Neighborhoods are starting to look more uniform all the time. With HOA rules making homeowners paint their houses one of only a few basic color choices, it is getting harder to express your personal style. Not being allowed to paint your house neon fuchsia doesn’t limit most creativity, but there is just so much beige and gray on houses anymore. They all often end up looking alike.
That’s where a great garden comes in. By using your garden to express your personal style you can personalize your home’s exterior, just like you do by decorating inside. Interior decorating is quite similar to exterior decorating in that it is an expression of who you are.
Tip One – What is Your Garden Style?
Gardening is an alternative for expressing your personal style, outdoors and indoors. Determining what your personal gardening style is, will be the place to start.
There are several different types of gardens:
- Japanese Gardens – with bonsai trees and koi ponds
- Modern Gardens – made up of bold lines with strong geometry
- Mediterranean Gardens – exuding old world charm
- English Gardens – a neat, well organized classic garden
- Cottage Gardens – a wild, natural, even overgrown look
- Tropical Gardens – to create a lush paradise
- Desert Gardens – honoring native plants and landscapes
- Eco Friendly Gardens – organic and sustainable
- Indoor Gardens – all year long, especially growing dazzling, royal amaryllis for Christmas
Tip Two – Plan your Garden Area
Take the time to set out the area you want to plant.
- Use rope to outline curved flower beds.
- Draw pictures.
- Use your computer skills.
- Make lists.
Every minute you spend thinking about how you want your garden to look will pay off in the end. If you are looking for a well manicured, neat and organized English Garden and you don’t plan well, you may end up with the overgrown, wild Cottage Garden you didn’t want.
Tip Three – Research Your Hardiness Zone
Know when to plant which plants. Some plants are fine with some cold nights. Some thrive on being planted in the fall and then blooming in the spring. It will all just be a waste of time, money, and energy if you plants seeds, bulbs or seedlings at the wrong time of year.
Tip Four – Show Your Style
Flowers, trees, bushes, and even vegetables are like clothes. Don’t just buy what’s on sale. Buy what is going to be perfect for you. Do you love pink? Buy pink fuchsias. Do you love the look of well-manicured bushes? Don’t buy cedar. Add garden gnomes or a statue of Venus. Whatever suits you. Plan your garden from the top, don’t just put seeds or seedlings in as you go along. Unless, of course, that’s your style! [Editor’s note: Remember to plan for the size the plants will be when full-grown, not just the size they are at planting!]
Tip Five – Enhance your Landscape
Some plots of land lend themselves to one style of garden more than another. That doesn’t mean you should ignore your style, but that adding your style to the natural landscape will give you a magnificent combination. Some of this is as obvious as not planting tropical plants in the desert unless you plan to water them hourly. The rest is to look at the flow of the land.
If your land is completely flat, make sure your garden isn’t. Normal interior decorating rules apply, like using odd numbers, and having the taller things in the back.
Starting a garden is much more time consuming and difficult than maintaining one. Once you have your basic plan then each year you can simply add the annual plants you want, while using the perennials as a backdrop. That gives you both variety, and no need to go through the entire planning process every year.
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