TIPS TO MAKE YOUR GARDEN BEAUTIFUL

 

Planning your garden design;

Did you dig in without considering garden design when you were starting out? That's what I did. I just kept making my beds a little wider each year to put in more perennials. It was a matter of learning by doing.

FIRST, HAVE A DESIGN ON A PAPER;

No, you don't have to draw out a plan, showing where every single perennial plant goes.
I was trained in garden design, and most of the time I don't have the patience for that!
The pros do it to figure out the exact number of plants to order, but home gardeners usually don't work that way.
When I make a drawing for myself, it's generally a simple one to show the layout of a bed, and a basic planting plan that shows the most important plants only.

 A logical planting scheme to follow;

 A lot of folks see gardening primarily as getting color into their yards. But if you focus on colorful flowers first and foremost, it's a bit like arranging the lamps, accessories and pictures before your house has even been built.

I once took a landscape design course taught by the British garden guru John Brooke, author of John Brooke Garden Design. He advises planning and planting in the following order: First, the "specials", usually large deciduous trees that serve as focal points; next the "skeletons," evergreens or hedges for year-round structure.
 
DECORATIVE FLOWERS;

 
Then come the "decorative", flowering shrubs or tall grasses. And, finally, you get to the "pretties" - spring and summer-blooming perennials and fillers such as bulbs, annuals or biennials.

Planting your garden will be easier if you take a little time to plan before you buy plants. Remember: nobody creates a prize-winning flower garden the first year - but you weren't going to invite the garden club over for coffee - not just yet anyway?