Garden Design - Considering Microclimates And Planning - By: Steve Boulden

Wherever you live, and whatever the weather conditions in your area, your garden will have its own special climate - its microclimate - brought about by a number of factors working together. The factors include the orientation of your site, its protection from wind, whether it slopes or not, and the amount of sun and shade it receives each day. So as well as average conditions for your area, it is important to consider your site's microclimate in its landscape design.

Any structures that you place on your site have an immediate effect on its microclimate. For example, a house creates a windbreak and alters the flow of air around and above it. There will be a warm area and a colder one created on either side of the building; and shade at certain times of the day. Walls and fences similarly have an effect on a site, as do natural features like trees and hedges.

Locally, the temperature changes according to the composition of the ground surface. Some surfaces, for example, bitumen, get so hot that you cannot walk on them in summer and this heat is felt in the air above. By contrast, concrete surfaces stay relatively cool. Grass is always cool, although the temperature of the soil beneath is influenced by the length of the grass above it. You can use such temperature changes to help you grow warmth-loving plants - for example, semi-tropical plants grow well in front of a brick wall, or you can espalier fruit trees against a wall facing the sun if you live in a cool area. Surfaces that heat up during the day will release the heat slowly throughout the night. This effect can be used to mitigate frost damage in susceptible areas.

To reduce exposure to wind in any garden, some sort of barrier is usually needed. It has been shown that solid barriers like wooden fences create areas of turbulence on each side, so the best sort of barriers are those that are semi-permeable - only half solid. Such a barrier will act as a filter. Wind is slowed and areas of turbulence are not created. You can use lightly-foliaged trees, an open boarded fence or a brick fence with spaces between the bricks to provide an effective wind barrier.

Water has varying effects on microclimate. It stabilises the temperature of the air to a greater or lesser extent depending on the size of the pond. A pond reflects light from its surface, so plants surrounding a pond tend to get both more water and more light than those planted elsewhere. However, while a pond has a cooling effect on a hot summer's day, it can have a positively chilling effect in winter, so you have to remember this when deciding where to place a pond in your garden.

Both people and plants benefit when you think carefully about your site's microclimate and plan accordingly.

About the Author

Article courtesy of Steve Boulden, creator of Landscaping Videos.com which offers free landscaping ideas, garden plans, pictures, and advice. For more ideas, visit http://www.the-landscapingvideos.com.

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Steve-Boulden/1799

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