Garden Design IdeasGarden Ideas, Photos and Tips for Gardening at Home
Planting design , often overlooked , can be tricky for new and experient gardeners likewise . apply the following suggestions to ensure that the plantings in your garden have a clear intent and grab the attention of people , bee , birds and butterflies .
SELECTING PLANTS WITH PURPOSE
1. Choose Plants Wisely for the Front Row
The works at the seeable edge along a walk , patio , or lawn , can make all the conflict in its appearance . small - growing plant life in the front row accentuate the conformation of the bed , damp rough edges , and help draw aid to the taller plants behind .
Low - growingboxwood , shaped as small globes , make a neat and challenging edge along a stone walk . Photo by : Jan Johnsen .
Low - growing plants in the front row should be full , reckon good in a assembly line , and not involve too much fear . If you view a garden bed from a distance , the tiptop of butt against plants can be comparatively high — around 2 feet . In bed that are watch up near , the boundary line plants should be lower than 2 invertebrate foot .
Annuals such assweet alyssummake a wonderful white butt against with its slow , tiny , fragrant bloodless flowers . If cut back they will flower all time of year . The perennial green and white variegated Liriope muscari ( Liriope muscari ) is another of my favorites for edging beds .
2. Think About Sunlight’s Impact on Color
Ourcolor choices in the landscapeare , for the most part , influence by our geographical locale , the Lord’s Day ’s intensity , and the time of year . For example , in England , pastel colors entrance while bright people of colour may appear garish in the muffled , north luminousness . This is why Gertrude Jekyll , the illustrious British garden graphic designer , saw purpleness as a difficult color . But in a bright , sunny semitropic garden , every shade of purpleness and magenta is riotously appealing .
The orange and purplish found in the ‘ Magnus’coneflower(Echinacea purpurea‘Magnus ’ ) looks not bad in the intense summer sun . exposure by : Jan Johnsen .
likewise , our colouration preferences can change with the season . In other spring , when the light is easygoing , we are inebriate by light pink and soft yellow . As the class build up , and the sunlight becomes strong , pastel look wash off out and we starve strong reds , atomic number 79 and orangeness alfresco .
3. Consider Form, Line & Color
It is not often that plants are referred to as an arabesque , which means a sinuate decorative line of reasoning or motive . But it realize sense that a passe-partout landscape artist from Brazil , Roberto Burle Marx , saw industrial plant in this way :
“ A garden is a complex of esthetic and plastic intentions ; and the plant is , to a landscape creative person , not only a plant life — rare , unusual , ordinary or destine to disappearance — but it is also a color , a form , a mass or an arabesque in itself . ”- Roberto Burle Marx
He counsels us to view plants as part of a design palette , appreciating their form , line or colour and to envision what they might bring to a garden .
The yellowed - and - green - striped , sheer foliage of ‘ Bengal Tiger ’ canna lilies always steal the show . They contrast nicely with the livid efflorescence of the peegeehydrangeain the summer . Photo by : Jan Johnsen .
CAPTIVATING WITH FOLIAGE, FLOWERS AND FRAGRANCE
4. Create a Foliage Tapestry
I find it interesting that , while we may plant a enceinte mass of one low - arise plant as a groundcover , Nature , if given a selection , prefers to integrate it up , with many species produce side - by - side . Why not do the same and plant a conglomeration of different foliage and groundcover plant that like the same precondition ?
This stunning symphonic music of groundcovers and ferns is in Phyllis Warden ’s garden in Bedford , NY . Red - leavedPerillacontrasts with white and fleeceable ‘ Jack Frost ’ brunnera ( Brunnera macrophylla’Jack Frost ' ) , Japanese painted fern ( Athyrium niponicum pictum ) and the calcium hydroxide coloredbleeding heart(Dicentra spectabilis‘Gold Heart ’ ) . photograph by : Jan Johnsen .
Some advise against this style of planting because intermixed plant life may be difficult to care for . But if you do not want a massive smell , and do n’t take care some tending , plant a compounding of small - leaved groundcover with tumid - bequeath foliage plants . The outcome can be downright enthralling !
5. Embrace the “Sound” of Flowers
The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers.- Basho ( Nipponese poet , 17th hundred )
Multi - coloredzinnias"sing " in unison on a summertime morning . Photo by : Jan Johnsen .
No matter how beautiful an outside space is , it is always the pot or plant bed full of flowers that gather the most praise . The delight that flowers land goes beyond pretty blossoms and seraphic - smelling sweetness . Using the metaphor of music , bloom add high up - pitch , angelical tones to the symphony within a garden . It is their soaring song , with tone of puritanical , pink , white and more that we all savor .
6. Incorporate Food for the Nose
Aroma is nutrient for the nose . On average , a person describe 23,000 breaths a day and the smell check in each breath convey data , mood and enkindle memories in a way that nothing else can . Here are three tips for incorporating scented plant in a landscape :
Get hypnotism forfragrant blossom shrubsand learnhow to produce a peaceful garden .
Nothing can neuter our modality as chop-chop as scent . This is because smell live straight to the limbic section of the brain that hold in stress levels , heart rate and blood insistence . Rosesare both beautiful and therapeutic ! pic by : Jan Johnsen .
ATTRACTING BEES, BIRDS AND BUTTERFLIES
7. Remember the Pollinators
A garden is a complex , lifelike world that we often overlook . While we are admiring the color , fragrance and aspect of a glorious landscape painting , hummingbirds , butterflies , bees , birds and more are tirelessly pollinating our plants . planetary evidence suggests that pollinator population are declining due to many factors , admit habitat devastation , so please consider making your garden a haven for these amazing creatures .
bee and butterflies love bundle spate passel ( Pycnanthemum muticum ) . It has pinkish - white , aromatic flowers surround by argent bract . Blooms August through September . Photo by : Jan Johnsen .
you may startattracting pollinator to your gardenby planting flowers , tree and shrubs that are nectar - rich . Also , consider the color they wish . For instance , hummingbirds are particularly fond of red , while bees seem to choose flowers in the purple / violet range .
For more , see : blossom for a Bee - Friendly Garden .
8. Birdscape with Berried Plants
Many flora produce yield or seed in late summertime to light when birds are getting ready to transmigrate in the south . The fruit of plants such asdogwood(Cornus),crabapple(Malus ) , andelderberry(Sambucus ) add interest to the landscape while sustain our square friends . And you might consider planting one of the manyViburnumvarieties . Viburnumberries pull a legion of razzing in the fall such as robins , bluebirds , thrush , gray catbird , cardinals , finches and waxwings . Discover moreberry - bearing trees and shrubs .
Crabapples are small - statured ornamental trees known for their fruit . The varieties that have lasting modest crab apple , less than three - fourth inch in diameter , can feed birds into the wintertime . Some bird - friendly cultivars to consider include ‘ John Singer Sargent ’ , ’ Red Splendor ’ , and ‘ Donald Wyman ’ . Photo by : Jan Johnsen .
Chokeberry(Aroniaspp . ) is a aboriginal baccate plant that holds on to its yield over the winter . This wetland bush , true to its name , has fruits that are quite bitter . Because of this , birds do n’t eat them until they ’ve undergone several frost / thaw cycle . Thus , the berries allow for both winter food as well as coloring . A chokeberry to try is the audacious , self - fertile ‘ Viking ’ black chokeberry ( Aronia melanocarpa’Viking ' ) . Its extra - large blackened berry persist through the winter , feeding the first returning robin .
9. Bring on the Butterflies
“ felicity is a butterfly stroke , which when follow up on , is always just beyond your grasp , but which , if you will sit down restfully , may alight upon you . ”- Nathaniel Hawthorne
‘ prosperous White’lantanaand‘Superbells depressed ’ calibrachoaare a great jazz group to draw in butterflies . exposure by : Jan Johnsen .
The abbreviated delight of a butterfly face-off is well worth the effort to institute a garden consecrate to attracting these lovely pollinator . Summer - blossom flowerssuch aslantana , mist-flower , cosmos anddahliasare great butterfly stroke magnet .
Perennial flowers that are full of nectar are a butterfly stroke ’s pleasure . near options includeconeflowers , hyssop , bee balm , catmint , andastersamong others ( get proffer forbutterfly garden plants ) . So if you have a sunny receptive spot , some protection from wind , and fresh water ( they like shallow puddles ) , then plant some butterfly flower and sit down quietly to savor a snatch of happiness .
For more , see : How to Make a Butterfly Garden .
Landscape Design TipsIdeas for an Enticing Cottage Garden
Books by Jan Johnsen
Gardentopia
Heaven is a Garden
The Spirit of Stone
