The Typical English Garden Layout.

This is what I think a typical English garden layout would look like. In fact many gardens that I have visited iver the years have exactly this kind of layout.

Lawn:

You will find a lawn in 80 per cent of Britain’s gardens. It is a prominent feature - grass covers an average of 1,000 sq. ft, which is about half of the total area in a lot of gardens. Once upon a time a power mower was a luxury, but these days over 50 per cent of gardeners have one. Each year roughly 1 in 10 lawn owners buy a new model and very few buy the old style push one, 80 per cent choose to buy an electric powered one.

Outdoor living area:

The concept of using the garden as an outdoor living area has at last become a reality. A patio is now present in 1 in every 4 gardens. In 1973 for example the figure was 1 in every 10 gardens. Twenty years ago only a minority of gardens had some form of outdoor furniture, now 75 per cent have a table, chairs and an umbrella Fifteen years ago fewer than 40,000 barbecues were sold - nowadays they sell over 500,000 per year.

Roses:

Roses are present in 85 per cent of British gardens. The average number of plants is 15. Of these 15, 90 per cent are Hybrid Teas or Floribundas - Shrub Roses, Ramblers, Climbers and Miniatures remain much less popular. Three new Roses are planted each year in the average garden.

Fruit:

One in 3 gardens has fruit trees or bushes. Raspberry, Strawberry, Apple and Pear dominate the picture, with about 40 per cent of our total consumption of soft fruit being home-grown.

Greenhouse:

There are well over 3 million greenhouses in Britain. The most popular type and size used to be a wooden 10 ft. x 8 ft. structure, now it is an aluminium 8 ft x 6 ft. greenhouse. About half of these are heated. Tomatoes are the most popular crop grown, they are grown in three quarters of all greenhouses. Other popular uses for the greenhouse include raising seedlings and growing Chrysanthemums.

Vegetables:

A vegetable crop can be found in about half of the gardens in Britain. Economic necessity does not seem to be the reason for growing vegetables - seeds are more often bought for large gardens than small ones. The advent of home deep freezing is probably an important factor. Seeds are the most popular planting material - over 40 million packets of seed are bought every year with Lettuce, Runner Beans, Cabbage, Peas, Carrots and Beetroot as the top 6. Tomato plants are bought for for about 25 per cent of our gardens. Other purchases include Seed Potatoes and Onion Sets.

So, just to round things up a bit. Above, I have included what you will probably find in the typical garden layout. There is no set rule that says you have to include all of the above in your garden. There is no point for example, in growing Cabbage in your garden if no one in your family likes Cabbage. Unless you intend to sell them at your local Market. Happy Gardening.

I have been a keen gardener for many years now, but no one has all of the answers. If I ever need help I always use a company called Garden Designer London. Up to now they have given me all the help and advice that I have asked for, as and when I ask them for it.