What Garden Style Suits you?
What is your vision for your property? This is the best place to start. It is important that your garden unifies your property - your garden should complement and reflect your home and style.
Remember, though, that mixing styles, themes, materials and plants can result in something that detracts from your property rather than enhances it.
If there are different themes you want to incorporate into the overall design, consider forming garden rooms where there are distinct transitions that do not interrupt the flow of the garden.
Attract Wildlife to your Garden
Creating a natural habitat in a residential area is fantastic for the environment. Use natural covers such as logs, shrubs, plants, and trees that are indigenous to your area. Add water features such as a pond or birdbath; food in the form of fruit trees and bird feeders. And, organic gardening is your best gardening practice to keep any wildlife safe in your environment.
Traditional Cottage Gardens
Maybe you love the old cottage gardens filled with colour and perfume. The layout is usually formal with a path leading from the gate to the front door. Garden beds have brick, stone or wood edging and there is always a vegetable garden somewhere. The plants are a mixture of herbs, fruit trees, flowers, bushes and vines in informal groups. This is very much the traditional edible garden that uses rustic materials such as wood and stone as backdrops for plantings. Plants found in cottage gardens include roses, lavender, nasturtiums, wisteria, sweet peas and lilies.
Formal and Informal English Gardens
What typifies an English garden is its neatly bordered lawn areas with masses of lush plantings in the beds. Whether they are laid out formally or not, the beds are filled with flowers and flowering shrubs; and there will always be somewhere to sit and relax. In a formal English garden, you will find the hedges meticulously maintained.
Put Permanent Romance into your Garden
Walls for privacy, trellises trailing perfumed flowering plants and pergolas are typical of the romantic garden. Its purpose is as a place of pure relaxation and enjoyment. Add the sound of running water, plants that excite you and unusual plants that remind you of romance. Create private areas for contemplation and make a feature of an ornament you love in your garden.
Gardens to Enjoy at Night
Maybe the only time you have to spend in your garden is as the sun goes down. Plant light colored flowers that open or release their perfume after dark - for example, night blooming jasmine and the moonflower vine. Use plants that invite nocturnal creatures into your garden and plan your garden to create silhouettes - use garden lights in the trees and along paths.
A Garden for the Children
This should be a place of wonder and delight for your children. Avoid using poisons and planting toxic plants. Get your children involved with the planning and planting. Use edible plants such as corn, tomatoes, peas, flowering plants, and shrubs that attract wildlife to the garden. Turn it into a true children's playground with meandering paths, wild areas, play areas and secret places for the children to hide.
Gardens that Flourish by the Sea
Use plants that survive in a Mediterranean environment - palm trees, succulents, bulbs, fruit trees and roses. Use ground covers and low growing plants that are salt tolerant. Give the garden depth using lines and stepped planting levels along with paved patio and living areas for outdoor living.
Japanese Gardens for Peace and Tranquility
Japanese gardens bring peace and tranquility into your home. While a Japanese garden is thought of like this, they have multipurpose uses using subtle transitions. Some invite you to meditate; others display rare plants or are water based. Green plants abound in all Japanese gardens; and rocks form natural paths and are used as features. Walkways and bridges are used as backdrops for beautiful flowering trees. You may even see mass plantings of iris along the banks of a pond.
