared.

To emphasize the beauty of heather until it blooms, we placed large groups of heather against the background of dwarf varieties of conifers (horizontal juniper Juniperus horizontalis "Wiltonii", mountain pine Pinus mugo "var. pumilio" and ordinary Pinus silvestris Watereri). Two slow-growing rock junipers Juniperus scopilorum "Blue Arrow" set vertical accents in the composition.
For color spots in the spring and early summer, spring bulbous plants, ornamental sedge and carnation, and, of course, rhododendrons were planted with heather. And bizarrely shaped stones covered with moss create a complete feeling of an ancient wasteland.

To prepare the soil mixture for the heather garden, in addition to a mixture of soddy soil and acidic peat, coniferous soil was brought from a neighboring pine forest - this is a semi-decomposed litter, which is taken from a depth of 5-7 cm. Pine needles, large pine bark and wood chips were used as mulch . In general, heathers are very fond of mulching and in nature "mulch" themselves with their own litter and are often almost completely immersed in the litter, only increments recent years rise above its surface.

In the first year, heather will overwinter under a "fur coat" made of spruce branches. But carefully selected varieties (by the way, there are only three of them: Alba Plena, Randor and Boskoop) tolerate frost well and will not require shelter in subsequent winters.

And, of course, what a heather garden without a fairy tale! "From heather, a drink forgotten a long time ago ...". A long time ago, the kindest little people lived on this site, maybe they were the Picts. Here, in the heather, they enjoyed life and brewed the famous heather honey, Today from ancient civilization only the brick foundation of the old building and the stone grotto - the dwelling of small honey cooks - remained. Sometimes the old gates of the grotto open with a creak, and mysterious good wizards come out into the heather garden, and meeting with them, according to ancient legends, can change the fate of a person!

And that's not all the legends of this amazing garden! Further along the path stretched the Glacier Garden. …Long ago, a mighty glacier covered this land and left many boulders and glacial drifts. After thousands of years, thick grasses and coniferous bushes settled in the abandoned region. Coniferous junipers and dwarf pines Juniperus horizontalis "Wiltonii", Pinus mugo "var. pumilio", Juniperus squamata "Holger", Juniperus communis "Loderi", Juniperus communis "Suecica" are comfortably located among the gray boulders.
The silvery bushes of Schmidt's wormwood sparkle so much in the sun that they give the impression of melted ice blocks, the remnants of powerful glaciers. Curtains of low ground cover plants (sedums, alpine carnation) will cover the ground with a dense blanket next year, and a small-flowered carpet of soft pink and white creeping gypsophila (Gypsophila repens) will surprise with continuous flowering from spring to late autumn. At the edge of the path, sedge is planted in small groups. Designers very skillfully use the bushes of this "weedy" cereal. With their help, it is possible to create a complete illusion of naturalness, originality of a "fragment of wild nature."

On the other side of the path, a little further, a hedge of Japanese spiraea Spiraea japonica "Albiflora" leads us to a cozy summer kitchen with a large terrace covered with girlish grapes. Made "antique", the kitchen occupies the far corner of the site, closing the view axis. A prickly Christmas tree, Picea pungens glauca, has been planted nearby, which will decorate the garden all year round.

It should be noted that all paving on the lower terrace is made of natural sandstone on a concrete base, and the seams are decorated with fine gravel. This approach makes it possible to approximate appearance paths to the natural landscape.

Before entering the wood flooring the terrace is set with a composition with a sundial and a frame of large sandstone slabs. They also made a walking path, inviting to the orchard. It was decided not to sow the seams between the stone tiles with traditional lawn grass, but to plant low flowering plants here - Carpathian bluebell, yarrow, creeping thyme, speedwell.

It turned out a flower path, walking along which you can not only admire the flower carpet under your feet, but also inhale the delicate aroma of herbs. This type of garden path emphasizes the natural concept of the entire site.

This fragrant path leads us to a barbecue area, where a real universal hearth was built according to the sketches of the customer. Creepers of girlish grapes will cover the wooden walls, wooden benches will be installed around the hearth, and this area will turn into a cozy rest area for guests and hosts.

Here we are back from our short journey through the garden. Standing on the steps at the guest house, we take a last look at the multi-colored heather waves. And it seems as if the little elves are sending us farewell greetings from their mysterious world.

Summer time is in full swing, and, regardless of whether sacks of potatoes are planted, I want to create a piece of the Garden of Eden on my 6 or 40 acres. It is not too late to decide on the future landscape design and make it from scratch, or transform an existing one. Let's create a garden in the Scandinavian style with our own hands.

There are many opportunities today: you can invite a landscape designer to the site for a consultation - it will cost about 750-1000 UAH, and the development of a project, indicating the work, site layout, plants and a sketch - 1200-1900 UAH / weave. You can also ennoble the territory yourself: in garden centers there is almost any plant, and consultants, having learned which direction you want, will offer options.

As told landscape designers Elena Terentyeva and Viktor Vasiltsev, the Scandinavian garden is now in demand. "Popular in the interior in the last few years, it has confidently moved to the sites," Elena says. The experts explained basic principles creating a northern garden. So, how to create a garden in the country in the Scandinavian style.

Scandinavian style garden - decor and wooden furniture

Simple benches for a Scandinavian garden are ideal

There is no place for luxury in a harsh forest. Find a corner for one or two log cabin benches, a few wide stumps to serve as a bench, and a picnic area with a small table. In the Scandinavian landscape, only furniture made from natural materials, bestowed by cold nature, is applicable. One plastic chair can spoil the charm of the site, but forget about rattan furniture: tropical liana does not grow in Norway.

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Rough furniture from Western Ukraine is the perfect solution. If there is no opportunity or desire to purchase a set of furniture for 4-7 thousand UAH, make benches, a table and even deck chairs from pallets. Bright pillows will be an addition-decoration.

Pallet furniture. Fashionable, practical and inexpensive

Interesting and varied mythology of the Scandinavian countries: trolls, elves, gnomes and other forest brethren will fill the landscape with fabulousness. The northern garden will not do without a goblin sculpture carved from wood that has settled in a juniper thicket. But antique statues, naked bathers or broken amphoras do not belong here.

Goblin - on guard of the garden

Scandinavian-style garden - pond and boulders "under nature"

In Scandinavia, cottage construction is common, when everyone has a small plot - the northern garden can be laid out on 4-10 acres. These countries are almost devoid of summer, and the harsh landscapes impress with pristine beauty. So main principle- maximum naturalness: stones-boulders, bulk paths-streams, asymmetric layout and islands of evergreen conifers.

The ideal Scandinavian garden will be with a decorative reservoir - a stream or a pond. And no artificiality or symmetry - this is a fragment of a cold forest. If the beds, then a little and high, which will not become part of the garden, but its additional element.

Dry stream as a highlight

Scandinavian style garden humble flowers and plant hardiness

The climate in Sweden, Norway or Denmark is cold, the soil is stingy, so choose plants that are hardy and frost-resistant. Bright spots of conifers brighten up the cold landscapes, they are obligatory inhabitants of the Scandinavian garden: junipers, arborvitae, pines and spruces, boxwoods.

Place several ground covers on boulders: sedum, cotoneaster, creeping gypsophila, and small areas-clearings will decorate islands of flowers: alpine carnation, Carpathian bellflower, chamomile and calendula. Mandatory occupant - heather. Experiment with its varieties. Southern beauties of roses, lilies, hydrangeas do not belong here - they will violate the strict northern asceticism.

Scandinavian style gardennorthern tricks with stones and roots

To make the garden "real", add author's highlights. Slightly exposed juniper roots are shaped like frozen snakes. Bring snags or moss-covered trunks from the nearest forest, chaga mushroom, which you will place in different parts of the garden. Use flat stones as a table or chair, and place an unusually shaped stone so that it casts a mysterious shadow.

Create an artificial pond using an old basin dug into the ground. Lined with sharp stones and tree bark, the “shores” will hide its essence. You can not change the water in it, but add it - let it bloom a little, like in a real forest.

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The well-groomed Scandinavian-style garden is reminiscent of the scenery from the films about fairy-tale gnomes who have just gone somewhere. Or it looks like some unrealistically cozy place where everything is so natural and natural, with the exception of a few landscape decorations with signs of pruning shrubs. On a site with a fresh lawn, small objects made of natural materials are held in high esteem. This style looks casual and at the same time so well-groomed, where everything is done with love for nature. And this is fully justified, because the summer season in the Scandinavian countries is so short, and it is important to have time to enjoy this beauty. Therefore this style suburban area is gaining popularity - we have a lot to learn from the European peoples.

Features of the Scandinavian style

The Scandinavian style is characterized by:

• simplicity;
• restraint;
• orderliness;
• functionality;
• naturalness.

This applies not only to landscape design, but also to architecture, arts and crafts, and interior furnishings. However, to understand the basis of this style, it is important to take into account the mental characteristics of the inhabitants of the northern part of Europe. They live in such a climatic zone where there is little sun, summer is short, and winter is 2/3 of the year, the rest of the time there is a continuous snow cover or a gray foggy reality outside the window. Scandinavia has a harsh climate, a lot of stone and snow, poor soil, and warmth and lush vegetation appear only on a short time. It is this time that Norwegians, Finns, Danes and Swedes value very much, trying to improve every part of the local area.

During the long winter, the inhabitants northern territories they do not see bright colors and lush greenery, they really need it, in contemplation of the long-awaited primroses. Often, the absence of garden plants and fruit trees is replaced by bright decorations in landscape design. This style readily accepts:

• wood sculptures;
• stone compositions;
• garden benches, arches and arbors made of natural wood;
• an abundance of evergreens, most often conifers.

This makes it possible to decorate your backyard and somehow compensate for the lack of lush plants and flowers, in which the southern regions are usually buried. Scandinavians are very frugal people who value good quality and comfort in the simplest manifestations. But they are also not alien to a special understanding of aesthetics, for example, in the form of intricate forms. Therefore, along with the natural decorations of their garden, they willingly use whimsical sculptures and trimmed shrubs in the form of figured hedges, square and round objects. A striking example is Scandinavian-style design, photo:

In art history reference books, Scandinavian style is characterized as one of the varieties of classical functionalism. This style is lively and plastic, it is still being formed today, but it acquired recognizable features in Sweden and Norway, more than a century ago.

As a kind of landscape design, this style is very much in demand in Europe, but it is only taking root in our country. However, a Scandinavian-style cottage will always compare favorably with neighboring plots. The advantages of this style were also appreciated by the Russian northerners, who have the same climatic problems and restrictions on planting heat-loving perennials.

One more salient feature garden in the Scandinavian style - compact size. A typically "Scandinavian" courtyard with an adjoining garden is usually small in area, but very well maintained and aesthetically pleasing. On 5-10 acres you can see:

• stone paved paths;
• wooden fences;
• green lawns;
• resembling a "wild" forest site;
• group plantings of coniferous dwarfs;

• neatly trimmed small hedges;
• original benches;
• fenced flower beds and flower beds;
• garden decor and small makeshift ponds.

In such landscape design, the main preference is given to living greenery and decorative ornaments made from natural materials. In the modern version, the owners of the "Scandinavian" site sometimes arrange a summer kitchen, a bathhouse or a gazebo with a barbecue as a funny "dwarf's house", which looks very organic. See an example - Scandinavian style, photo:

What is important to know for decorating a Scandinavian-style garden?

It is important to be creative in the design of the Scandinavian site, taking into account the northern climatic features. A lot of stone is a great design find where plants do not take root well. However, do not fill up the territory with boulders or specially processed stones. This is true for other styles as well, such as the "glacier garden", alpine slides in traditional landscaping, or the Japanese rock garden Ishigumi. This natural material always looks great on the site, with proper design and planting of living plants, but an excess of stone destroys the very concept of the garden.

Stones of different sizes are used in groups or singly. And if this material is in abundance, then single boulders or flat stone steps will be very organic in a Scandinavian-style dacha.

Tip: To make stone decoration not look unfriendly and monotonous, use a different type of material:

• natural boulders and cobblestone;
• crushed granite and marble;
• small stones of different colors;
• naturally polished sea pebbles (for laying paths and facing small buildings).

Since the stone garden always looks somehow mystical, there is an opportunity to give your “Scandinavian” some kind of mystery. For example, a neat stone path in the middle of a green lawn in the center may rest against some large boulder with the name, meteorite, "stone of wisdom" or "center of happiness." Your guests will appreciate such a designer find, especially if this corner is decorated properly. It would be nice to put nearby benches of the original form, decorated with a saw cut of a large tree. There should be shade in such a place to spend time in friendly conversations after dinner.

Stone is a fertile material for original landscape design, including a Scandinavian-style garden. They just don’t make anything out of it, and even some kind of chaos or creative mess can look like an art object. Stone paved paths different shapes or steps of a small descent to an artificial pond - an excellent decoration for your site in this style.

More interesting additions are stone arches and artificial grottoes as part of the garden fence. From this material they also lay out a “hearth”, areas for barbecue or barbecue. The best addition is the original wooden table and benches where freshly cooked kebabs or smoky sausages are laid out. The shape of such a platform for a hearth with a stone fence can be different:

• round;
• square;
• rectangular;
• arbitrary;
• fantasy.

The best design option for a Scandinavian-style site is when you save as much as possible natural features your site. This is not the case when they took a drawing of their 5 acres, uprooted all the old trees and leveled the site with a bulldozer for a new landscape design project. On the contrary, here even for a dry trunk with a hollow there is a proper application.

Carefully sawn branches and knots of dead wood can be used for crafts, and the trunk can be used as a place for hanging flower pots. A hollow, real or imitation, would be nice to arrange as an owl or woodpecker house. Of course, figurines of these or other characters that are as similar as possible to real birds will have to be found and purchased separately. But this "creation" can be the most original decoration of your Scandinavian garden.

Also, not only forest animals, but also other sculptures, figurines or decorations will be appropriate. A characteristic feature of this style is the presence in the garden of all kinds of mystical characters:

• trolls
• gnomes;
• goblins.

A garden scarecrow is easy to arrange in the form of a Viking or a flying Valkyrie, and this will also look very original on a Scandinavian-style plot.

If we talk about garden furniture, then there is no place for white plastic sets. Everything is made from natural materials. And if there is a desire to add luxury, then a wicker set of rattan chairs or its artificial imitation will do. Landscaping in the Scandinavian style accepts wicker products, various wickerwork and baskets, which can be very functional or just an addition to some composition or original idea. For instance, houseplants it is not necessary to plant directly in the soil for the summer.

Tip: Transplant fast growing plants into larger pots with new enriched soil. Simply place white plastic pots in wicker baskets, baskets or birch bark boxes in the garden. Then, after the summer season, they will not need to be replanted, and the flowers will again look harmoniously on the white plastic window sills of your house or apartment.

Quite a few interesting ideas and additions to traditional landscape design came precisely from the Scandinavian garden style. An excellent addition to the Scandinavian style of a summer cottage will be old or rare gizmos. They can be used as decorations, coasters, planters or flower pots in the garden:

• spindle;
• more cart wheel;
• a rusty plow, as if stuck at the end of the bed;
• shards of ceramics and large ancient dishes;
• grandfather's old chrome boots;
• barrels, tubs and other unnecessary containers;
• wooden carts and stretchers.

Large low-growing trees and shrubs in the garden are another characteristic feature of the Scandinavian style. A single planting of tall trees is also welcome, and in Northern Europe they are planted very close to the wall of a house or fence. A single tree with a flat crown can grow right in the middle of a well-groomed lawn or lawn. Swings for children and bird feeders are hung on one of the lower strong branches.

Whether to make a garden on the site in this style is the owner’s personal business, but our summer residents see the meaning of country life in this. A small plantation or well-groomed beds do not contradict Scandinavian design. But if you want them not to fall out of their general concept, the beds should be more like flower beds with neat stone borders. They should be strictly defined in form and complemented by sanded paths.

It is important that the beds are neat, even decorative. And if there is a desire to have a greenhouse and a traditional garden, then it is better to take them out behind a wicker fence or low masonry. A popular idea for a living fence to delimit a garden plot is climbing (climbing) plants. They can also twist a wooden gazebo.

What plants to choose for a Scandinavian garden?

When choosing planting material for decorating a Scandinavian-style site, any plants that are acclimatized for your region or northern latitudes will do. Dwarf and weeping forms of traditional trees will also be an excellent decoration. Many people know how beautiful mountain ash and birch look, the branches of which hang down. For the northern garden, small ones are also suitable. coniferous plants, for example, juniper or blue spruce, familiar to the north-west of Russia. The catalogs also offer acclimatized forms of other conifers, which can be bought from catalogs or in specialized landscape design stores.

Attention: When choosing plants of Dutch selection for your garden from mailing lists, be sure to check if they are adapted for your region! There are many original forms that grow well in the northern mountainous regions of Europe and Asia.

Many are interested in the question of how acceptable the neighborhood of traditional fruit trees and shrubs and decorative forms for landscape design is. And here it is important to look at the plant itself - if it fits organically into the overall design concept, they are planted in the foreground. The rest of the fruit trees and shrubs are removed to the background and to the remote corners of the garden. But among the Scandinavians, the general appearance of garden vegetation looks discreet, but spectacular accents are used.

For example, if gooseberries grow in your area, use densely planted bushes, but cut them in the form of a hedge. Then there will be a harvest, and early green leaves, and an excellent fence. The same applies to flowering shrubs, but lilacs, for example, are best picked in the white variety rather than the bright purple.

For landscaping, various perennials are also very popular, which do not require special care. This is due to the fact that the summer in the Scandinavian countries is short, and they do not have time to “reach their hands” to everything. So it makes no sense for the northern garden to select plants that require painstaking care and daily planting.

The exception is undersized annual flowers, which can be sown in spring or autumn along neatly paved paths. Don't forget also about the snowdrops that grow in your area. Crocuses and other primroses traditionally delight gardeners among the first. Just plant them not in a decorative flower bed, but as if they suddenly grew up here.

Our illustrations are great examples of how our plants can fill a Scandinavian style garden.

The northern landscape stretches across the volcanic highlands of Iceland, the forests of Finland, the mountains and fjords of Norway, the grasslands of Sweden and the sandy plains of Denmark.It's phenomenally beautiful, and if it's the view from your window, why change it?And if you are environmentally literate with a huge love for northern flora and fauna, this style will be a godsend for your site. Scandinavian style in landscape design is an opportunity to create a cozy place in a suburban or summer cottage.

Features of the Scandinavian style

The main style characteristics are green lawns with miniature natural materials. Distinctive features Scandinavian landscape design consider:

• simplicity, restraint;
• functionality;
• naturalness;
• orderliness.

To create such a creative composition, wood sculptures, stone compositions, arches, gazebos, and comfortable benches are placed in the summer cottage. A prerequisite is a large number of evergreens (preferably conifers).

The original solution is to combine interesting sculptures with cut shrubs of round and square shapes on one square. To create a landscape in the desired direction, you will need a plot of 6 - 8 acres.

Landscape design secrets

The design of the site in the Scandinavian style is fresh, with a minimum amount of unnatural decorations. When planning must be present:

• , shape - square or rectangular;
• natural oases(reservoirs with field crops, perennials, shrubs);
• medium sized garden;
• wooden products painted in different shades;
• flower beds in the form of containers.

The style of the Nordic countries is characterized by small greenhouses where ornamental crops are grown. Representatives of the flora are planted in a chaotic manner.

Commonly used plants for the Scandinavian style:

Wildflowers are also planted on plantations. Cereal crops look good,.

Among the trees they prefer,. For the decoration of flower beds, marble products, multi-colored stones of small sizes, sea pebbles, polished in a natural way, are used.

Decorations for the garden from natural raw materials

Of great importance in the design of the Scandinavian style are decorative elements. Usually they are made of wooden material, after which they are covered with paints of light shades. But a few exposures should stand out with bright accents to attract attention. Benches are built of wood; special containers are often mounted next to them, where garden tools are stored.

When decorating the space, preference is given to tables, chairs, deck chairs, woven from natural vines. Also, the arrangement is complemented by:

• old broken earthenware jugs;
• wooden carts without wheels;
• watering cans.

The fence is not specially made, the space is fenced with trees or shrubs.

Arbor for the garden: characteristic features

If you want to complement the garden with the special features of the states of Northern Europe, they equip gazebos. The building is made of medium parameters, with windows (usually unglazed). A table and benches are installed inside the structure. They can be either wooden, wicker, or soft, picked up in garden furniture stores.

The main rule is that the building should not be bulky; wood or wood is used for decoration. a natural stone. The shade of the gazebo is light blue or white. A fashionable accent in decorating the gazebo is large asymmetric boulders. Near the building there should be many flower beds planted with bright representatives of the flora. If desired, a brazier is mounted near the building.

Clay pots and wood structures are placed in an open gazebo. An open gazebo is often complemented by weaving - vine figurines that are placed on tables, next to the flower beds.

Choice of decorative ornaments

A backyard plot in the Scandinavian style suggests the presence of not only a Scandinavian house with a terrace, but also various decorating elements.

Most often equipped:

• miniature houses of gnomes, elves;

The layout of the square involves the installation of various figures, buildings, grottoes, figurines, images of fairy-tale characters. Plants often serve as the basis for the creative creation of sculptures of various forms. When choosing decorative components, you need to observe the measure, combine fantasy with an original approach, designers' advice.