Amazing gardens require both artistic composition and horticultural expertise to create spaces that not only look good, but make you feel good.  

Colour Rendering of Garden Design

A Few Design Tips

Gardens set the tone for your home. Select a plant colour palette that reflects your style and reflects a bit about you. Keep it simple. White flowering gardens are trending this season, and are very easy to put together. If you want to keep down visual clutter in your garden, pick a couple basic colours. Purple and yellow; orange and blue; pink and purple; or white and black are great colour schemes for any garden.    

Perennial Geranium Rozanne

Are you a Gardener? It’s okay to say, No!

If gardening isn’t your thing, make sure to select plants that require little care such as elegant ornamental grasses, dwarf flowering shrubs or easy-care perennials.

For a sunny location, try perennial selections like daylilies, coneflowers, perennial geranium, salvia, or phlox. All come in a multitude of colours to mix and match in your garden.

If you deal with shade, try hosta, ferns, shade grasses or foam flowers for a great combination of texture, colour and shapes.

Hosta August Moon & Hakone Grass

Keep it Simple!

Less is more. More mess equals more stress, which is why homeowners feel so overwhelmed when it comes to an unruly garden. I like to keep it simple. I select only four or five fabulous plants – shrubs, perennials or grasses – and then work to lay them out in different combinations in the garden. Remember, plant in groups for impact. This creates a garden that feels unified. Pssst…this technique works really well in front gardens.

The Low Maintenance Garden

A low maintenance garden is the number one request from clients in any season. Selecting plants that look great throughout the growing season and require little maintenance – I didn’t say ‘no’ maintenance – is the key to fulfilling this request. Boxwood, yew and cedars look amazing, however, they need monthly clipping to keep them looking neat and tidy. Instead, try a few of the new dwarf flowering shrubs available this season such as Wee White Hydrangea, Sonic Bloom Weigela, Glow Girl Spirea, or Bloomerang Lilac. Not only do you get great low maintenance shrubs, the bonus is amazing blooms.

Dwarf Wee White Hydrangea, August Blooming
Dwarf Sonic Bloom Weigela, June Blooming – Attracts Hummingbirds
Dwarf Glow Girl Spirea, Early Summer Bloomer
Purple Bloomerang Lilac, June Blooming & Again in August

I tend to see gardens much like a painting, filled with colour and texture.  My process to creating a great garden is first select a colour scheme, then the plants. By doing this, I keep the gardens I create feeling harmonious, simple and feeling good.  

Lexi – The Gabby Gardener

2 Comments

  • You are so right Lexi!! And while I have made minor changes to my front gardens since you initially designed and installed them, I do find I have a few times (Spring being one) when they tend to look pretty blah now and the other issue is that I think my Endless Summer Hydrangea are either just getting old or need to be properly primed! Last year they appeared to be very slow getting started and then most of the blooms were towards the bottom!! Perhaps I could ask for some guidance in freshening up my front gardens!! Thx Lexi!! Really enjoyed your blog!!

    Reply
    • Hi Adrienne. Give me a call when we get going again and we can look at the front gardens. I know the Endless Summer Hydrangea need a lot of feeding for them to bloom. Last year we had cold, wet weather in the spring so it doesn’t
      surprise me they had a hard time blooming. There are some wonderful new hydrangeas on the market if you want to change them out. Enjoy this quiet time. Lexi

      Reply

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