Patio/Deck

The deck garden is a great place to make a garden, especially if its your only garden space. City gardens are a great example of decks being your only option. Potted plants create a vibrant outdoor experience. Options include night lighting.

Why Fix It Up?

Its your only option for green space!

Maximize your usable square footage!

Front

The front garden is the entrance to your house – the area visible to the public from the street.  It usually consists of a path to the front door, plants and possibly a lawn.  Options include a small patio as you walk toward the door, fencing, arbor, and night lighting.

Why Fix It Up?

Curb appeal

Access to the front door

Back

The back garden is your more private space.  This area is often where you spend most of your time, relaxing, entertaining etc.  It consists of plants and possibly a lawn.  Options include a patio, a path and night lighting.

Why Fix It Up?

Make more suitable for entertaining and relaxing

Enhance views from inside

Side

The side garden is often an overlooked part of the landscape.  We use it as an access from front to back and often storage, but this can be a wonderful area with views from inside and even a place to sit. It usually includes a path and planting.  Options include a small patio, lawn and night lighting.

Why Fix It Up?

Enhance access to the back garden

Create views from inside the house

Asian Garden

Description

The Asian garden is based on a carefully designed strategy – while everything looks naturally placed, its done so with the utmost consideration. Since its based on nature, you won’t find any symmetry of sharp angles here. Simplicity is very important so this garden will not be densely planted nor planted with many different types of plants. Natural elements are also very important including rocks. Colors are somewhat muted – you won’t find hot pops of color. Everything including furniture and pathways are designed to blend in as opposed to stand out.

Is This Garden for You?

• You like to create areas to rest and relax
• You would rather read a book instead of going to a big party
• Your home is asian, craftsman, or ranch style

How This Garden Feels

An Asian garden feels gentle, calm and soothing

Typical Materials

• Small rocks and larger boulders
• Bamboo

Cottage Garden

Description

The Cottage garden is the exact opposite of the formal garden. Crowded displays of flowers seem to overrun this garden. There is no symmetry here. The garden appears unplanned and untended. It often uses an informal design, lots of plants close together and traditional materials like stone. This is one of the most casual garden styles you’ll find.

Is This Garden for You?

• You don’t mind if the house is not in perfect order
• You thrive on a bit of chaos
• Your home is a Victorian, cottage, or ranch style

How This Garden Feels

A Cottage garden feels relaxed, romantic and a bit wild.

Typical Materials

• Irregular cut stone
• Roses on arbors
• Sundials, bird baths

Formal Style

A Formal garden is based on strong geometric shapes. Symmetry is also a very important element in this garden, which means if there is a tree on one side of the path, there is the exact same tree on the other side of path. Most everything is based on the front door, which provides an axis for the front garden. The plantings are orderly and pruned neatly to keep their formal effect. Plantings are limited in types and variety in order to keep the garden simple and uncluttered. You’ll see straight lines and if there are any curves, they’re based on a circle and not some wavy line. You often have a focal point like a pot or a fountain, which will be centered on the front door.

Is This Garden for You

• You like to have things neat and orderly in your house
• When you have friends over, you serve sit down dinners and entertain in a formal living room
• Your house is a Tudor, Colonial, Ranch or other old English style

How This Garden Feels

A Formal garden is beautiful to look at with its neat and orderly appearance. It feels elegant and calm. Typical Materials

• Brick
• White Fence
• Sundials

Mediterranean Style

A Mediterranean garden mixes earthy colors of stone and pottery with hot colored plants. We tend to think of decorative courtyards, mosaic tiles and vibrant colors with this style of garden. Paths often don’t use formal paving and the planting style looks very natural. Water is an important part of the space and is used to cool off the area. The types of plants used in this garden go a long way to making it this style.

Is This Garden for You

• You have bright colors in your house
• When your friends come over, you tend to bbq
• Your house has terra cotta roof tiles, has an Italian feel or is a ranch style home

How This Garden Feels

A Mediterranean garden feels informal and relaxed. Like you’re on vacation in the, well, Mediterranean:~)

Typical Materials

• Gravel
• Natural colored pots

Modern Style

The Modern garden uses strong shapes and textures to emphasize the design. These gardens are very pared down and don’t need a lot of plants. Instead plantings come in big groups of the same plant to create a mass effect. It’s all about creating strong geometry and forms. Paths are angular and the lines are crisp and clean. The garden is elegant in its simplicity and restraint. You won’t see a lot of colors here. Less is more so if you like going to the garden center every weekend and buying plants, this is not the garden for you. You must be fearless with this garden in sticking with simplicity.

A Modern garden feels crisp and elegant

• Concrete/Stone
• Metal/Steel

How This Garden Feels

A Modern garden is beautiful to look at with its neat and orderly appearance. It feels elegant and calm.

Tropical Style

The Tropical garden makes you feel like you are in some jungle. Big leafed plants and a plant canopy above give this impression. Water is very important to this garden, either a fountain or a little water source. The design is informal and appears unplanned, like nature has sprung up around you. Bright colors pop against big green foliage. This garden feels like you are living in an exotic vacation

A Modern garden feels crisp and elegant

• You don’t mind if the house is not in perfect order
• You like to take beach vacations
• Your home is a Victorian, cottage, has terra cotta tiles or ranch style

How This Garden Feels

A Tropical garden feels warm, exotic and inviting

Typical Materials

• Wood
• Bamboo
• Pots

Pastel Color

The Pastel palette is soft and delicate, with lighter shades of colors. Think lavender, light pinks and pale yellows. Pastels tend to recede in the bright sunlight, but then come to life at dusk and in the shade. Pastels work really well when there are richer, solid colors behind them such as deep green foliage. With lighter, brighter colors around such as a light colored house or wall, pastels appear washed out. This color palette acts as a subtle background to a tapestry of plantings, rather than one plant in particular popping out. A dark colored house would be a wonderful backdrop for this palette.

Feeling

Quiet, calming

We recommend this palette for

Cottage Gardens, Mediterranean Gardens

Hot Color

The Hot palette is vibrant and, well, hot. Think bright orange, magenta, and fire red. These colors pop forward and make a statement. They hold their own in both sun and shade, and can be seen in the distance if planted in large masses. There’s nothing like a bright orange flower standing alone to draw they eyes’ attention. A light colored house can work with this palette.

Feeling

Warm, Exciting

We recommend this palette for

Modern Gardens, Tropical Gardens, Mediterranean Gardens

Jewel Color

The Jewel palette has deep, rich shades of color. Think crimson, dark blue and gold. They hold their own in the bright sunlight and make a big impact close up. When seen from afar, the deep colors recede. They work well in mass plantings or as a focal point in the garden. This color palette pops forward in a front garden and adds richness to the space. A medium or dark colored house works best for these colors.

Feeling

Energizing, happy

We recommend this palette for

Formal Gardens, Asian Gardens, Tropical Gardens

Cool Color

The Cool palette is muted and contains a narrower range of colors. Think greens, blue and violet. They tend to recede and feel more like a background of plantings. All different shades of green foliage can be used in this palette. A light colored house can work with this palette. A dark colored house combined with a cool palette can work well in a woodland environment, enhancing that sense of forest.

Feeling

Restful, Calm

We recommend this palette for

Asian Gardens, Modern Gardens, Mediterranean Gardens

Asian Plants

Asian plants are generally small to medium leafed plants that create all sorts of textures and different color greens in the garden. The asian style here is not the stark Zen style, but rather a version which is softer. Grasses and shrubs create many textures and give a soft feel. If you use asian plants in a modern garden though, you can achieve the starker look of a Zen garden.

Sample Plants

• Shrubs: Azaleas, Camellias, Rhododendrons, Pieris, Loropetalum, Bamboo, Ferns, Anemone, Liriope
• Trees: Japanese Maple, Ornamental Cherry, Chinese Pistache
• Vines: Wisteria, Five Leaf Akebia, Jasmine

We recommend this material for

Asian Gardens, Modern Gardens

Cottage Plants

With Cottage plants, we tend to see wispy, delicate looking plants. The Cottage planting style appears random, as if nature had just dropped all kinds of seeds in the garden. In a Cottage garden, the cottage plants enhance the overgrown look. You’ll often see a lot of different plants blooming at different times (this means more maintenance than other gardens).

Sample Plants

• Shrubs: Miscanthus, Penstemon, Nepeta, Hemerocallis, Lilac, Hydrangea
• Trees: Ornamental Cherry, Redbud, Purple Leaf Plum
• Vines: Wisteria, Climbing Roses

We recommend this material for

Cottage Gardens

Formal Plants

Formal planting will feature a fair amount of trimmed plants. Often clipped boxwood hedges will sit in front of plants that are a little less structured or feature rose trees inside the hedges. The formal planting style may feature many plants featured in the cottage garden; however; there will be more repetition of the same plants in the formal garden. The cottage garden appears randomly planted. You’ll see a lot of symmetry in the formal style of planting as well.

Sample Plants

• Shrubs: Rose, Boxwood, Pittosporum, Liriope
• Trees: Magnolia, Ornamental Pear
• Vines: Wisteria, Climbing Roses

We recommend this material for

Formal Gardens, Modern Gardens

Mediterranean Plants

Mediterranean plants are ones that come from one of the five Mediterranean climates in the world. In mild winters and warm, dry summers, these plants tend to be drought tolerant once establish. So the plants are pretty specific, originating from the Mediterranean, Central Asia, California, Australia/New Zealand, and South Africa. These plants of course fit well in the Mediterranean garden; they also work nicely in the Modern Garden because of their structural shapes.

Sample Plants

• Shrubs: New Zealand Flax, Lavender, Lantana, Euphorbia, Lemon, Kangaroo Paw, Rosemary
• Trees: Olive, Crape Myrtle
• Vines: Bougainvillea, Potato Vine, Hardenbergia

We recommend this material for

Mediterranean Gardens, Modern Gardens, Formal Gardens

Tropical Plants

Nothing says tropical like the big leafed plant and the Palm tree. Our images of Bali or Hawaii are all about big foliage. In a Tropical garden, the tropical plants are in different heights created by layers of plants and a canopy above. In a Modern Garden, tropical plants are laid out in large groups or swaths of the same plants to show off how architectural they look.

Sample Plants

• Shrubs: Canna Lilies, Banana Plants, Bamboo, Bird of Paradise, Hibiscus, Philodendron
• Trees: Palm trees, Fig Tree, Orchid Tree, Princess Flower
• Vines: Passionflower, Bougainvillea

We recommend these plants for

Tropical Gardens, Modern Gardens, Cottage Gardens

Edible Plants

Mixing in edible plants into a garden is a great way to do double duty. Not only do they supply fruit and vegetables, but they also look nice as part of a design. You can go entirely edible or just partially – your choice. We make sure to keep some structure in the garden, such as fruit trees and shrubs. That way, come winter, you don’t have a mud pit instead of a garden

Sample Plants

• Shrubs: Blueberry, Rosemary, Quince
• Trees: Stone fruit (e.g. Peach, Plum), Apple, Citrus
• Vines: Kiwi, Blackberry, Grapes
• Herbs: Oregano, Chives, Lavender

We recommend these plants for

All Gardens

Rectangular Large

This lawn screams open space. A big lawn opens up to the neighborhood and keeps the house visible and welcoming to passerbys. Its clean lines and crispness adds a big amount of one color to the modern garden (a good thing) and leaves room to lay grass between the gaps in a step stone path. In the formal garden, a big lawn pairs well with boxwood around the edges and trees behind them. Crisp and elegant, this style of plants next to a big rectangular lawn is a classic style in the Formal Garden. Because it leaves little room around the edges for planting, the large lawn gives the area more of a defined boundary, which can feel like a courtyard in a smaller front garden.

Feeling

Clean, Elegant

We recommend this lawn for

Modern Gardens, Formal Gardens

Rectangular Medium

This lawn leaves a nicely sized open space to your garden, giving your home a neighborly feel. The medium size of the lawn leaves room for different heights of planting around the edges. Starting with a low level next to the lawn, then a mid height of planting and then a higher height of plants, this style can help the boundary of your garden disappear.

Feeling

Clean, Elegant

We recommend this lawn for

Mediterranean Gardens, Asian Gardens, Modern Gardens

Rectangular Small

This lawn allows for more depth and layers in planting. With this style of lawn, the space will feel a little cozier. You will still have a crisp edge of the rectangular lawn without so much open space. The plants will dominate and you’ll have room for lots more happening.

Feeling

Relaxed, Cozy

We recommend this lawn for

Tropical Garden, Cottage Garden

Round Large

This lawn screams open space. A big lawn opens up to the neighborhood and keeps the house visible and welcoming to passerbys. Because of its shape, it’s a bit more casual than the large rectangular lawn but will still feel like you have a defined edge to your front garden. In the formal garden, you can use this size and shape lawn to reduce the formality by planting a mixed style of plants instead of the crisp edge of boxwood. Because it leaves little room around the edges for planting, the large lawn gives the area more of a defined boundary, which can feel like a courtyard in a smaller front garden.

Feeling

Elegant and moderately casual

We recommend this lawn for

Formal Gardens, Tropical Gardens

Round Medium

This lawn leaves a nicely sized open space to your garden, giving your home a neighborly feel. The medium size of the lawn leaves room for different heights of planting around the edges. Starting with a low level next to the lawn, then a mid height of planting and then a higher height of plants, this style can help the boundary of your garden disappear. The round shape lends itself well to more casual styles of garden.

Feeling

Casual, Relaxed

We recommend this lawn for

Cottage Gardens, Mediterranean Gardens

Round Small

This lawn allows for more depth and layers in planting. With this style of lawn, the space will feel a little cozier. The plants will dominate and you’ll have room for lots more happening especially in the Cottage Garden that looks best when there’s a lot happening!

Feeling

Relaxed, Casual

We recommend this lawn for

Cottage Gardens, Asian Gardens, Formal Gardens

Curved Path

A curved path says ‘take the scenic route’, ‘stop and smell the roses’, and all that kind of stuff. It makes a statement that you are approaching a casual home, one without formality. As you meander toward the front door, it’s nice to have a place to sit as well as things to observe like a birdbath. If plants overflow onto the path, the casual feeling will be even more enhanced. If you want to go a bit less casual, have the lawn come right up to the path or keep plants trimmed off the path.

Feeling

Relaxing, Casual

We recommend this path for

Cottage Gardens, Mediterranean Gardens, Asian Gardens, Tropical Gardens

Straight Path

A straight path tells visitors to come directly to the front door. Like anything straight, this path style tends to add a sense of crispness and structure to the garden. You can make the garden more formal or less formal by how the plants behave – are they neat and trimmed away from the path or do they overflow onto the path? Neat plantings will enhance the formal feel. Loose, overflowing plantings will add to a more casual sense.

Feeling

Crisp, formal

We recommend this path for

Formal Gardens, Modern Gardens, Asian Gardens

Axial Path

The Axial path offers a place to rest while still maintaining a sense of crispness and structure. While the path to the door still leads you straight, there’s a smaller path that runs perpendicular to it. Very often there is a pot or a bench at the end of the smaller path, which acts as a focal feature. This type of path adds more interest to the garden, since now there’s someplace else to go and something else to see. This style path breaks the garden into four spaces, which gives it a nice symmetry and balance. It also allows a space in the center of the path for a fountain or some other focal feature.

Feeling

Calming, Crisp

We recommend this path for

Formal Gardens, Mediterranean Gardens, Modern Gardens

Brick Patio

A brick patio helps to give more formality to the garden. Because the bricks themselves are linear, they enhance the feel of crispness and structure in the garden. There are also ways to enhance or reduce the sense of structure – set the brick in mortar for more formality or set it in sand to make it more casual.

Feeling

Formal, Structured

We recommend this patio for

Formal Gardens, Cottage Gardens

Natural Stone Patio

A natural stone patio can be either formal or informal depending on how its cut – in squares or rectangles, this pattern is on the more formal side. The irregular cut stone says casual. Setting stone in mortar adds to the structure – setting it in sand reduces formality. As you can tell, Flagstone is a very flexible material for paths and can be used in many ways. Allowing groundcover to grow in between irregular cut stones is the stuff of cottage gardens. Planting lawn in between square stones looks very modern.

Feeling

Formal, Structured or casual

We recommend this patio for

All Gardens

Paver Patio

Pavers are a great alternative to brick since they give the structured feel but cost less. The ones we’re talking about are made of concrete and come in many different colors and textures. Because the pavers themselves are linear, they enhance the feel of crispness and structure in the garden.

Feeling

Structured but can be more casual than brick

We recommend this patio for

Formal Gardens, Tropical Gardens

Concrete Patio

A concrete patio is a good, low cost alternative to other materials and can be dressed up at very little cost. In a modern garden, concrete can be laid with lawn or stone in between to create a crisp, contemporary look. In a Mediterranean garden, you color the concrete to match the color of the house to tie in house and garden. In a Formal Garden, brick can be added at intervals to add color and texture. Generally, concrete patios look better when they are straight.

Feeling

Casual or crisp and clean

We recommend this patio for

Formal Gardens, Mediterranean Gardens, Modern Gardens

Bollard Lighting

The bollard light is typically a short, upright fixture, which gives off light from the top or the sides. While the bollard light is normally a clean, simple design used in Modern Gardens, there are so many finishes and styles of these lights that it can also work in other style gardens. In its simplest, metal form, it works well in the modern garden. In an Asian garden, it works well in brown materials and with a layered ‘hat’.

We recommend this light for

Modern Gardens, Asian Gardens

Tulip Lighting

The tulip light adds a little decoration to the garden in a more casual and playful way. While it looks great in the Cottage Garden, which is by definition a playful space, the tulip light can work well in a more relaxed Formal Garden. In the Cottage Garden, use a faded looking finish for this light such as a patina color. In the Formal Garden, stick with solid colored finishes. Black will look crisp and clean.

We recommend this light for

Cottage Garden, Formal Garden

Dome Lighting

The dome light looks like a pointed hat and like the rest of the lights, comes in many different finishes and even shapes. Because of the broad range of this light, the dome light can actually work in all gardens. In the Formal Garden, use a patina finish. In an Asian garden, a copper finish mixes well with the style. For a modern feel, make sure the ‘hat’ is relatively small and a solid finish such as steel or metal.

We recommend this light for

Asian Gardens, Modern Gardens, Formal Gardens

Half Shell Lighting

The half shell light is a very subtle fixture since the light points downward and in a relatively small radius. While it works well in all gardens, we recommend it Mediterranean and Tropical Garden. Use brown finishes that blend in with the landscape.

We recommend this light for

Mediterranean Gardens, Tropical Gardens