Flower garden design is an art that many gardeners aspire to master. Achieving success with any flower garden requires taking into account various factors.
Soil preparation and careful matching of plants are two crucial aspects of floral arrangement design, while others like style and color play more of a personal role. Experienced designers use principles of good floral arrangement design to craft stunning arrangements that please the eye.
Measure Your Space
Most flowering plants need full sun for optimal growth and bloom. When making your rough sketch of your garden, mark any sunny spots on it.
Be sure to identify any shady areas; otherwise it can be challenging for plant beds in those spots to thrive without adequate shade from nearby trees or perennial flowers.
Locate any structures in your garden such as patios, drives and ponds which could interfere with or require relocation for your new bed. Measure their sizes and mark them on a rough sketch of your garden plan.
Create a Rough Sketch
Sketch or formal garden design your design on paper at scale (one unit on paper equaling one larger measurement in your actual border), to keep plant groupings proportional and more accurately determine how many plants will be needed. This can make it much simpler.
Determine what style of flower garden you prefer. Do you favor formal beds and hardscape features like pathways or something more naturalistic that blends into the surrounding environment?
A focal point can be any object, such as a statue, trellis, bench or structure such as a pergola or fountain in your garden. But its visual lines should guide visitors away from that focal point to other interesting parts of the garden.
Consider Focal Points
Garden structures such as pergolas and trellises make a lovely addition to flower beds and can serve as focal points. Furthermore, these structures also add height and definition to the garden space.
Experts advise arranging flowering plants by their height, with taller plants at the back of the bed and shorter plants in front. This ensures all the plants receive enough sunlight.
Consider the foliage (also referred to as form or habit) of your plant for visual interest and texture, such as when selecting its form (mounding or clumping) versus upright and spiky growth habits. Experiment with different combinations until you find what appeals most. Color should also be an important consideration – complementary hues like purples and yellows look lovely together.
Choose Plants with Year-Round Interest
A well-planned flower garden design should feature plants that provide color and interest from spring through to frost. Choose perennials, annuals, shrubs, evergreen bushes with twisty branches, colorful bark or interesting fruits to offer year-round appeal; evergreen shrubs with twisty branches, colorful bark or interesting fruits provide added winter interest.
Make sure that the varieties you select for your growing zone and climate are compatible. Otherwise, these plants won’t thrive and may eventually die off.
Experts advise selecting native plants for your region. Not only will these thrive in your climate, but they will attract pollinators species that help pollinate nearby flowers and save pollinator populations from decline. Plus, having more native species means less pests and diseases to worry about!
Keep It Simple
Flower gardens should fit seamlessly into the surrounding architecture and horticulture; an ill-considered flower bed looks out of place and should reflect this in terms of both planting density and style.
Experienced flower garden designers tend to group plants by shape in order to achieve visual cohesion. Additionally, they take into account each plant’s mature height; taller plants will often stand out more than shorter ones.
Color is another key element in flower garden design. Consider how different hues complement one another and don’t forget about adding foliage for texture and dimension. Varying flower shapes provide visual interest while blooming flowers blooming at various times throughout the year provide seasonal fillers such as spring-planted bulbs for early hues while perennials such as peonies or lilies can fill in late summer and fall gaps in blooming periods.