Garden Style

So, now that we've chosen which part of our garden to renovate, or re-design, the next thing we have to do is decide on a style.  There are three considerations to take into account at this point, personal taste, architecture, and community. 

First, what is your personal taste?  Maybe you don't know, in which case you need to start looking around and finding one.  A good place to start is magazines.  Personally, I've been subscribing to various magazines for years, and I've been ripping them apart for years, as well.  I save what I find useful and informative and I recycle what I don't.  When it comes to gardening magazines, I not only save informative articles, I cut out inspiring pictures as well.  Then, when it's time to plan a new design, I pull those picture out and sort through them, saving out the ones that apply or have ideas I'd like to incorporate.  It's a great time saver and a way to utilize other people's expertise for the price of a magazine subscription and a pair of scissors.

I currently have a stack of garden pictures more than 2 inches thick, and while many different styles are represented there, a quick survey tells me that the greatest percentage of them have a 'country garden' style that is relaxed and informal with prolific, and varied, plantings.  My favorites have rustic, but not kitschy, hardscaping and decorative elements.  And appartently I like everything to look natural and a bit old.  I like a garden that looks like it might have grown up around an old farmhouse.  Which leads me to the second consideration when choosing style, your house's architecture.

Your house has a style, every house does, and the second consideration after your own personal taste is the style dictated by your home's architecture.  If your house's architecture and your garden's style don't match, or at least compliment each other, the visual impact of your design will always be a jarring one.  For example, if you live in a very formal, urban home, an over-grown, country garden filled with whimsical knick-knacks will never look right.  My house has a standard, 1990's, suburban split-level design, and it's clad in barn-red siding.  Put those two together and an informal, country designed garden should match very well. 

If you haven't ever put any thought into it, take some time when deciding on your design style.  Look at some magazines, go to your local bookstore or library, there are many, many beautiful books out there which will help you identify, in short order, exactly what you like.  Take some notes, rip out some pages and put them together.  Soon, you will figure out what you like. 

When your style is decided, it's time to look at our last consideration.  Look around your neighborhood and community.  What kind of design have most of your neighbors chosen?  If most of your neighbors have very formal gardens, you may think a very informal one may make your house stand out, but you have to make sure you aren't like the proverbial sore thumb.  Individuality is good, but boat-rocking is not appreciated.  You don't want to look weird and you don't want to impact any of your neighbors who may be trying to sell their houses.  You want to blend, but not match.

If your style clashes greatly with what is going on in your neighborhood and you really aren't a fan of the predominant style, you do have options.  One solution may be to design your front garden to match the neighbors and do your back the way you like it, especially if you surround the back with a fence or hedge so that it is not visible from the street or your neighbors back yards.

Style inside your home is a very private thing, on the outside, though, it's very public.  Make sure you have chosen one that you can live with, and that makes you happy, but one that will also please your neighbors, and make you look good, as well.