Flower garden design

Flower garden design incorporates a number of features that combine function and appearance to make your flower garden look its best, while also providing easier ways to maintain everything. Taking proper care during the early planning stages of your flower garden, when the design is so important, will make your garden an enjoyable experience by limiting the amount of time needed to care for it.

The first step in flower garden design is to build your garden around a central point. Your flower garden could be built around your house, a gate, a tree, or even a fence as long as it will provide the space required. The best flower gardens include a central point that immediately catches the eye. Larger gardens can have more than one focal point but try to stick to one in smaller flower gardens.

Flower garden designs often operate around a color scheme or various related color schemes as well. Some plans use different shades of the same color, while other designs call for multiple, complementing colors that are eye-catching.

Flower garden design tips

• Make the flower beds as wide as you possibly can. Many first time gardeners make the mistake not making the flowers beds wide enough which limits the opportunities to plant flowering trees, shrubs, or other plants which can be layered. Ideally, flower beds should be at least 5 or 6 feet wide.
• Make sure to establish lines and curves that set sections of the garden apart from other areas of the garden. This provides for unity and definition throughout the entire flower garden and will make it more appealing to the eye. Avoid snaking or inconsistent lines and try to stick to smooth curves or straight lines.
• Planting in groups is an effective part of flower garden design for both functional and aesthetic reasons. Groupings by color provide unity while grouping by plant needs can make maintenance much easier. Flower gardens that contain just one or two groupings tend to look jumbled and many experts recommend planting in groups of three or more. In addition, repeating various plants or colors adds texture and unity and is another feature of flower garden design.
• Think of the plants that will go in your flower garden as plants that will be used for edging (in front of the garden), filling (in the middle), and background. Taller flowers should generally be planted towards the back but can occasionally be left to grow near the middle or front too.
• Spacing your flowers an appropriate distance apart is an important part of flower garden design. Improperly spaced plants will compete for nutrients or allows more vigorous plants to overrun others. Flowers should be planted as far away as their eventual spread will allow.
• Balance and unity are important features in flower garden design and shouldn't be neglected. Try to create symmetry by using the same plants on the sides of walkways, paths, or gates. To create more unity throughout your flower garden, plant in groups of three and blend complementing colors.
• Keep in mind that the design of your flower garden will need to be maintained as plants grow or die. Flower garden design is never actually finished and is more of an on-going project that will need to be kept up over the years. As long as you start with a good design and keep an eye on your flower garden, you'll notice when more color is needed or new plants should be added.