How to design a landscape for a 4-acre summer cottage?

Tips for Expanding the Area

To visually increase the area, you can use the following tips.

• Color. Dark shades make the boundaries more noticeable, light ones blur them. Buildings in pastel colors and light flowers visually make the area larger. Objects in cold shades seem further away, elements in warm tones – closer.
• Aerial perspective. Using a gradient color transition when decorating flower beds from dark to light visually makes 4 acres more spacious.
• Linear perspective. Long straight paths, elongated flower beds visually increase the area. Trimming the hedge so that the near edge is lower than the far one gives the same effect.
• Reflections. A pond, like a mirror, reflects the sky, expanding the space.
• Minimum variegation. An abundance of decorative elements, a variety of shades and shapes of plants clutter up the environment. To visually increase the area, it is better to give preference to simple lines in the layout, neat shapes of flower beds and paths. On a small plot of land, identical plants often look more impressive than a motley carpet.

Layout examples

Plot zoning

To effectively use a small area of land, you need to make a diagram that will reflect the individual zones of the summer cottage. The following elements should be reflected schematically.

• Entrance area. The gate opening the entrance to the territory of the plot should be located close to the house. If necessary, a parking space is also organized. Owners of a corner plot have the opportunity to arrange two entrances. If a dacha of four hundred square meters borders a forest, it would not be superfluous to make an additional exit on this side.
• Vegetable garden. The freshest berries, vegetables straight from the garden and juicy greens – a storehouse of vitamins and natural taste. Not only the result is interesting, but also the process of their cultivation, so it is necessary to provide a place for planting.

Neatly designed beds will decorate the garden, as shown in the photo. Arranging a small vegetable garden will not take much time and effort, and the result will be to your taste.

• Recreation area. On a garden plot of four hundred square meters, it is important to leave some space for organizing a place for recreation. A neat lawn provides space for active games, the opportunity to put sun loungers or an inflatable pool. A fire pit, a small table and benches allow you to have a pleasant time with your family and friends, enjoying the fresh air, a well-kept garden and food cooked on the grill.

You can separate the recreation area from the garden with the help of elegant wooden partitions. This design does not shade the plants and serves as a decorative element.

• Outbuildings. It is necessary to plan the locations of the barn, toilet, bathhouse.
• Children’s playground. A bright sandbox, swings and benches give children the opportunity to spend time playing in an interesting way. You can make the decor for the playground yourself. Enameled basins can easily be turned into mushroom caps, large stones – into ladybugs and other animals, old car tires – into swans. By using your imagination and involving children in the arrangement of the playground, you can have a good time.

Using a natural color scheme in the design of a children’s corner allows you to create a playground that harmonizes with the exterior. The photo shows an example of a play area for children that matches the surroundings.

• Flower beds. Four hundred square meters have enough space for arranging bright flower beds. A luxurious flower bed in front of a country house is a source of pride for the owners of a dacha plot, attracting admiring glances. A flower bed in the depths of the garden is also not superfluous. It serves to separate the parking lot from the recreation area or the vegetable garden from the buildings. When designing the composition, flowering plants and conifers, groundcover and pyramidal forms, differing in the color of the foliage, are combined. A fragrant flowering carpet along the garden path emphasizes its boundaries.

The photo shows a border marking the border of the flowerbed. In landscape design, a border can also be used for zoning the territory.

Distribution of buildings

The locations of the shed, toilet and bathhouse are dictated by the geometry of the territory and the availability of communications. The personal preferences of the owners of the house play a decisive role in determining the location. With a little imagination, you can turn outbuildings into a decoration for a four-hundredth-square dacha.

A neat shed decorated with flowers serves not only as a place to store garden tools. A memorable building evokes delight and allows you to take a creative approach to its design.

The shed and toilet can be located near the fence at a distance from the house. This placement frees up the center of the 4-hundredth-square dacha. The toilet and shed can be combined or represent two different buildings.

On four hundred square meters, every meter of space is important. A compact utility block that combines a shed and a toilet will be an excellent solution.

You can place a toilet and a shower under one roof. This option is functional and convenient for organizing the supply and drainage of water.

It is best to place the bathhouse closer to the fence, not far from the ditch, so as not to oversaturate the garden with moisture. You can combine a bathhouse with a gazebo, shower or utility room.

In the center of the territory or near its borders you can build a compact summer kitchen or a gazebo with a barbecue and a stove. A structure with a canopy allows you to enjoy cooking and eating at any time, regardless of the weather.

The photo on the left shows a compact gazebo with a stove. Such a construction opens up new possibilities for summer recreation.

Options for landscaping the plot

A 4-acre summer cottage plot can be transformed with the help of beautiful flowering and ornamental foliage plants. Low-growing shrubs and dwarf trees can be planted individually or used to decorate borders and hedges. With the help of climbing plants located on supports, you can decorate a living fence, create a canopy or decorate the wall of a building or garden swing.

The beauty of a bright flowerbed is admirable and uplifting. Unpretentious perennials allow you to reduce the care of the flowerbed to a minimum. Abundantly flowering annuals make it possible to fill unused space and easily change the landscape design on four acres every year. By combining plants that bloom at different times, you can achieve continuous flowering throughout the warm season.

A bright flowerbed, striking the imagination with a riot of colors and shapes, lifts the mood. By experimenting with a set of plants, you can regularly update the flowerbed.

Flowers with ampelous plants are suspended from a gazebo, terrace or fence. This version of vertical gardening will diversify the landscape design of a 4-acre plot. Drooping shoots strewn with flowers attract the eye to the elements decorated with plants. Pots with flowering or decorative foliage plants, located on the lawn or in the drawers of an old chest of drawers decorating the porch, give the setting an attractive look.

A plot drowning in flowers looks very beautiful. To save space on four hundred square meters, it is recommended to use vertical gardening. Decorative supports decorated with ampelous and climbing plants will help to cope with this task.

Tall trees can be planted along the perimeter along the fence. If a small plot is in full sun and is not shaded by other plants, fruit trees can be planted in its center. Such plantings will protect from bright sunlight and create a tent effect. On four hundred square meters, 2-3 large trees are enough. The growth of the rest will have to be restrained by shaping their crown.

Real examples of landscape design for inspiration

An alpine slide can become an expressive accent in the garden. Low coniferous shrubs, mosses, succulents, and ground cover plants are used for its landscaping. The space between them is filled with beautiful large stones.

A small artificial pond can become a real decoration of a small plot. Aquatic plants used for its improvement diversify the landscape design of the plot of four acres.

A small pond not only visually makes 4 acres larger, but also serves as a memorable element of landscape design. Large stones, water plants, garden figures and bridges are used for decoration.

Garden paths serve not only as a functional element, but also as an expressive detail of landscape design. Beautiful paths made of large stones and pebbles, small gravel and wood, decorated on four hundred square meters, decorated on both sides with a plant border, will delight with their beauty and durability.