Flower Garden Designs

For a cheerful and casual garden, select flowers with contrasting colors.

To design an inviting and satisfying flower garden, balance aesthetics and practicality. Whether you want a casual and naturalistic retreat or a manicured formal garden, you can use basic principles of design to create an environment that reflects your personal tastes and your purposes for the garden space. Once you're ready to select plants, consult with a local source, such as a horticultural extension service or a reputable nursery, to find the best species for your space.

Cottage Style

For a garden that evokes the cozy yard of a country cottage, plant flowers with a range of textures and heights. This will help create a dense and lush sense of overflowing flower beds. Use curved lines to delineate individual flower beds and incorporate wide-spreading or climbing species to soften the look of any borders. Organize your design so that taller plants are situated at the back of beds, with low-growing species up front. Look for species that provide the greatest diversity of flower color and flower shape. For example, alternate cup-shaped blooms with dense globes of petals or stalk and spear-shaped flowers.

Formal Beds

For a more formal look, adopt a garden design that uses plenty of symmetry and a fair measure of straight lines or geometric forms. For example, you might balance the flowing natural forms of your flowering plants with square or rectangular flower beds, evenly spaced through the garden. Use ceramic, concrete or stone pavers to create crisp geometrical lines along footpaths. For an extremely formal garden, plant shrubs that respond well to pruning. Alternate your flowering plants with the clean lines of well-maintained hedges and shrubs.

Limited Palette Designs

One way of tying together your flower garden is by selecting a particular color scheme. If you have limited space and little leeway for creative layout, give your design a touch of sophistication by adopting a monochromatic palette. For example, plant several species with flowers in different shades of blue. The unified color scheme will draw attention to the flowers' range of forms. An analogous color scheme creates a restful and harmonious array of flowers in similar colors, such as pinks, purples and blues. For a more dynamic look, select plants with flowers in contrasting colors, such as blues and oranges or purples and yellows.

Mixing in Edibles

There's no reason your flower garden needs to stay 100 percent decorative. Mixing in a few edibles or herbs is an excellent way of adding visual interest, as well as practicality. Take a cue from a long tradition of gardeners, including ancient Persians, Egyptians and many Asian cultures, who regularly planted edible plants within pleasure gardens. Strawberries add bright red color, while herbs like parsley, thyme and dill contribute delicate foliage.

References

• University of Illinois Extension: Designing Flower Beds
• Texas A & M University Extension; Designing the Country Cottage Garden; Henry Flowers; 2003
• Country Living; The Instant Garden; Susan Heeger
• University of Florida IFAS Extension; Color in the Landscape: Finding Inspiration for a Color Theme; Gail Hansen and Erin Alvarez; June 2010
• National Gardening Association: The Queen of Edible Landscaping