How to Design a Tuscan Garden
Whether you've been to Italy and want to bring some of your vacation home, or you've always enjoyed the look of Tuscan gardens, you can design such a garden and incorporate all the aspects that make the gardens of Tuscany unique. Tuscan gardens reflect the past with a look and feel of gardens that have been around for centuries. Take your time when you're planning the design and when you're researching which plants, trees and structural elements to use. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Measure the size of the yard or garden space you want to work with. An entire yard will obviously be more labor intensive and costly than creating a simple Mediterranean patio area. Once you have your measurements, chart the outline of the garden on the graph paper using each square to represent either 1 foot or 6 inches of space.
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Focus on existing structures. Measure and add in any walls, fences, trellises or arbors that may already exist in the garden. Grapes or wisteria may grow nicely on an unused trellis, while a climbing rose may be suitable to run along a fence. If necessary, and depending on color, you may want to repaint any exterior surfaces a smooth terra cotta, grey or beige before planting anything around them.
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Plan hard landscaping items first, such as fountains, trees and walkways. The gardens of Tuscany are known for flagstone pathways, often forming symmetrical patterns framed by hedges. A fountain placed in the center of a walkway can add visual interest and, being a vessel for water, represents life in the garden. Large urns can take the place of fountains, if you choose.
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Keep the planning of trees to scale, using smaller trees for a smaller garden and larger trees for vast garden space. Evergreens give the feel of a Tuscan garden year-round. Position trees to allow some open areas as well as to create a few shaded retreats within the garden. Citrus and olive trees might be considered, depending on your locality and growing zone.
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Insert hedges, large or small, to follow the paths or to line the boundaries of the garden space. Often lavender, boxwoods or rosemary are used to create natural, soft edges to a garden where no barriers exist. These types of plants can be used to create knot gardens and mazes in large open areas.
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Add in areas for herb and vegetable gardens if space permits. Fresh herbs and vegetables not only transform the garden's look and fragrance, but they also add to the kitchen in a functional way, cutting food costs and enhancing flavors.
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Fill in any remaining sparse areas with plants in terra cotta pots. A large potted citrus tree surrounded by smaller herbs in pots can fill corners, while pots of the same size arranged in a line can create formal spacing in the garden. Consider adding potted varieties of mint, oregano or sweet basil to fill in spaces. Use large urns over pots where something of a medium height is needed.
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Trace out the locations for a few benches in secluded or shaded areas. For a well executed Tuscan garden, leave areas of interest to sit and rest in, as well as statuary to create interest. Statues can hide behind areas of foliage or stand out and be featured by the foliage, depending on how you arrange them.
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Tips & Warnings
Try a few designs before you break ground on the garden. Be sure to make different areas of the garden look old and relaxed even if they actually took a lot of work to create. The simplicity of terra cotta pots, and using many similar types of plants, will help create clean, smooth lines in a full garden.
If you have a large open field, consider filling it with wildflowers or poppies to create a flowing, colorful look in the distance.
If space is a factor, you can create the look of a Tuscan garden inside the home. A screened-in porch or large open sitting room can provide the perfect palette for indoor plants, terra-cotta-colored walls, statues and well-positioned grow lights.
While the style of a "Tuscan garden" leans toward that of farm vineyards and country style, you can keep the distinction by studying up on Mediterranean plants and staying true to the Italian plantings that surround the homes in Tuscany.
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