Flower Gardens as Part of Landscaping

by Fred Roundstone
(Angmering, West Sussex, UK)

Landscaping is the process of designing the look of the exterior natural décor of a piece of property. It involves the way things like rocks, trees, flowers, and other natural elements work together.

Flower gardens should be a beautiful, peaceful place that people will be excited to view and be a part of. They should be elegant and stylish, or fun and sassy, or whatever suits the personality of the person who will be spending the most time there.

You’ll want to be sure that the flower garden you plan blends well with the rest of your landscaping. You’ll also want to ensure that the garden is not only aesthetically pleasing to the owner, but also to any visitors who might see it.

Landscaping generally requires certain elements. For example, color, form, scale, texture, and line all play an integral role in effective landscape design, and the same is very true with regards to flower garden design, as well.

Color is perhaps the most important part of designing a good flower garden. You should have flowers in a variety of different colors, but those colors should complement each other well. If the colors clash, it will hurt the entire look of the flower garden.

Form is another important aspect of landscaping and flower garden design. The form of the plants will play an integral role in the overall look of the garden. If you choose only bushy flowers, or only spiky flowers, then your look will be somewhat bland.

It’s important to have a very good mixture of plants.
Fences are a good way to play with the lines of your flower garden. Various types of fencing can help with the horizontal and vertical flow.

The eye should always flow as naturally as possible around a landscape, and the patterns should be somewhat natural.
The size of the plants can be crucial.

You’ll need to have larger plants in the back, gradually moving to smaller plants in the front. If you try placing smaller plants in the back, you won’t be able to see them once the larger plants reach full height!

Other features of a flower garden can also be very important. Water features can really help pull the natural look of a flower garden together. A pond or waterfall can make a very serene area in the middle of your flower garden.

Walkways beside and through flower gardens can come in a variety of styles. Stone, pebbles, sand, cobblestone, brick, and other walkway styles can be beautiful with different types of flowers. You need to see what works best for your yard.

Don’t forget to choose flowers that match the existing landscape of your yard. If you have a lot of tropical plants in your yard, then you should consider having a lot of tropical flowers, as well.

If your garden is a traditional English garden, then birds-of-paradise or orchids might not look so well at home. Always go for a theme to ensure pleasant continuity.

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