Garden Design Primer for Your Landscape

Garden Design Basics

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While straight lines may work well for one backyard flowerbed, another gardener might feel hemmed in by strict lines and prefer wandering borders.
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Garden designs are not etched in stone.
No one can tell you how to plant your own garden. Each gardener must choose what works and design the garden accordingly.

By: Life123 Editors
Several basic designs are popular.
Straight lines, wandering borders, groupings of three or more plants, container gardening and specialty gardening are a few of the common styles.

By: Life123 Editors
Rectangular or square gardens work well with vegetables.
Because vegetables are planted in rows, straight lines are perfect for this garden.

By: Life123 Editors

Trap Door

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Don't be afraid to bend design rules.
Your garden is your getaway. It can be whatever you want it to be.

By: Life123 Editors
Don't omit permanent borders.
Fences, boundary lines, stone walls and rock gardens all provide permanent border lines. These are great places to plant tall flowers that need additional support, or flowers and herbs that require control. For a well-manicured look, remove all flowers or herbs that grow outside the permanent border.

By: Life123 Editors
Don't worry about lack of space.
Don't have a lot of garden space? Containers of various sizes can be grouped together on patios, porches and stairs, spread haphazardly throughout a terrace garden or strategically placed at the edge of the neighboring forest.

By: Life123 Editors

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Adding Color to your Landscape

What you see isn't necessarily what others see when it comes to color. Picking color combinations for the garden is a personal choice with no hard and ...

By: Andrea Hansley Smith

Period Landscaping for Your Home's Heritage

Nothing is more aesthetically pleasing than to see a home from another era surrounded by lawns and gardens of the time. Many times when a property owner ...

By: Jenna Remilard

Winter Gardening Tips

Many gardeners take a sabbatical for the winter months, but that doesn't mean your garden has to. While you're hibernating indoors, planning and plotting ...

By: Andrea Hansley Smith