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Planning Makes Perfect

Once you've made the decision to change your garden scenery, make sure you allocate a portion of time to the planning process. Think how each room in a house serves a specific purpose (sometimes more than one), and remember the same principle applies to your garden - so it's important to consider the various functional needs your garden will be expected to cater for. The majority of home owners view their garden as a place to relax and unwind, and if there are kids around, somewhere totally safe for the children to play. In addition to these requirements it's worth thinking about the following:

- do you plan to do lots of entertaining in the garden?

- how important is it for you to catch some sun rays during the day?

- will you be spending a lot of time in the garden once the natural light fades?

- is there a need to create shade within the garden?

- are there any on-going safety issues which still need to be quickly addressed? eg existence of ponds with young children, unreliable boundary fencing, uneven paving

- how important is it that you incorporate environmentally friendly strategies into your outdoor room?

- are you keen to split your garden into "rooms", creating specific zones for different functions?

- do you need to re-think your garden's existing access points?

This got me thinking to re-arranging my garden! Thanks Becky!

I wish I was an expert in this field, but instead I search the internet and my local community for ideas and uses of my yard. There is a beautiful home on a corner lot about a half mile from me. They used the white picket fence effect as well as numerous large raised beds in their yard. I actually go out of my way to drive by that home all year to see how it looks during different seasons! I just love this home. The white picket fence is in part of the front yard as you walk up to the door. Take a walk or drive around your area and see what catches your eye and then view it at different times of the day and night and during the different seasons! I also love looking through garden magazines and will pick something I really like from a page and clip it and put it in my own little notebook. I go back to my clippings and look at and think about what and how something like that could work in my yard, I am not creative enough to come up with these ideas on my own ... so I copy or borrow other's ideas and add a twist to make it my own. Good luck and do share your progress with us!

With Spring approaching, many folks may be deciding if they want to change up their garden areas. Now is the time to start planning such changes so you can be ready to implement them when early Spring arrives. I also do changes in steps. Each year I try to add the next step or phase to my yard. There is no way I could possibly do it all in one year. My yard has been a project in the making for several years and I've also had setbacks, such as the notorious Knot Root nematodes that have destroyed large sections of my inground garden beds. So I am now doing container gardening for many parts of my yard. Be prepared for curve balls ... nature is not predictable! But that also is what makes gardening so challenging but enjoyable. I never get bored!

Becky, thanks for advice! My garden (and yard) is small so I can't do much change in it, maybe only re-arrange the flower beds a bit different. Last year I didn't do much because I didn't have time, maybe this year. I also like to admire other gardens. The one you are talking about sounds to be so beautiful!

Adina - I, too, like to admire other folk's beautiful gardens and yards. My yard isn't that big either.

One thing I have discovered (due to the nematodes in my ground soil) is that growing plants in containers has been rather successful (much to my delight!), but it also allows me to MOVE my plants around to create different looks and combos. I just moved a large container of red roses to my front garden bed along with some lantana, a Passiflora vine, and a container of pink rainlilies. The front bed looks completely different now. I like the new look and so does my dh. You just never know how rearranging plants will change the whole atmosphere of a garden bed.

I also make my own concrete benches )using two different bench molds) and rearrange them around the yard in strategic spots for sitting and enjoying nature. I also just re-finished a wood & wrought iron bench to add to another area of my yard. The seating areas really makes my yard and gardens inviting. I have a lot of wildlife that comes into my yard, so I love areas to sit to watch the action. I have a few "hidden" seating areas, so the birds and critters can't easily see me, but I can still see them.

Yes, Thanks Becky. This does seem like a logical place to start. Right now I don't have any garden "rooms' . All of my beds are either around the house or along the perimeter.. I do have two or three seating areas among them, but no real "rooms". I will spend some time this week studying your pages and links and then come back and chat. Thanks!!

I can't wait to hear what kind of rooms you liked!

BTW - This site will be moved to allthingsplants.com next week. It should remain intact when it is moved, so if you don't find it here, it will be over there!

Thanks, Becky!