Brent Weighs In On The Art of Garden Design

Art, just like smell, taste, touch, and sound, is really a personal perception. We all have different preferences, and these preferences transfer over wholeheartedly when considering the art of garden design.

Some of us like clean lines, others like a little bit of organized chaos. Particular colors, fragrances, or structures may be dreamy to some and just downright awful to others. So, while there are always new trends hitting the market, the art of garden design is really an art of pairing certain principles with particular preferences.

While it’s a little tricky to pin down one particular set of rules that all should follow when considering the art of garden design, there are a few steps, considerations, and questions to keep in mind.

1. Find Out As Much About The Garden Site As You Can

Before you start planting, intimately get to know the particular garden site you are hoping to design. What type of light will your plants get here? Most full sun gardens get sunlight for about the average workday (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.), whereas shadier areas might get a little bit of morning sun but are generally shaded for more than six hours in the day. Study your garden in the morning, mid-morning, and through the day until around dusk to figure this out.

Remember that your garden is a place to play, relax, and have fun.

Whether it’s a particularly wet or dry area, and what growing zone you reside within will help determine what plants will thrive within a particular garden design.

2. What Are Your Personal Preferences?

When it comes down to colors and fragrance, keep your own personal preferences in mind. What is your absolute favorite color? Do you love or hate the heady scent of Paperwhite Narcissus? When selecting plants for your new garden design, set aside trends or what’s popular for a moment, and remember that this is YOUR garden – so pick plants you like!

3. What Kind of Bloom Cycle Do You Want to See?

Do you want your garden to bloom sequentially or simultaneously? If you want everything to be blooming at the same time, or say, to bloom with a color echo in mind, this will impact which plants you select for your garden. On the opposite spectrum, if you want a sequential bloom, you will want to choose plants that will bloom at different times throughout the season.

When laying out a sequential blooming garden, consider planting the early season bloomers at the back of the garden. Then plant the mid-season bloomers and the late-season bloomers in the forefront, so you aren’t looking at dead flowers as the new ones are coming into bloom.

4. Design Your Garden With Maintenance & Upkeep In Mind

Are you the kind of person who likes your garden to be neat and tidy? Pristine even? Or do you like a little bit of wild? Consider these questions and then think about how much time you will have to dedicate to your garden.

5. Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Chew

Are you new to gardening? If so, start small! Whether it’s guitar, a language, or the art of garden design, the old adage remains true—you have to learn to walk before you can run.

Perhaps consider the idea of a raised garden bed design, so your new garden is contained. Or, start with the most highly focal area in your yard. Pick that garden bed that you will walk past coming in and out of your front door every day, or the one that you will look out your kitchen window over each morning. Once you have that space on lockdown and you’ve figured out what works and what doesn’t, move on to the next.

Whether you are trying to figure out how to design a flower garden bed or a vegetable garden, Brent’s biggest piece of advice for you is to remember that your garden is a place to play, relax, and have fun. If you have any burning questions (and you likely will!), give us a call, or stay tuned to the blog for more helpful gardening tips and tricks.