Unique Garden Plans and Designs
Gardens are a lot of work, but when properly executed they provide a great deal of pleasure all season long. Garden planning involves the basics such as selecting and placing plants, and incorporating an irrigation system to ensure plant health and your overall success. But there is an artistic side to garden planning as well, where hardscaping and other elements can be incorporated into the garden design for a totally unforgettable look. Here are some great ideas for creating a unique and compelling flower or vegetable garden.
Flower Garden Ideas
With flower garden designs, the main goal is to create eye-catching highlights and showy displays of colors and texture. In addition, your flowering plants should be planted strategically, so that each area features blooms at varying times in the growing season. Consider the following tips for making your flower garden unforgettable.
- Terraced Flowerbeds: With a little terracing, you can add height to your garden and bring it to life. Terraced flowerbeds give you many more opportunities to add contrast and work to give your flower garden a unique look.
- Eye-Catching Trellises: Nothing is more memorable in a flower garden than a vine-filled trellis. Throughout the growing season, the trellis will be alternatively pure green in color and then sport bright, vibrant colors when the vine flowers. To really create a showy green focal point, plant an assortment of grasses and shrubs in the space around it in varying hues and textures.
- Garden Seating: Historically, gardens have been a quiet place for contemplation and thoughtfulness, making the garden bench or other seating the perfect addition to your garden layout and design. Here, you can do anything from a simple slab of concrete for a modern look to a rustic looking wooden bench. Curved stone benches are equally as lovely.
Vegetable Garden Ideas
While vegetable gardens are intended to be more functional than aesthetic, that doesn’t mean you can’t design the garden space to be beautiful as well. Here are some compelling design ideas to help you make the most out of your garden space.
- Vertical Trellises and Supports: Unless you are growing something like corn, height can be very difficult to achieve in a vegetable garden. Thus, it’s important to take full advantage of vining plants like peas, cucumbers, and blackberry bushes to really balance out the space. Choose attractive trellises and supports that create a statement and really add to your garden design.
- Raised Beds: Not only do raised beds create a great deal of interest when it comes to a garden design, but they are extremely beneficial to the health of your vegetable plants as well. Raised beds enable you to grow more vegetables in less space, promote healthy root systems, and get a jump on the season (as they warm up and dry out faster in spring). Raised beds also enable you to be more creative with your garden layout overall.
When it comes to garden planning, the design itself helps create the mood and define the space. Whether you are looking to create a showy display for entertaining or a serene environment for relaxation and contemplation, taking the time to carefully design the space first can make all the difference in helping you to achieve your goals.