Mining a Garden for Inspiration: 10 Ideas to Borrow

Instead of focusing on specific plants, for this post I thought that I'd point out some of the many bits of inspiration a garden can offer.

The house is a typical bungalow–long and low. The yard is wide but shallow. At the back of the house, there are two distinct elevations. As you will see, the homeowner has played up this shift in elevation with a set of stone steps that lead from the upper level of the garden to a lower terrace with a large area for entertaining.

Idea 1: Soften the straight lines of your house and driveway with curved flowerbeds.

A simple way to tackle the front yard is to add a flowerbed that sweeps along the face of the house. Link it to a second flowerbed that curves away from the straight line of the driveway. 

I like how this homeowner has added a few taller shrubs at the far corner of the house. The shrubs add privacy and help create a little separation between this property and the one next door.

The homeowner was also smart to avoid evergreens that will grow to monster proportions. Instead, she's opted for shrubs that can be pruned to keep their growth in check or shrubs that have a low mounded shape.  

Idea 2: Lavender-blue & White What a fresh color combination this is! These are Spanish Bluebells (a bulb planted in fall) with Candytuft in the background.

Evergreen Candytuft, Iberis sempervirens: Candytuft has glossy, evergreen foliage and white flowers that bloom for several weeks in spring. Prune lightly after flowering to keep it from getting leggy. Good drainage is essential and somewhat dry conditions are preferred. Candytuft is not easily divided.  Full sun. Height: 20-25 cm (8-10 inches), Spread: 30-90 cm (12-35 inches). USDA Zones: 3-9.

Idea 3: Save money by growing plants from seed. Start easy to grow and short-lived perennials (like these columbine at the front of the house) from seed. 

15 Perennials easy to grow from seed: 

• Columbine

• Balloon Flower (Platycodon)

• Coreopsis

• Brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia)

• Blanket flower (Gaillardia)

• Lupins

• Yarrow (Achillea) 

• Rose Campion (Lychnis coronaria)

• Salvia

• Coneflower (Echinacea)

• Mallow (Malva sylvestris)

• Delphinium

• Maltese Cross (Lychnis chalcedonica)

• Butterfly Weed (both Asclepias incarnata and Asclepias tuberosa)

Idea 4: Create a destination by placing a bench opposite a gateway or at the end of a path.  

Idea 5: Install a low-maintenance water feature.

Ponds can be a lot of work, but there are other options that give you the same relaxing sound of splashing water without the labour of installing and maintaining a pond. Most big box stores and nurseries now offer kits that come with everything you need to install a water feature.

In this garden, a covering of grey pebbles disguises a pump and an underground reservoir. If you want to go with a water feature like this, be sure to choose a kit with a large reservoir so you don't have to refill it every day.

Hydrangea, Japanese Ferns and Lady's Mantle are a few of the part-shade plants you see here.

Idea 6: Make your yard seem bigger by making the fence disappear. 

Climbers, shrubs and trees can all help disguise the boundaries of your yard and make it seem bigger than it is. Here, mirrors have been used to reflect the green of the garden and make the fence less of a stopping point for the eye.

Idea 7: In the shade, take advantage of any sunlit pockets 

Even the shadiest garden will often have a break in the canopy that creates a small area of part-shade or even full sun. Use these pockets to grow containers of colorful flowers that wouldn't otherwise be possible.

Solomon's Seal, Polygonatum at the side of the house.

A Euonymus hides the chimney. 

Idea 8: Make the entrance enticing and the exit memorable.

This was probably my favourite area in the garden. The wrought iron gate is pretty and even though there isn't a ton of color, the plantings are lush and green...which brings me to the next takeaway idea.

Idea 9: Use a single type of plant to make a statement. 

Ostrich Fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris has not only been planted in a large clump, but it has also been repeated on either side of the garden gate. The same hosta is also repeated- this time on either side of the path.

Pathway leading back to the front of the house.

Idea 10: Use a container of annuals to add color to an area that is mostly green.

Perennials are great, but annuals bloom for months once established. In a shady area that is mostly green, a container planting of annuals is well worth the investment.

An Asian-Inspired Garden, Part 1: The Pond-less Waterfall

"It was the 60+ year old English house I bought in 1982 that had an established though long neglected garden that started my love of gardening," says Carina Wong.

Originally from Malaysia, Carina had gone to England to study nursing and decided to stay on after she graduated. When she purchased her first house in March, she had no idea there was a large garden sleeping through the final days of winter. 

When spring brought the garden to life, Carina was at a loss how to handle the mature garden she'd inherited. At that time, she had no experience with gardening. Feeling a bit overwhelmed, she hired someone to help her in those early days. Then, slowly over the next seventeen years, the garden ended up teaching her how to be a gardener. 

A move to Canada saw a fresh set of gardening challenges. 

A visitor to the garden sits by the pond.

"I wanted an English-themed garden for the front of my new house," Carina recalls.

The property she bought in Mississauga had two large maple trees in the front yard that cast a tremendous amount of shade. Carina had one removed and limbed up the other to let in a little more sun for the roses she hoped to grow. Other than the two maples, the garden she inherited had a lawn and a narrow flowerbed that ran along the front of the house. 

"I had many lovely roses, but sadly the arrival of Japanese beetles nine or ten years back became too big a problem to keep under control. The roses were sad and any blooms were quickly decimated. In the end, I got rid of over 30 rose plants! How should I put it - gardening phases come and go with the gardeners' aging process!"

The idea of installing a pond in the front yard began as a solution for a grub problem in the lawn. On the advise of her local garden centre, Carina tried to treat the problem with a pesticide. The chemicals smelled horrible and they were expensive. Worst of all, the grub problem persisted even after a couple of treatments. So Carina decided to dig up the lawn and put in a pond.

Over the years the pond went through a number of phases. In its first incarnation, it was a small preformed plastic pond. Not satisfied with that, Carina hired someone to come in and create a larger pond. A number of years later the skimmer broke, and rather than replace it, Carina decided to replace the high maintenance pond with a pond-less waterfall that was a lot less work. 

The interlocking brick was another time saver. No more lawn tomow! 

The garden along the front of the house.

1. Bearded Iris with variegated foliage 2. Tall allium 'Purple Sensation' 3. Rhododendron 4. Stonecrop or Creeping Sedum 5. Allium 6. Thyme 7. Moss Phlox, Phlox subulata 'Emerald Cushion Blue'

A closer look at the Moss Phlox (left) and the Thyme (right)

Phlox subulata 'Emerald Cushion Blue' creates a low mound of green needle-like leaves. In the spring, it is covered with lavender-blue flowers. This is a clump-forming perennial and is not invasive. Good drainage is essential for over-wintering moss phlox. Once established this plant is quite drought tolerant. Height: 10-15 cm (4-6 inches), Spread: 45-60 cm(18-23 inches). USDA zones: 2-9.

"I have happy memories of sitting on the park bench under the Canadian Maple in the evenings and listening to as many as 13 pairs of frogs' croaking - is there a better way to describe the beautiful sounds they make? Sitting on that bench also offered me the perfect vantage point for improving the layout and making changes over the years as well as enjoying a glass of wine or two!", smiles Carina. 

A birdbath and one of the roses that still remain in the front garden.

In the part 2, we'll head into Carina's wonderful backyard.

Tomatoes in the Front Garden? Hey, why not!

I am always on the lookout for gardens that are unique and original. 

Today, I want to share with you the garden of a local homeowner who has managed to use traditional boxwood hedges in an interesting and contemporary way.

In compliment to the clean, modern lines of the house, the sweeping curves of boxwood hedging frame the plantings and give them a pleasing sense of order.

Three statuesque bunches of Feather Reed Grass, Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'  

stand at the top of the front garden.

Here you can see the garden straight-on. On the garden's outer perimeter, a curved line of stone pavers delineates the flowerbed's outside edge and separates it from the lawn.

One great thing about boxwood hedging is that its evergreen. When the perennials die back to the ground in late fall, the green hedges will still add interest and structure throughout the long Canadian winter.

Plantings in the front garden include a range of geraniums, sedum, heuchera, stonecrop, poppy, spirea, alliums, and even some tomatoes. My picture isn't the best, but those are tomatoes to the left.

A passageway between the house and garage leads to the backyard. Here, there is a stone patio with an overhanging pergola.

Mature trees mean that there is more shade in the back garden: 

perfect for the mix of hostas that you see here (with a peony in behind them).

A standout feature of the back garden is this bench and pergola.

Here is the view of this little seating area and the garden in front of it 

as seen from the centre of the yard.

Again, a curved line of boxwood hedging is employed at the back of the house.

A path of stone pavers leads visitors to a shaded table and chairs.

What a nice place to sit on a hot summer's day!

A School Teacher's Pretty Front Garden

Front gardens can be a challenge. How do you keep them lush and colorful, but tidy and presentable at the same time?

Today, I want to share with you a front garden, on a typical suburban lot, that manages to be all those things.

A sweeping path leads from the driveway to the front door of Karen's house.

If we come a bit closer, you can see that Karen has done a wonderful job of mixing shrubs, evergreens (which are going to look great year-round) with perennials such as sedum, lady's mantel, some low-growing ornamental grasses, heuchera, coreopsis and hosta.

Hanging over the pathway leading up to the door there are a climbing hydrangea, pink rose, 

rhododendron and purple clematis.

I took these pictures in mid-June, when there was a mix of soft yellow, pink 

and purple flowers in bloom.

This birdbath-turned-planter was my favourite garden ornament. I love the way that Karen has used a mix of hostas, with some chartreuse-colored creeping jenny that spills beautifully over the edge of the planter. 

Did you notice that she has used a low-growing evergreen at the base of the planter? 

It adds understated textural interest that supports, but doesn't compete with the container planting. 

Pink astilbe with a Rose of Sharon (to the left) and a backdrop of euonymus on the brick wall behind.

Now, let's take a closer look at the plantings leading to the door.

What a glorious soft pink rose!

Up next, we'll head into Karen back garden.