When you build a new house, it’s easy for all focus to land on the facade, kitchen, and bathroom. The garden feels like something you can deal with later. But the truth is that the best gardens begin to be planned even before the first shovel for the house foundation is taken. With the right planning from the start, you can save both time and money, and above all – create the garden you really dream of.
Why plan the garden during house construction?
When building a house, you should plan the garden already during the construction phase. Especially if you choose a turnkey house, you also have time to think about the garden. A bare plot with only gravel or lawn can feel quite bleak, no matter how beautiful the house is. But it’s about more than aesthetics. By having a plan for the garden already when the house is being built, you can coordinate many projects when machines and professionals are already on site. That means lower costs and better results.
With a holistic plan, you can also divide the construction into different phases and prioritize what needs to be done first. Additionally, you avoid making decisions that you later regret – like installing lawn everywhere just because it feels easiest, only to realize you need to dig up half the lawn to run electricity to the outdoor kitchen.
Create an overview plan before you start
Hire help early
The very best thing is to hire a garden designer even before the house construction begins. A professional can help you create a holistic plan and drawing that shows where different parts should be located – patios, paths, plantings, hedges, and trees. With such a drawing, you can easily prioritize and divide the work into phases.
A garden designer doesn’t just work with plant selection but primarily with the garden’s form and function. It’s about solving level differences, creating smart movement patterns between house and garden, and designing spaces that work for your specific needs. You get help avoiding expensive mistakes and thinking in the right order from the beginning.
Set aside a budget
Many forget to set aside a proper budget for the garden when building new. A rule of thumb is to calculate about 10 percent of the house’s total cost for garden and ground work. That may sound like a lot, but remember that it covers everything from excavation and drainage to paving, plants, and lighting. A dream house on a clay field or gravel bed isn’t so dreamy, and it becomes significantly more expensive to fix afterwards.
Analyze the site
Before you start planning, you need to get to know the plot properly. Study where the sun rises and sets during the day. Feel where the wind blows from – it affects where you want your patios and where you need wind protection. Identify beautiful views you want to frame, and less attractive views you want to hide.
Also review the ground base and soil type. Is it rock, clay, or sandy soils? What is the soil depth? This affects both what is possible to plant and how much soil you need to fill in. Also study which plants thrive naturally in the neighborhood – they will be easiest to succeed with in your own garden.
Map out your needs and functions
How should the garden actually be used? That’s the most important question to start with. Engage the whole family and write down all wishes and needs.
Functional areas used daily
Entrance and parking are areas you use every day, year-round. They are the first thing you encounter when you come home and the last thing you see when you leave. How many cars should fit? Where will the bicycles be? How do you reach the entrance – should there be a path from both street and parking, or should they be combined into one common path?
Social areas for gathering and relaxation
How many patios do you need? Think about sun exposure at different times of day – a morning spot facing east and an evening spot facing west can be perfect. How many people should the patio accommodate? What type of furniture are you planning? Should any patio be under a roof? Is an outdoor kitchen or pool on the wish list?
Other areas and buildings
Are play areas needed for the children? Remember that children’s needs change with age – a sandbox can become something completely different in a few years. Do you want to grow vegetables and have a kitchen garden? Is space needed for a greenhouse, shed, or storage?
Don’t forget more practical functions like waste management, compost, and where garden tools will be stored. Privacy screening and lighting are also important functions to plan for from the beginning.
Create spatial quality in the garden
A common beginner’s trap is to think of the garden as one large, open space. But just like in a house, it becomes much more pleasant if the garden is divided into several smaller rooms. It’s an advantage if the entire garden cannot be seen at once, but rather that there’s an opportunity to walk around and discover different places.
Think of the garden as a room with floor, walls, and ceiling. The floor can be grass, ground cover perennials, gravel, or paving. The walls are created by hedges, borders, shrubbery, or fencing. The ceiling is formed by tree canopies or perhaps a pergola.
Also create clear transitions between the rooms. A portal, a hedge that curves into the garden, or a shed placed crosswise can divide and create multiple rooms even on a small plot. This brings excitement and makes even a smaller garden feel larger than it is.
Also think about the perspective from the house. What do you want to see when you look out through the kitchen window or from the living room? The garden should be equally beautiful to look at from inside as to be in.
What should be done during house construction?
There are certain things that are much smarter to do while the house is being built and machines are already on site. Here are the most important ones.
Plan level differences and masses
If your plot has level differences, it’s crucial to plan these before excavation for the house foundation begins. When the ground is raised where the house is located, large amounts of excavated soil and possibly blasted rock often arise. Transporting this away is expensive – but with a plan, you can instead use the masses smartly in the garden.
Excavated soil can be used as fill material behind retaining walls or to create terracing. Blasted rock can be built up into beautiful natural stone walls. The key is that the masses end up in the right place directly, instead of first being moved away and then having to be bought back in the form of soil or stone.
Remember that larger ground changes and walls above a certain height require building permits and may require neighbor approval. Contact your municipality to find out what applies.
Hard surfaces
Coordinate all hard surfaces such as driveway, parking, paths, and paved patios during house construction. When professionals and machines are already on site, you save both time and a lot of money compared to doing it later.
But be careful not to make paved areas too large, especially at the entrance and parking. Even though it’s practical to have plenty of space, it can easily become a feeling of a desolate stone plaza. It’s important to balance large hard surfaces with plants – trees, shrubs, and perennials – so the environment doesn’t become too sterile and cold.
When it comes to material choices, invest in natural materials like granite, limestone, or real wood decking. They suit all styles, last over time, and age beautifully. With a smaller budget, gravel is an excellent alternative, but make sure to have neat edges in the form of metal borders or stone frames so that grass doesn’t wander in and gravel out.
Electricity and water
This is perhaps the most important thing to think about during house construction: prepare for electricity and water where you might need it in the future. Bury electrical cables for lighting along paths and by patios. Plan for extra water outlets in different places in the garden. Also think about future needs – perhaps a greenhouse, an accessory dwelling unit, or an outdoor kitchen later on?
Digging up and running new lines after lawn, plantings, and paving are in place is both expensive and troublesome. Do it now when the ground is already open.
Start with the plant framework
When the major ground work is complete, it’s time to start with the vegetation. But don’t wait too long – the earlier you get trees and hedges in place, the better.
Preserve existing trees
If there are already trees on the plot – stop and think carefully before you saw anything down. A large tree has taken decades to grow and provides tremendous value to a garden. Consider what functions the tree fulfills: Does it provide privacy screening from neighbors? Much-needed shade in summer? Does it help drain the ground by absorbing rainwater? Is it home to birds that eat pest insects?
Many trees and shrubs can be pruned and reshaped instead of being taken down completely. Get help from a skilled arborist or garden designer. Often you regret it after just a few months when you realize how much you miss the height, shade, or privacy screening.
During the construction phase, it’s important to protect the trees so that roots aren’t damaged when machines drive over the plot or when digging near the trunk.
Plant hedges and trees first
If you have a great need for privacy screening, you should prioritize planting hedges and trees as soon as possible. It takes several years before a hedge becomes dense and lush enough to provide really good protection, and even more years before a tree has grown large.
If you have room in the budget, it’s a very good investment to buy multi-year trees and ready-made hedge plants. Yes, they cost more – but you gain several years of waiting time. A ready-made hedge at 120-150 cm provides almost immediate privacy screening, while small plants at 40-50 cm can take 5-8 years to reach the same height.
By planting framework plants early, they get to grow while you work on other parts of the garden. They also quickly create a better microclimate with more wind protection and shade, which makes the garden more pleasant to be in and provides better conditions for other plants.
Avoid weed cultivation
A common trap is to let large areas of bare soil lie open for a long time. Bare soil always means weeds, and the longer the soil lies undisturbed, the more the weeds establish themselves. Once a perennial weed like Canada thistle or couch grass has taken hold, it’s a tough job to get rid of it.
If you have areas that won’t be established immediately – cover them with landscape fabric or tarp to keep weeds away. When it’s time to plant or sow grass, do it as soon as possible after the soil is prepared.
Soil and groundwork – the foundation for everything
You can have the most beautiful plants and the finest design, but without proper groundwork, the garden will never function as it should.
Remove gravel
If the plot is filled with gravel from the construction, this must be removed before you can establish planting areas and lawn. Do this when excavators are still on site – it’s heavy and troublesome work to do by hand.
Different plants need different amounts of soil depth:
- Lawn: at least 30 cm
- Perennials: at least 30-40 cm
- Shrubs: at least 40 cm
- Trees: at least 75 cm
A dry and yellow lawn that never really becomes lush is often a sign of too little soil depth, not too little watering.
Invest in quality soil
When you need to buy soil – which almost everyone does with a new construction – make sure it’s good quality soil that is free from perennial weeds. It can be tempting to choose the cheapest option, but poor soil with lots of weeds will cost you enormously more in time and trouble in the long run.
Invest in proper soil that plants will thrive in. It pays off in the long run with healthier plants, fewer weeds, and a more beautiful garden.
Compaction damage
A common problem with new construction is soil compaction damage. When heavy machines drive back and forth over the plot during construction, the soil is packed hard and all air pores in the soil are sealed. This is especially problematic in clay soils.
When soil is compacted, water, oxygen, and nutrients cannot reach plant roots. It doesn’t matter how much you water or fertilize – the plants won’t do well. A sign of compaction damage is that water often remains on the surface long after rain.
If the soil is lightly compacted, you can remedy it by mixing in coarse compost in the top 30 centimeters, or by installing drainage. But if the soil is heavily compacted, the only way to remedy the problem is to dig out the damaged soil – sometimes down to a meter deep. This is one of the most important reasons to protect the ground and plan well where machines are allowed to drive during construction.
Planting areas and lawn
Gather plants in clear planting areas
A common beginner’s mistake is to spread out individual plants here and there in the garden. It’s not only messy and incoherent – it’s also much more difficult to maintain. Instead, gather plants in clear planting areas and plant densely. It gives a more cohesive and thoughtful impression, and it’s also easier to mow the grass when you don’t have to slalom around individual plants.
Do you really need grass everywhere?
Think carefully before establishing lawn all over the plot. Lawn requires regular maintenance with mowing, watering, and fertilizing. Let certain parts of the garden instead be plantings with perennials, shrubs, and trees. It provides a greener, more varied garden that is also much better for biodiversity.
Meadow vegetation is another alternative that is becoming increasingly popular. A flower meadow with wild meadow flowers requires minimal maintenance – just one or two mowings per year – and provides food and habitat for masses of pollinators.
When you do establish a lawn, the groundwork is crucial. Make sure to have at least 30 cm of good soil, and preferably a bit more. A dry and poor lawn almost always depends on too little soil depth.
Find your style and red thread
When the practical functions are in place, it’s time to think about the garden’s style and character. What atmosphere do you want? Should it be cozy and lush, stylish and strict, or romantic and undulating?
The house’s architecture as a starting point
The house’s style can be a good starting point, but doesn’t need to slavishly determine what the garden should look like. It’s perfectly fine to have a modern, formal garden with an older house, or vice versa. The important thing is to find a red thread and stick to it – to dare to choose, and above all to dare to choose away.
The form in the garden can be strict with straight geometric lines, or undulating with organic forms. Or a mixture of both. Contrasts can be effective – straight lines in the paving that meet lush swaying grass, for example.
Create harmony through repetition
An important principle for achieving harmony in the garden is repetition. Let a certain color, form, or signature plant recur in several places. It can be a recurring ornamental grass, a certain shrub form that returns, or a color scale that recurs in different borders.
Also work with contrasts in foliage – large leaves against small, round forms against pointed, different textures. But keep the number of colors down. Rather fewer colors but in larger groups, than many different colors spread everywhere.
Materials that age beautifully
When it comes to materials, the same principle applies: choose natural materials like granite, limestone, or real wood. They suit all styles, last over time, and only become more beautiful with the years. Avoid colored concrete stones, plastic pots, and other artificial materials that easily look out of place and don’t age beautifully.
Create biodiversity
In today’s gardens, it’s increasingly important to think about biodiversity. A garden with many different plants and habitats doesn’t just give you a healthier and more beautiful garden – it also helps support pollinators, beneficial insects, and birds.
If you’re building new in an older residential area with mature gardens around, it’s easier – there’s already biodiversity that can spread to your plot. But if you’re building in a completely new area with minimal nature, you need to work more actively to attract insects and animals.
Create varied habitats: flowering plants that provide nectar and pollen, a small pond for aquatic insects and drinking water for birds, hiding places in a stone pile or wood for hedgehogs and insects, and preferably a forest-edge-like area with berry and fruit-bearing shrubs.
By creating biodiversity, you get access to all the fantastic ecosystem services that nature offers – pollination, natural pest control, and healthier soils – without much effort on your part.
Think in phases and time perspective
A garden isn’t built in a day, or even in a year. The important thing is to have a plan from the beginning, but then divide the implementation into realistic phases.
First year: Foundation in place
During the first year, you should focus on:
- Ground work and level differences
- Hard surfaces (driveway, paths, main patio)
- Electricity and water
- Framework plants (hedges, trees, larger shrubs)
- Lawn in the most important areas
Second year and beyond: Refine and complete
When the foundation is laid, you can take it more calmly and work with:
- More planting areas
- Complete with perennials and smaller shrubs
- Possibly additional patios
- Lighting and details
- Growing areas if not prioritized from the beginning
The most important thing is not to stress. A garden grows and develops over time, and that’s part of its charm. The plants you set the first year will look completely different in five years. Give yourself – and the garden – time to grow.
Settle in first
Although there’s much to gain from planning early, there’s also value in settling in a bit and getting to know the place. How does the sun move over the plot during different seasons? Where does snow remain longest? Where do leaves fall in autumn? Where does the family gather spontaneously?
Sometimes you discover things after having lived in the place for a while that you never would have thought of in the planning stage. So even if you have a holistic plan, don’t be afraid to adjust and adapt as you get to know your plot better.
Common mistakes to avoid
Too large hard surfaces – It’s easy to make the driveway and parking larger than what’s really needed. The result is a sterile feeling that’s difficult to compensate for.
Forgetting electricity and water – Digging up finished areas to run cables and pipes afterwards is both expensive and frustrating.
Sawing down trees too quickly – Many regret it when it’s too late. A large tree takes 30-40 years to replace.
Too little soil depth – Saving on soil never pays off in the long run. Plants become weak and lawn dries out.
Poor soil quality – Cheap soil full of weeds becomes enormously more expensive in the long run.
Not planning for compaction damage – Protect the ground during construction so the soil isn’t destroyed.
Bare soil for too long – Cover areas that won’t be established immediately, otherwise weeds take over.
Trying to do everything at once – It becomes stressful, expensive, and often less thoughtful. Divide into phases.
Summary: Your checklist
Before house construction begins:
- [ ] Hire garden designer for holistic thinking
- [ ] Set aside 10% of house budget for garden
- [ ] Analyze plot (sun, wind, soil, existing vegetation)
- [ ] Make a plan for level differences and masses
- [ ] Plan where functions like parking, patios, and growing will be located
During house construction:
- [ ] Coordinate all ground work
- [ ] Use excavated masses smartly
- [ ] Establish hard surfaces (driveway, paths, patio)
- [ ] Bury electricity for lighting and future needs
- [ ] Bury water lines to different parts of garden
- [ ] Protect existing trees from damage
Immediately after moving in:
- [ ] Remove gravel where plantings and grass will be
- [ ] Remedy any compaction damage
- [ ] Fill with quality soil to proper depth
- [ ] Plant hedges and trees for privacy screening
- [ ] Establish lawn or cover ground with landscape fabric
- [ ] Create basic plantings
First-second year:
- [ ] Complete with perennials and shrubs
- [ ] Create biodiversity with varied vegetation
- [ ] Refine details and lighting
- [ ] Establish growing areas if applicable
Closing thoughts
Establishing a garden for a newly built house is a fantastic opportunity to create something exactly as you want it – a garden that suits your family and your needs. With the right planning from the beginning, you can avoid expensive mistakes and create a garden that works from day one.
Remember that a garden is something living that develops over time. The first years may feel a bit sparse and unfinished, but be patient. In just a few years, the hedges will be dense, the trees large, and the borders lush. And then you have a garden worth waiting for – a place where life unfolds, where children play, where you mingle with friends, and where you can relax after a long day.
A well-thought-out, well-planned garden is an investment that pays back manifold through all the years you live in your house. So take your time with the planning, dare to ask for help when you need it, and then enjoy the journey toward your dream garden.
Good luck!
A wide range of plants, greenhouses and garden supplies can be found at Wexthuset
