Arranging a cottage with your own hands is a whole range of works that allows you not only to provide an attractive appearance country house and adjoining territory, but also simplifies the use of suburban real estate. Let's see how to arrange country cottage area with your own hands, what to pay attention to from the very first steps.
When arranging a summer cottage with your own hands, it is very reasonable to combine functional elements with decorative design. This will not only not violate the basic idea of buying a summer residence, but will also improve the mood of the summer resident. Rationally located beds, paths, flower beds, and the house itself will greatly facilitate the care of the entire household.
The absence of improved access roads, fences and footpaths in the local area significantly impairs the usability of the dacha, and the suburban real estate itself loses its attractiveness. Access roads can be improved by making such a road with gravel backfill or by laying asphalt.
Paths directly on the backyard can be paved concrete tiles or polished stones. There are many special materials for paving footpaths. In each case, the homeowner chooses one or another material, depending on his financial capabilities.
The next stage of work is the arrangement of the reservoir. It is believed that such decorative pools and ponds can increase the humidity in the area, which reduces possible temperature fluctuations and improves the microclimate. There are currently special shapes from plastic for decorative pools, and the purchase of all necessary equipment does not differ in complexity. All this allows you to independently equip a full-fledged decorative reservoir on your personal plot without resorting to professionals.
decorative pond can be a great addition to the landscape design of the site. These are small reservoirs in their volume, having decoration. In such reservoirs, you can keep various ornamental fish or simply make an original waterfall. Today, in specialized stores, it is possible to choose ready-made decorative garden ponds, the installation of which directly on the backyard is not difficult.
Setting up a green lawn
Breaking down the lawn on the backyard of a country house is one of the milestones arrangement of the territory. In the recent past, when fruits and vegetables were grown in the country, there could be no talk of any lawns and lawns. Today, with the growth of well-being, we begin to consider the dacha, first of all, as an opportunity have a great holiday Outdoors.
Emerald green lawn will create the necessary atmosphere on the plot and emphasize its attractive appearance. The lawn beautifully frames the main perspectives of garden design, flower beds stand out clearly against its background. Yes, and fruits that have fallen on the grass do not get dirty.
It should be said that there are numerous technologies for arranging a lawn in the country. It is possible to use ready-made rolled lawns, however they have high cost, differ in complexity in installation and subsequent operation. Most homeowners independently prepare the base and subsequently sow the area with varietal grass. Such preparation of the territory involves the removal of sod, leveling the earth and backfilling the fertile soil layer. You will also need to regularly water the grass and remove emerging weeds. Despite the apparent complexity, every homeowner can equip such a lawn.
Arrangement of beds in the country
It is impossible to imagine a full-fledged cottage without beds. On such beds you can grow fresh vegetables and fruits, which are immediately eaten by your household. If you are completely new, then take a look at our tips on where to start your garden at this address, you will surely find something useful.
They try to locate the beds in the immediate vicinity of the fence, which will simultaneously provide an attractive landscape design, and the site will not lose functionality at all. We can recommend immediately not to waste time on bookmarking all the planned organic beds, stretching this "pleasure" over the years. For example, in the first year, lay two, and then increase their number. This will allow you to get excellent harvest even with small area dedicated to vegetables and fruits.
Landscaping is a complex, time-consuming and lengthy process. It is necessary to properly plan the course of such work and subsequently act according to the plan. All this will simplify such work, and the homeowner will be able to properly start arranging the cottage with his own hands, ensuring ease of use and an attractive appearance of the backyard territory.
Before the owners, acquiring land for a summer residence, a lot of tasks arise, the main of which is the improvement of a summer cottage. Just building a house or a temporary hut on it is not enough, because the dacha is traditionally considered the best place for recreation (active or not) in nature, and it should be comfortable. In the process of arranging the backyard territory, there are no trifles, and in order for your dacha to become truly comfortable and beautiful, you need to pay attention to everything: from fences and paths to lawns and flower beds.
Landscaping a summer residence should begin with cleaning the territory. The yard should be cleared of last year's foliage, various debris, uproot stumps, remove large stones and other similar objects.
Then you can proceed directly to the improvement. To equip a personal plot with your own hands in as soon as possible and at the same time achieve harmonious combination of all elements of landscape design, it is necessary to act consistently. This will help you draw up a plan for future work.
Given the importance of planning, the first task is to draw up a project of work. To do this, you will need to complete a drawing with the existing buildings and trees marked on it, as well as the marked boundaries of the site.
Then you should decide if you want to clean something. If the territory already has fruit trees, then it is better to save them, since it will take a lot of time to grow new ones.
The remaining free places can be filled with garden paths, flower beds, gazebos and everything that you would like to see in your country house. Usually at their summer cottage they place:
It is important to correctly identify functional areas
These zones can be called basic, although optional. Still, a lot depends on the size of the site and the personal preferences of the owners. A vegetable garden is more important to someone, and someone just wants to enjoy the rest surrounded by neat lawns.
Whatever you prefer, the fact that the cottage should be well-groomed is beyond doubt. An important role in this is played by the arrangement of a decent fence for the site.
What fence is better to choose for a summer residence? The most reliable and presentable will be a fence made of stone or brick, as well as forged. However, these options are quite expensive and, if you do not plan to spend a lot, you can get by with a wooden palisade or.
True, in the case of wattle fence, the reliability of protecting your site from unwanted intrusions is very doubtful. Therefore, such a fence is recommended to be additionally strengthened with a chain-link mesh.
Reliable fence from corrugated board and brickwork The mesh itself, fixed between the supports, can also serve as a fence, and to make it look more attractive and hide the site from prying eyes, you can plant shrubs, climbing plants or flowers along it. At the fence, hawthorn, barberry, thuja, juniper, lilac, and from curly - girlish grapes, sweet peas and others will look appropriate.
- a mandatory attribute of any site. To make your movement around the cottage more convenient, and its general appearance to be harmonious, you should take care of arranging paths that unite all functional areas. It is better if they are all done in the same style.
The easiest way to make sand paths. To do this, you need to mark their contours with a rope, remove soil about 20 cm deep from the surface of the future path, fill it up, pour water over it and compact the gravel. Then comes another layer of gravel, finer, and, finally, a layer of sand, preferably with stone chips. Such a mixture today can be easily purchased at the store, its shades are very different, so the path will be not only practical, but also beautiful.
The laid sandy path is carefully compacted and framed with a brick or concrete curb. The recommended height of such a fence is 5 cm above the level of the track. Flowers or shrubs are usually planted on the sides. They visually highlight the path and at the same time strengthen the ground near it.
Path of sand 
Laying concrete walkway do it yourself You can also make concrete paths. This material is more durable, moreover, if you use ready-made concrete blocks, subsequently it will be possible to change the direction of the paths by simply shifting the plates.
However, the fill concrete mortar gives you more options to create unusual shapes and smooth curves. You will have to work hard for this, but the result is worth it. The base of the path is prepared similarly to the sandy one and the formwork is mounted on the sides (it is recommended to soak it in water in advance so that the solution does not stick).
Note! Laying a reinforcing mesh under concrete greatly reduces the risk of cracking garden paths and increases their service life.
Then you should prepare the solution in the proportion - 1 part of cement, 2 sand and 4 gravel, put it in the prepared form and level it. After the concrete has set a little, you can apply patterns imitating stone to its surface.
concrete walkway In addition to sand and concrete, stones or stones can also be used for paths. brickwork. The basis for them is prepared similarly to the previous options, but installation is much more laborious. In order for the stones to lie well, they will need to be hewn and laid out on cement mortar manually, which, as you understand, is a very painstaking task.
It is unlikely that the improvement of the summer cottage can be called complete without the presence of comfortable conditions for recreation and a place specially designed for this.
It is best to equip this area in the garden or on the lawn. It can consist of several benches and a table (the easiest option), as well as a gazebo, a full-fledged dining place, a barbecue and other attributes necessary for cultural recreation.
If you plan to place a brazier on the site or, pay attention to its distance from housing and wooden buildings. For fire safety purposes, it should not be too close to them, but placing it close to the neighboring area is also undesirable.
Cozy gazebo with barbecue A significant role for a comfortable pastime in the country is played by all kinds of awnings and gazebos, which will shelter from the bright sun in the summer, and also will not allow the sudden rain to spoil your vacation. In addition, a gazebo entwined with grapes or flowers will undoubtedly decorate the backyard area. It is usually located in the center of the garden, by the pool (if one is planned) or by the playground.
Take care of a place for children's games Those who have small children or grandchildren should arrange a safe place for them in the country. play area. It is recommended to place it closer to the house or in another well-visible place in order to be able to look after the children. If there is a pool or on the site, then the playground should not be too close to it, and the reservoir itself, as potentially dangerous place must be enclosed with a dense fence.
The area under the playing area should be flat, without sharp slopes. Too shaded place should not be chosen, but too much sun will not bring benefits. To provide moderate shade, it is better to stretch an awning or install a canopy.
As for horizontal bars, slides, swings and other equipment for games, the main requirement here is safety. It is necessary to make sure that everything is securely fixed, as well as to remove stones, sharp pegs and other objects from the territory of the site that can cause injury.
After the site is delimited into the main zones, it's time to revive and decorate it with green spaces. In order for your lawns and flower beds to please the eye, you must follow all the rules for landscaping a summer cottage.
First of all, you should assess the climate, the location of the cottage, as well as the composition of the soil. It is possible that for the growth of some plants it will be necessary to additionally fertilize the land, and some may not take root at all if climatic conditions too harsh.
Determining with specific types plantings, consider also the degree of shading. After all, it is known that not all plants tolerate constant shade or sun well. The humidity of the earth is also of considerable importance - its level should be sufficient, but not excessive. It is very difficult to grow anything in a wetland, and in this case, it will be necessary to first drain the soil and select moisture-resistant plants.
Of the green spaces for summer cottages, shrubs and lawns, famous for their unpretentiousness, are excellent. A well-groomed lawn always looks win-win both on its own and as a backdrop for other landscape design elements. You can buy already grown lawn in rolls, which greatly simplifies the process of gardening, or, if desired, sow and grow it yourself.
Lawns and shrubs at their summer cottage If you decide to purchase ready-made lawns, be sure to pay attention to the type of grass. Since, depending on it, they can be shade-tolerant, drought-resistant, trampling-resistant, athletic, etc. To determine which species suits you best, it makes sense to consult with the owners of nearby sites who already have practical experience in this matter.
Choice ornamental shrubs, usually planted along fences, paths or in combination with, is also wide. The most popular are forsythia, Japanese rhododendron, dwarf spruce, jasmine, weigela and, of course, lilac. As a rule, such shrubs are unpretentious in care, and with the right place for planting and periodic trimming of extra branches, they will delight you for more than one year.
The finishing touch that adds a bright note to general view suburban area, there will be flower beds. Almost any place can be allocated for them, since there are enough varieties of flowers, among which there are resistant to heat, moisture, and shading. To make the flower bed look well-groomed, it is worth protecting it with a small vine fence or overlaying it with a stone, and correct selection and the arrangement of plants with different flowering periods will allow you to enjoy their beauty all summer long.
Flower bed will add bright colors As you can see, it is quite possible to decorate and ennoble the cottage with your own hands, although this will require considerable effort and a serious approach to business. But the result of such efforts will undoubtedly please you. And, in order to be inspired to implement your dacha improvement project, we bring to your attention beautiful personal plots, photos of which are given below. 
The time has passed when summer residents tried to use every piece of land for growing vegetables, berries, and fruits. Now the owners of suburban areas are striving to ennoble their estates and turn them into a lovely recreation area. How to equip a cottage with your own hands with a minimum of costs, turning it into a wonderful vacation spot? This is an interesting and very exciting activity.
So you have purchased Vacation home with a plot. Where to start its improvement?
All plans for improvement must be commensurate with their financial capabilities.
It is worth starting with the fence of the territory. The fence can be made capital of concrete, brick, wood, metal profile. Hedges from (forsythia, spirea, barberry and other plants) look original. These beautiful hedges perform a protective function, forming a dense wall of shoots, foliage and flowers.
Looks impressive instead of a gate alive decorative arch from climbing plants. It is important for such an arch to make a strong support from metal structure. Plants for a beautiful neat arch require careful and timely pruning and good care.
rest zone
Designers recommend installing a veranda or gazebo on the territory, the style of which is in harmony with the house and other buildings in the garden. In addition to the comfort from the gazebo in the country, it will still be great place rest on hot days. If there are small children in the house, then the gazebo can be arranged in the form fairy house, and around put sculptures of characters from fairy tales and cartoons.
Can be used instead of the traditional wooden building make a green gazebo planted with flexible trees: birch, maple, willow, linden. Don't forget to leave room for the entrance. Around the site at a distance of about a meter, you need to plant trees or climbing shrubs: lemongrass, girlish grapes, honeysuckle, hydrangea, actinidia or climbing plants: hops, sweet peas, ornamental beans. Of course, such an original gazebo requires special care: regular trimming of bushes, cleaning of dry leaves, direction of growing shoots.
Beautifully executed paths can significantly change the look of the territory. They divide the site into zones, ennoble the cottage. They can be made from decorative paving slabs, gravel, concrete slabs, flat stones, wood, stone chips, mosaics, and even laid out from wooden cuts. It all depends on the imagination of the owners and their financial well-being.
A village hut with a front garden looks completely new. It is enough to plant ordinary unpretentious flowers in the front garden that do not require special care: chamomile, primrose, marigolds, calendula, cosmea. It is better to choose perennial flowers with openwork beautiful leaves. Not very attractive buildings will help disguise climbing plants: parthenocissus, clematis, honeysuckle. For these vines, a reliable, strong support is needed.
Plants in a flower bed or flower garden that are well-chosen according to color and timing of flowering look beautiful on the site. These can be made up of annual and perennial flowers, as well as ornamental grasses, grasses and shrubs.
It looks interesting lawn with a border as a border of flowers or a flower bed of flowers of different heights and flowering shrubs located in the middle of the lawn.
For device original flower garden various household items and obsolete items will do. For these purposes, you can use any means of transportation (bicycle, cart, car, scooter), dishes (buckets, tanks, pots, watering cans, bath), shoes. Old dishes can be restored by decorating them with mosaics, pebbles, decoupage, braiding with a vine or a tourniquet.
Alpine slides are very popular with gardeners. Of course for beautiful slide you need to adjust the terrain of the place, choose the right stones, and then pick up the right plants.
If you arrange an arch with a flowering climbing plant on the garden path, then such a structure will decorate the garden and be a pleasant invitation to the recreation area. By installing several of these arches, you will get a shady corner for relaxation, where it is pleasant to relax on a hot day.
So we figured it out, turning it into beautiful garden. Outbuildings can be masked with tall or climbing shrubs. The landscape of the garden can be supplemented with a small pond or pond, made of stones.
Having bought or inherited a dacha, each owner thinks about how to equip a summer cottage. There are a lot of answers to this question. Some publications advise to pay attention when landscaping Special attention on garden design. This will allow you to decide on a recreation area, place it in cozy place. Country forums recommend taking out parking for a car outside the site - this allows you to free up additional space.
When planning how to arrange a summer cottage with your own hands, you must decide on the location of all areas: recreation, garden, car parking, gazebos, outbuildings. This must be done in advance, since your comfort depends on where and what will be located in the country. Imagine visually what a flower bed, garden or gazebo will look like. The layout can be designed on paper. Well, if you do not have enough experience and you do not know how to create a design for a summer cottage, you can turn to specialists for help.
As practice shows, the garden in summer cottages is small. The best option would be to be located in landscape style. To visually expand the boundaries of the site, it is recommended to plant shrubs, create rounded lawns, winding paths.
Remember that in small areas there should not be high and bulk trees. If you still have such one, it is advisable to give its crown its original shape. You can use pruning for this.
The design of the suburban area can be done as in classical style, as well as in any other. Choose trees to your taste: plant birch, linden or maple. If you want to have a garden fruit plants, it is better to choose dwarf varieties. You will make room for lawns, and under the crowns of the tree you can always place a bench to rest.
Landscape design plays a special role in creating the design of a country residence. Firstly, it is beautiful, fashionable and comfortable, and secondly, if you put in a little effort, your imagination and finances, the result will be amazing.
Landscaping work should begin with planning and sketching the picture you want to bring to life. There can be only your individual vision or just copying the option you like.
When sketching on paper, do not forget to take into account the existing buildings and landings. It is also worth keeping in mind the area where your site is located. For example, if you live near a forest, then the landscape design should be in the style of the forest.
Do not forget about the vegetation on the site. If you like fruit trees, then by adding several types of wild ones, you will only add originality to the design. Plant linden, raspberry, blackberry, walnut. These trees will both bear fruit and decorate the site.
Equipping a summer cottage with your own hands, do not forget about the flower beds. Experts recommend planting flowers that are unpretentious in care and are undersized.
If you have enough land, then your own small pond will only make it more comfortable. Near the pond you can soak up the coolness on the bench, talk with friends or just relax yourself in the shade of the trees.
When deciding how to equip a summer cottage, it is worth remembering that the main thing in design is simplicity, elegance and modesty.
The garden looks original, made in Japanese style. Everything in it is in harmony with each other, looks natural and compact. A feature of this garden is the presence of architectural structures small size, while flower beds, paths and lawns should only be of the correct shape.
Flowerbeds in the style of the four seasons look very original.
In order for the cottage to be not only a place of work, but also a place of rest, you need to place a swing on the site. The best option swing sofas are considered, they are suitable not only for the entertainment of children, but also for the comfortable rest of adults.
To choose the right swing for a summer residence, you need to understand their types and the principle of operation. They are stationary, folding and folding, small-sized and designed for a large number of seats.
In stores, you can offer three options:
There are a lot of options for arranging and building a gazebo. You can already order ready-made version from the material you like or build it yourself.
If you love originality and the chosen design allows you to harmoniously fit the conversation into your summer cottage, then the best option will be a forged building. It will be necessarily individual, as you yourself will be able to think over the type of elements.
Looks good gazebo for summer cottages made of wood. You can also buy it ready-made or build it yourself. Suitable for this construction material from pine.
The building itself can be decorated climbing plants, which will help to harmoniously fit it into the existing design. The main thing that you should remember: the gazebo for giving should be spacious and comfortable for hanging out.
Thinking about how to equip a summer cottage, pay special attention to the toilet. You don't have to spend a lot of money to create it. Today, ready-made toilet blocks - dry closets are available on the market. You can also order a ready-made wooden structure.
If you decide to build a toilet for a summer residence on your own, you will need the following materials: slate, sheet metal, corrugated board, wooden plank, plywood, fiberboard.
Before starting construction, you must decide on the issue of waste disposal. There are several options:
When you decide on the type cesspool, you can proceed to the construction of the toilet. Optimal distance to a residential building is considered 12 meters. Do not put a toilet on the border with neighbors, they also have unpleasant smells from your premises. Do not forget that this structure should be at a distance of 25-30 meters from the water well.
How to equip a summer cottage, each owner decides independently. Consult with your loved ones, and a solution will certainly be found in the issue of placing all buildings, gardens, lawns and decorative flower beds. Creating coziness and comfort in your summer cottage, do not be afraid of your fantasies. The main thing is that you feel good in this place. If you set a goal to create the most best site you will definitely get it.
Arranging a summer cottage with your own hands is a process that can safely be called continuous. Every year, when we come outside the city, we find many objects that deserve our close attention: here we need to fix a rickety fence, here we need to lay a path, and here it would be nice to equip a flower bed.
And although a whole encyclopedia may not be enough to describe every detail of this process, below we will try to collect a number of the most useful advice. By following them, you can streamline your work and significantly increase their efficiency. So there is still time to relax!
Before you equip a summer cottage, you need to conditionally divide its area into functional zones. Of course, it is desirable to do this even at the design stage, but to restore order in the country, which is actively exploited, this will also not be superfluous.
Experts identify three main areas:
When we equip a summer cottage with our own hands, we should visually separate these zones from each other, arranging them so that they do not intersect. In this case, our stay outside the city will turn out to be much more comfortable, since we can easily switch from one type of activity to another, and at the same time we will not interfere with each other.
We will try to limit ourselves to only the most important ones, and start with those that directly relate to the area near the house:
Note!
An important element of the entrance area is a drainage ditch, which ensures the removal of rainwater.
If you do not know where to start planning a recreational site, then we recommend that you think about creating:
Note!
Lawn grasses are resistant to trampling, but they must be cut regularly.
When deciding how to equip a small summer cottage, many of us focus on exactly the part where vegetables and fruits can be grown.
This approach can be considered quite rational, but here it is worth adhering to a number of recommendations:
Note!
This does not apply shade-loving plants: for them, the site is usually assigned either next to the garden, or generally under the crowns of trees.
Options for arranging a summer cottage, as well as recommendations for the implementation of certain works, can be listed endlessly. The main thing here is to understand what exactly we want from our dacha, plan the work and begin the systematic implementation of our project. It may take more than one year, but if we are guided by tips like those set out in the video in this article, then we will definitely succeed.
