Garden Design

My philosophy of garden design (and I do have one) consists of both following and ignoring current advice in gardening books and magazines.

Being Canadian, the magazines I consult most often are
Canadian Gardening (http://www.canadiangardening.com)
and Gardening Life (http://www.gardeninglife.ca).

My favourite gardening book (not about design, though) is Growing Perennials in Cold Climates, by Mike Heger and John Whitman. Also good are gardening books published by Lone Pine.

So, back to garden design. Here is my list of general ideas:

• Lay out your garden with different areas (known as "garden rooms").


• Create a mosaic of colour and texture.


• Plant plenty of trees.


• Create focal points with structures and statuary.


• Use containers to liven up flat areas like decks, porches, and patios.

Here are some ideas specific to my garden:

• Plant plenty of deciduous and coniferous trees and shrubs to provide shelter for birds.


• Include birdfeeders and a birdbath.


• DON'T install a pond (too trendy).


• Concentrate on the three H's: hosta, hemerocallis (daylilies), and heuchera (coral bells).


• Use creeping juniper for groundcover to anchor the soil.


• Combine different evergreens to create colour, texture, and winter interest.

In the above picture you can see, far too crowded, from left to right:

1. Wilton carpet juniper (tiny bit between rocks)
2. Mugho pine
3. Dwarf globe blue spruce
4. Dwarf Hinoki cyprus
5. Saybrook gold juniper