by Tauqeer Ul Hassan
In large gardens, the ample space enables you to use banks instead of walls for terracing. As the paved area in such gardens is much closer to the house, therefore, it is supported by a substantial retaining wall professionally designed by a structural engineer. Large banked gardens usually have a leveled surface, so you need not worry about leveling the either sides of the paving. The area right in front of the wall is cut out of the slope so as to give you a flat area along with bank on each side. Steps come down from the upper paving and the area of the paving at the foot of the steps should be leveled and it must be flushed with the lawn.
Gardening, as compared to lawn care, tutors us in nature’s ways, fostering an ethic of give and take with respect to the land. gardens instruct us in the particularities of place. They lessen our dependence on distant sources of energy, technology, food, and, for that matter, interest. For if lawn mowing feels like copying the same sentence over and over, gardening is like writing out new ones, an infinitely variable process of invention and discovery. gardens also teach the necessary if rather un-American lesson that nature and culture can be compromised, that there might be some middle ground between the lawn and the forest—between those who would complete the conquest of the planet in the name of progress and those who believe it’s time we abdicated our rule and left the earth in the care of its more innocent species. The garden suggests there might be a place where we can meet nature halfway.
—Michael Pollin, U. S. author, journalist, editor. “Why Mow? The Case Against Lawns,” repr. In Best American Essays 1990, Ticknor & Fields (1990)
You can include a pond in your design as well. The pond is usually made by curving the retaining walls in towards the house and it can be either a cascade or a fountain. You can also introduce a traditional lion's head spouting water into the pool. One advantage of having a curved wall is that it will stress emphasize the sound of the moving water. The paving can be extended further beyond the pool into the lawn if required.
The lawn in these gardens usually stretches towards the end of the plot and is therefore the leveling of the ground shifts from 'cut' to 'fill'. Remember, except the central steps, all the leveling is mostly dealt with grassy banks. This garden normally has very moderate slopes of the bank. The steps have a tread on the top and are flushed with lawn. Each side of the steps contains two flanking walls. In many cases where the steps are set well into the bank, the grass will begins to spill down onto the steps without any walling. This will make thing difficult for mower and in that case the trimmer is the only choice. The bottom part of the lawn may not be properly leveled and is therefore sloping down towards the shrubs and trees. In small gardens the introduction of trees may seem complex as mowing become difficult in that case, but for large gardens you can add trees as an effective feature, such as Catalpa bignonioides 'Aurea' would be an ideal choice for this type of gardens. Hover type mower is more useful in this type of lawns as they are effective for the banks and some awkward corners as well.
Have We not made the earth as a cradle and the mountains as pegs? And We created you in pairs, and We appointed your sleep for a rest; and We appointed night for a garment, and We appointed day for a livelihood. And We have built above you seven strong ones, and We appointed a blazing lamp and have sent down out of the rain-clouds water cascading that We may bring forth thereby grain and plants, and gardens luxuriant.
—Qur’An. “The Tiding,” 78:6-16, trans. by Arthur J. Arberry (1955)
These gardens do not contain any fruits or vegetables, no greenhouse or summerhouse; only trees, paving, shrubs and grass. The paved area is always the one who achieve the real sunlight, but one can relax or sit on the seat set under the cool and nice shadow of any of the tree in the lower lawn to enjoy the greenery as well as the natural atmosphere. You might want to learn about Design a Large Garden and also Design a Large Banked Garden.