10 Clever Garden Feature Ideas to Transform Your Outdoor Space

Your garden isn't just a garden; it's an extension of your home, a space where you can spend quality time, whether entertaining friends, playing with your kids, or relaxing with a good book and a glass of your favourite drink.

It stands to reason that your garden needs to be a nice place you can enjoy. To help you maximise your space and make it somewhere you desire to be, we've teamed up with Pip Probert, a designer on BBC2's 'Your Garden Made Perfect', to share some ideas and wisdom.

Here, Pip shares 10 clever garden ideas to help you transform your outdoor space, add visual interest and help your future garden plans blossom.

From DIY garden design ideas to larger projects where you may want to involve a professional landscape designer, we hope this helps you to make your garden perfect for you and your family.

1. Alter the shape of your lawn

Garden design featuring circular lawn and Marshalls Symphony paving, by Waterdale Landscapes

So many gardens are lawns surrounded by fences. This is essentially a blank canvas that lets you get creative. One way to do this is to reshape your lawn, maximising the floor space and giving it a more defined shape and a 'designed' feel.

Less is more, and singular geometric shapes can really make an impact. This idea works for small, medium, and large gardens, so don't be afraid to experiment. You could use stone setts and cobbles to enhance your lawn's shape and fuse the soft and hard elements of your garden.

2. Elevate your garden, literally

A multi-height garden design featuring Marshalite Walling, by the Garden Design Company

Introducing height into your garden creates instant interest. Add an arch, and suddenly, your flat garden design becomes 3D. There is a door to walk through, a framed, windowed view, or a structure inviting you to look in a certain direction—such as a sculpture positioned in the distance.

Don't just focus on the heights, either. Raised planters, hanging baskets, and built-in seating can also add height interest and are great ideas for small as well as large gardens. Planters can add a strong structural element, and the materials you use, such as decorative tiles or even paving stones fixed vertically to the structure, can enhance the feature further.

3. Create flow with internal boundaries

Marshalls Drystack Veneer Walling, used in a garden design by Pip Probert, Outer Spaces Landscapes Ltd

I often tell my garden design clients that if you can see your whole garden from the window, you are less likely to go out and walk around it. Instead, you should look to create new and interesting internal boundaries that break the plot up into individual 'rooms', creating intrigue and flow across the space.

These boundaries could be decorative panels, trellis and climbing plants, solid structures like walling, or simply a planted border or featured multi-stem tree. They don't even need to be solid! You could create a 'transparent' boundary for more delicate plants such as agapanthus, verbena, or ornamental grasses.

Anything that causes you to change direction in a garden will help you keep exploring and make your space interesting all year round.

If you prefer something more solid for a garden boundary, you could use sections of walls to create sculptural interest, height, and intrigue. The walls will become a focal point and integral part of the garden – they could be clad in decorative tiles such as Marshalls Drystack walling, which is beautiful and natural.

To truly appreciate your garden, make sure you consider the lighting. You can do this by adding spotlights or other types of garden lighting to highlight key areas - perfect for those lazy summer nights when you're sat outside, but also to draw your eye from the window when it's colder. 

4. Stopping places in your garden

A modern garden design featuring several grey paving types including Marshalls Alvanley Pavers. Created by Signature Landscapes

A garden design that flows well features various pockets within the overall plot. Once you've achieved this, you can elaborate on each space and consider how you can add stopping places into your garden plans.

Exploring and walking around a garden is lovely, but it's also nice to sit and enjoy each area. Whether you've added garden furniture, large feature stones to sit on, or a purposely positioned bench, creating rest areas in your garden lets you follow the sun (or shade), sit in peace away from the family, and simply enjoy a few minutes to yourself.

Your garden design should reflect you, and each of these areas could be unique to the purpose or the individual who claims it for their own personal place. You could also try using different paving slabs or outdoor tiles to break up the monotony of one.

5. A 'wow-factor' feature

A beautiful patio featuring a unique cortern garden sculpture, garden created by Reigate paving Company

Even if you are looking for something simple, you can still create that 'wow factor' feature, and it doesn't have to be expensive. One of my favourite garden design ideas is to use regular materials differently or find something unique and make a feature out of it.

Your wow factor is something that makes people stop and look, like a water rill cutting through your patio or a sunken planter rather than a raised one. Old pieces of stone from a reclamation yard made into a water feature or a window to frame plants, backlit with warm garden lighting.

Another idea is to create a beautifully intricate patio design to make a bold statement as soon as guests step foot in your garden. A talented installer will have the skills to create and cut the paving stones into a wonderful mosaic or pattern of your choosing.

Using Marshalls' bespoke laser cutting service, you could create a stunning feature unique to you and your garden. It could be a pattern cut into the tile and backlit or something engraved onto the stone and then positioned into the wall or floor.

Whatever you choose, make sure it's eye-catching and authentic to you and your tastes.

6. Choice of material

A one-off patio design created by Avant Gardens using Marshalls Symphony Classic in Barley and Drivesett Savanna block paving

It's easy to pick a single paving stone and use it for all the hard landscaping in your garden design, but this can look a little heavy. Instead, break it up and introduce other materials to further interest and create sections or stopping places.

I like to use cobbles, setts, or even gravel to change the feel and texture of a space as you walk around it.

Combining large and small units in the same product or even an alternative colour in the range can bring a flat patio to life, turning it into a real wow factor.

Use the materials to define areas and make them more interesting. The shapes can even encourage you to keep moving around the garden. For example, long, thin plank-style paving can inspire you to move forward. 

7. Soften with plants

A modern garden design using planting to break up the paved areas, created using Marshalls Sawn Versuro Jumbo King Size paving

You need hard landscaping to form the structure within your garden and the practical aspects that we all use every day. But try to avoid a concrete jungle. I like to soften my hard landscaped areas by adding planting to break things up.

Opt for gravelled areas with planted clusters or raised beds and garden troughs rather than walls to enclose an area. You could also go for climbing plants, like wisteria, growing up against bare walls or fences. It's amazing what a little bit of green can do to elevate a space.

8. Structural plants

A garden design by Outer Spaces Landscapes Ltd which uses structural plants to create a focal point.

Before you get started planting, you need to think about the key features. When I create garden designs, I tend to treat these as separate from general planting. This may be the only tree or focal point within your garden, so take your time to choose what's best for you.

Consider what colour foliage will work well and what shape you would like. Will you go for evergreen or seasonal flowers? Take your time and research the right plants for you and the garden you're creating.

9. Planting combinations

This is my favourite part of designing gardens! We are all guilty of buying plants because we fall in love with them at the garden centre and then deviate from our garden plans to make them fit.

The best way to shop for plants is to make a list of the things you like, research, and narrow that (very long) list down to a more realistic final version. Then, get the coloured pens out and start creating your combinations on paper.

I love nothing more than working with a limited colour palette. It really gives a 'designed' feel that shows you have thought about the position of every plant. Use repetition, linking the garden via specific combinations. Then, throw people a little by changing that combination slightly… a favourite planting technique of mine!

10. Finishing details

A patio design with grey edging detail by Eden Landscapes using Marshalls Granite Eclipse

The finishing touches are what make the garden special. Think about how each item will look, for example, your patio. Think about the paving stones you love and consider whether they would look better with edging stones or on their own.

If you are adding a sculpture, do the materials match? If you have golden brown paving stones, a matching material such as rusted, brown metal will work well; however, opting for a blue slate monolith would introduce a whole new range of colours and textures, clashing with the rest of the garden. Take your time thinking about each choice you make.

More from Marshalls

So, there you have 10 of the garden design ideas I use when I'm creating garden plans and designs for clients and customers. Take your time to make the right decisions, and have fun with it!

For more garden design tips, take a look at the Marshalls inspiration hub. Here, you'll find more garden transformation advice, like 15 budget ideas for small gardens, 10 tips to improve your home's kerb appeal, and much more.

Ready to get your garden transformation underway? Explore our leading range of paving slabs, outdoor tiles and pathways and turn your garden into your private corner of solitude. 

To help you make the right choice, don't forget to use our outdoor reality app to see our paving products in your outdoor space instantly.

FAQs about features in gardens

What are the benefits of installing a garden water feature?

A water feature can become a focal point of your garden and create a relaxing atmosphere - running and splashing water are two of the most soothing sounds around.

Another benefit is that water can help to attract wildlife, whether it's being used as a bird bath or attracting the local population of dragonflies.

What aquatic plants go with water features and ponds?

Some water feature ideas include the following moisture-loving plants:

• Water lilies
• Cardinal flowers
• Yellow iris
• Water hyacinth
• Creeping jennies
• Marsh marigold

Depending on the size of your garden and water bowls or pond, you should try to add multiple species of flowers to the standing water and surrounding area. This will encourage wildlife to thrive and make the feature more of a focal point.

For more tips on attracting nature to your outdoor space, read our guide to bringing more wildlife into your garden.

How can I make a large stone feature in my garden space?

Large stones can be used as focal points in several different ways in gardens. Whether multiple stones form a rockery or are strategically placed to create boundaries, large stones help create textural contrasts and draw attention to different parts of your outdoor space.

Utilising a mix of natural materials and soft and hard elements helps to create a cohesive space, too.

Written By

Viki Harris

Viki Harris is Head of PR & Content at Marshalls, and has worked for the company since the start of 2019.
 
Read Viki's full profile here.