How to zone the garden easily and quickly

Baffled about how to zone the garden? Here’s our creative garden zoning guide, a series of instant tips for making the most of your outdoor space.

What is garden zoning?

‘Zoning’ is just a fancy word for splitting the space into areas for different uses. Some people call these spaces ‘rooms’, which makes it easier to get your head around. Just picture the rooms in your home.

You might want to keep the kids’ play area separate from the party bit where the grown-ups gather, or split the garden into a separate BBQ / eating area and chill-out zone. Whatever you use your garden for, and as long as you have space, you can zone it accordingly.

Super-easy ways to zone your outdoor space

Garden furniture gives you instant ways to create separate spaces and easily zone the garden.

When you place a garden lounge set with the table in the middle and the chairs or settees facing each other, you’ve naturally made it feel like a room without even trying. Use that basic setting and add garden lights – there are some gorgeous solar garden lights around – for an even more room-like effect, especially after dark.

Maybe place a solar lamp at each corner of the patio, or behind the chairs and settees, to suggest the corners of a room, or use large planters filled with tall blooms or greenery for more height. Tricks like this help anchor the setting visually because your eyes naturally build invisible walls to hang everything together.

A shade sail denotes a dining area perfectly, drawing people into the dedicated space underneath it and giving you the comforting feeling of an outdoor ceiling. A garden parasol or garden umbrella has the same effect, enhanced by lighting to create a pool of light people love to sit under.

In fact light itself is the simplest way of all to create boundaries and pull people inwards to socialise. Lights are perfect when you don’t have a lot of space, taking up minimal room while giving you a dramatic impact. Strings of LED solar lights are super-simple and very effective.

Create an area for intimate conversations to spark by placing two, three or four garden benches facing each other, each with a side table for your stuff. Sink a six foot wooden post into each corner to hang bunting and lights around the seating area so it feels even more room-like.

Surround the space with matching or contrasting planters filled with blooms and greenery to suggest boundaries. Or experiment with beautiful beach windbreaks – the big ones – which give you instant shelter as well as a measure of privacy. Dark green windbreaks blend with the planting, cream ones look fresh and summery.

Today’s resin garden storage boxes often double as extra seating, also great for demarking a zone. They’re practical too, because you can stash the stuff you need for that particular room exactly where it’s needed.

You’ll find all sorts of bright ideas in our store. And here are some lush ideas to inspire you. So go think ‘rooms’ and see how we can help you zone the garden to perfection.