Your Garden Made Perfect designer reveals common garden planning mistake

A garden designer from the BBC's Your Garden Made Perfect has shared one common gardening mistake we often fall into. Surprisingly, it's nothing to do with overwatering or underwatering, or even overlooking pests. 

Manoj Malde says that when it comes to how to plan your garden design, we often fail to look at the bigger picture. Manoj is an award-winning landscape gardener with a background in fashion. 

He works with architects and interior designers to create unique spaces for his clients and loves to use vibrant color in his designs. Manoj is now appearing on Your Garden Made Perfect, which uses virtual reality to show people how their garden could look.

Garden planning mistake

'One of the most common mistakes garden owners make is dealing with different areas in isolation,' Manoj tells us. 'They do not start with a plan for the garden as a whole entity. 

'For a garden to work and have cohesion it needs to be designed as one whole garden,' explains the designer. 'It can then be developed in stages but at least there is a plan to follow.' 

The Your Garden Made Perfect star's comments on looking at garden design ideas as a whole make a lot of sense. We can easily get fixated on one plant or zone, and fail to look at things holistically.

But how do you actually plan your entire space effectively? It can be hard to know where to start. When working on design projects, Manoj begins with themes, mood boards, color palettes and textures, as you would when decorating a room. 

Thinking about these key elements will get the ball rolling, as will pinning on Pinterest until you have a selection of images that make your heart sing. You might also like to look at this string layout trick that helped one couple transform their garden into a Mediterranean-style haven. 

They used string to map out exactly where their raised beds and decking would go in their new-build garden.

Recently moved house? Container gardening ideas are a great shout while you learn which areas get the most light and which plants are happiest where.

If your budget is tight, Manoj recommends planting smaller plants, as these settle in quicker and cost less. 'Repurpose, recycle, upcycle to stretch your money further,' he adds.

It isn't easy, but coming up with a plan for the entire space will help you make a garden you love being in.