Garden Design IdeasGarden Ideas, Photos and Tips for Gardening at Home

Whether you plan to build a garden from scratch or will be reach revise to your current garden , it ’s always helpful to get ideas and direction from those who have been project garden for year . Four fashion designer in New York , California , Washington State , and England share what they learn as they design their own personal gardens .

STORYBOOK BEAUTY

At their home in Long Island , NY , designer Conni Cross and her husband naturalized the edges of an irregularly shaped swimming puddle with moss tilt and timberland planting , allowing it to blend seamlessly into the wooded setting . Graceful crape myrtles and Japanese maple frame the pocket billiards with an engaging show of color in all time of year . exposure by : Claire Takacs .

New York garden designer Conni Cross shares what she ’s con while designing her garden in Long Island , New York — an on-going projection that she has been working on for more than 30 years .

Do research . We are all prone to impulse buying and engage home base works with a pretty face . I ’ve get wind to explore plant diverseness soundly and to prefer sagely when it comes to groundwork Tree and shrubs that will last for many years .

Lomg Island, Pool Garden
Conni Cross Garden Design

Incorporate bed . plant in layers mimicker the canopy found in nature . you could fill up gaps around institution trees and shrub with shorter - live perennials .

Encourage exploration . Design an outside space so that you ca n’t see everything at once , to create a feeling of intrigue and mystery .

Combine styles . Combining formal plant , such as boxwood , with naturalistic plants , such as Japanese maple , lends structure and balance .

Lomg Island, Pool Garden
Conni Cross Garden Design

establish for all four time of year . This is a trademark of my design . Choose plants with flowers , berry , barque , fragrance , and compelling structure .

Plan for growth . Whatever the spacing says on the plant label , double that figure . Happy plant life inevitably grow larger than their estimated size of it .

Maintain the space . even criminal maintenance is an often - overlooked component of designing a garden . I like to stay true to the original design as much as possible .

Lomg Island, Pool Garden
Conni Cross Garden Design

WATERWISE & WORRY-FREE

extravagantly layered plantings of ornamental grasses , perennials , and succulents delineate the boardwalk and gravel route that head from the mansion down the backyard slope at Debora Carl ’s property in Encinitas , CA . patrician chalksticks — Carl ’s best-loved go - to groundcover — complements reduplicate peach - apricot highlights ofKniphofia(center ) andCordyline(far left ) . Photo by : Richard Bloom .

At her belongings in Encinitas , California , designer Debora Carl create a satiny , modern , colour - fat , waterwise garden . Here are a few tips she learn along the way .

Site strategically . locate seating areas and other significant feature secretive to the house where you will be more potential to revel them . element place too far away may experience isolated , and therefore may be used less often .

Lomg Island, Pool Garden
Conni Cross Garden Design

Use semblance sagely . Combine plant life with complementary colors such as blue and orange to create ocular tension . Adding another soda of colour such as red lends an extra layer of complexity and create an unexpected surprise . Repeat these same colours to unify the landscape painting and establish ordering .

Create ocular residual . Use strong , square rail line and axis to define the social organisation of a garden , and break the edge with plant .

link up constituent together . Match the colour of your exterior paint to a dominant peak or foliage color in a planting bed , then apply the same key to a opus of garden article of furniture for repetition and a pleasing composition .

Add a focal gunpoint . Use a carving , garden prowess , or an interesting container to give the eye a place to pause and apprize the surround .

NORTHWEST TRANQUILITY

At this home in Vashon Island , WA , a European - inspired natural spring was place outside the kitchen windowpane and next to an arbor - covered dining region where it can be savor year - rotund . When David Pfeiffer and his cooperator , David Klein , decided to simplify the garden a few years ago , they removed aquatic plant life from the fountain and replaced them with untarnished sword gazing balls that constantly move , reflecting the sky as they float on the Earth’s surface of the water . Photo by : Claire Takacs .

Designer David Pfeiffer and his cooperator , Daniel Klein , took an undeveloped property on Vashon Island near Seattle and transformed it into a garden with dedicated area for dining , mill around , quiet contemplation , and entertaining . Pfeiffer shares some of his baksheesh for plan .

Unite garden and home base . Design the garden the same mode you would plan the floor plan for your home . Decide how you need to live and nurse in your garden , and be sure your pathways , patio , and article of furniture layouts reverberate this .

think of that less is more . Limit garden laurel wreath and accessorizing . or else , rely on architectural component such as arbor , stairs , and walls to unify the business firm with the garden . circumscribe the amount of plant variety , and works in large textural drifts to facilitate rivet the center . pick out plant that require minimum pruning and lacrimation .

Design based on how you like to entertain . admit dining and conversation area that adapt how you live .

Tie it all together . For hardscape and planting choices , hold honest to the patois of your home ’s architecture and the surface area you experience in . It does n’t have to be stringently native , but utilize local materials when possible for a regional aesthetic ( and to lighten your carbon step ) .

Encourage geographic expedition and discovery . Key characteristic such as a swimming puddle or seating should be conveniently placed , but also include destinations like a bench or gazebo farther out that dish as destinations and surprises .

STRUCTURE & STYLE

This classical English - style perennial delimitation at the home of Jeremy and Beverly Allen in southeast England is more than 100 railway yard long . The delimitation was exhort by the grand mete at Great Dixter and Sissinghurst Castle Garden and positioned to take vantage of the borrowed views of majestic shade trees and clip hedging beyond , adding an supernumerary dimension of layering and height . Late - summertime perennial — coneflower , phlox , Joe Pye sens , catmint , aster , and ornamental grasses — make a restful tapis of texture and physical body . Photo by : Richard Bloom .

Garden interior designer Jeremy Allen and his wife , Beverly , transformed a dense thicket into a beautiful countryside landscape with neatly fix garden suite . Here are some of Allen ’s tips for designing .

utilise strong shape . Using uniformly square or curving lines for elements such as hardscape , hedges , or planting beds bestow order to a blank .

Install structural ingredient first . Installing hardscape and planting trees , shrubs , and hedges first will define the structure of your garden . This will provide a unspoilt level set to show off other plant and wintertime interest when perennials go abeyant .

moot how and where light falls . Light and shadows create ambience and animate a space . A carefully place tree diagram or interesting topiary can make soft ignitor or atmospherical shadow .

Choose plant that provide consistent form , texture , and foliage . The secret to reach a well - looking border is select industrial plant that continue to provide an attractive overall shape both before and after flowering .

Use repeat . Repeating the same plants throughout a edge and in dissimilar area of your garden create ocular rhythm . It also creates coherence and makes a garden experience whole , even if orbit are disparate from each other .

These tips were excerpt from the clause “ Dream Gardens ” in the Winter 2018 consequence of Garden Design powder magazine .