Garden Design Tips & Tricks

One of the big joys of gardening is that you never stop learning. I’m constantly spotting new ideas, just by looking at other peoples’ gardens, reading how to do something or wandering around really good garden centres. So I thought I’d share some of the latest garden design tips and tricks I’ve picked up.

I should say that if you want more fundamental advice – perhaps you’re designing a garden from scratch or overhauling yours – then my blog on the fundamental garden design rules is a great place to start.

Whereas if instead you’re interested in some quick garden design tips – perhaps a shortcut to tackle a particular design problem such as creating space, interest or privacy – this blog may well have it.

1. Garden Design Tips – Create a Sense of Space

Most people these days have modest sized gardens. But there are garden design tips and tricks which help create a greater sense of space.

Boundaries

For instance, if you have a fence or brick wall, think about the colour. Painting them a light, pale colour will make your garden seem bigger and brighter.

To see this in practice look at the courtyard garden above. It is in reality quite small. A dark wall would make the space feel restricted. But as it is the white paint ‘pushes’ the wall back.

In my experience a pale colour also shows off plants well. I guess that’s why the white picket fence is such a classic garden design feature.

Break Up the Route

Gardens which have the journey through them broken up, also appear much bigger – and more interesting – than those that don’t.

That doesn’t necessarily mean erecting a great barrier in the middle of the garden. Something simple such as a curving path, or a statement pot which you have to go around often does the trick. For instance, the curving path around my potting shed above creates a visually much more interesting vista.

Similarly the curving arc of pots with clematis I have running through a lawn area, stops the eye heading straight to the bottom of the garden. The pots also break up what would otherwise be a rather large blob of not very good lawn!

2. Garden Design Tips – Creating Interest

My trips to garden centres and places such as Aston Pottery gardens and the Coach House at Ampney Crucis have taught me that having a bold vision with your planting and then seeing it through really pays design dividends. You end up with a much more interesting garden.

Statement Plants and Pots

Now I appreciate that with plant prices being what they are it’s tempting to play safe. No one wants to get it wrong and pay for a heap of plants which look all wrong, or worse still die, because you’ve put them in the wrong spot.

But being brave and experimenting with your planting doesn’t have to involve oodles of plants and money. Indeed the picture above from the Coach House at Ampney Crucis features a couple of plants, no flowers and a pot with nothing in it. How tempting would it be to put something in that pot, but the clever gardener has recognised that a pot this gorgeous can do all the talking. It just needs to be shown off.

Similarly, a large statement hosta in a pot or bed can look incredibly impactful. Yet it’s still only one plant and one pot. And if you keep the slugs and snails off it, it will last for years and years and you can divide it, doubling your plants for no extra cost.

Here the bravery is in accepting that an empty pot, or one plant – which is more leaves than flowers – can look enough. The making a feature of it.

Mix Things Up

At the other end of the spectrum, one of the garden design tips I have definitely learned over the years is that if you are going to plant up an area, border or large container don’t be regimented. Be adventurous with your combinations. Mix things up.

Again it doesn’t necessarily cost you more to do this. One large container planted up with four or five plants has so much more impact than five small containers individually planted.

It’s this approach, which I’ve learned from others, which has inspired me to create some of my most successful containers. For instance, this autumn container I created in the October 2020.

It romped away looking lovely for months and although the heather ultimately perished, I still have the grass  Poa Labillardierei and ivy in the pot – the grass is huge now and a real statement plant in its own right. The Skimmia Finchy is equally thriving but now in my shaded north-facing border and looking so beautiful.

Using the similar philosophy of mixing up my planting, last year I created the Summer planter below. It looked fab for ages. And again it’s been a lasting success in that I still have the plants. The Physocarpus opulifolius Lady in Red is still in the pot and read to spring into action. Sitting happily alongside it is the Erysimum Golden Jubilee, which is already in flower.

I moved the Geum Nonna to a border to pep it up a bit as it needed reviving after being in the packed pot. I may well put it back in the pot, but will carefully refresh the compost in the pot before I do. Similarly, I moved the Heuchera Ginger Ale to a pot on its own to give it a bit of personalised tlc. I will certainly put it back in the container for the summer.

Be a Magpie

Now I didn’t wake up one day and think those plants would be good together. I experimented and got a lot of inspiration from other places.

For instance only yesterday I saw this container below at Burford Garden centre. I’m obviously not going to buy the pot – it would cost a bomb. But I may well steal some of the planting ideas as I can see them working in action – and I like what I see. I think the combination of a tiarella with dicentra, ranunculus and sorbaria is so clever.

I have tiarellas in my garden edging a border. Maybe I could lift one and plant it with other plants…mmmm.

At Burford I also saw these next two pots. They’re gorgeous and provide masses of inspiration. So the next one of my garden design tips is be a magpie. You never know where that next brilliant garden design idea will come from.

If you see something which looks great make a mental note of it. Be prepared to borrow ideas.

3. Be Bold with Beds and Borders

Flower beds do not have to be in a narrow, regimented line around the edge of a big square of boring old grass. The most beautiful, impactful and inspiring gardens never do this which is why I’ve tried to copy them. My end result may be a bit of a jumble to some people, but I feel it’s much more interesting than a regimented display.

Think about perhaps having curved borders. Or if you are going to have straight edged beds make the borders deep and generous. You might think this will make your garden look smaller but in my experience it won’t.

4. Garden Design Tips – Think Vertically

I’ve also found the most interesting borders and gardens think about vertical lines rather than seeing the garden area as a flat canvas.

For instance in this border below the odd rocks and bolders are quite a statement but actually I think there’s considerable impact from the height of the lupins contrasting with everything else. They sort of punctuate the scene.

In addition to planting, you can use structures such as pergolas, archways or even simple obelisks to provide that vertical interest.

So one of my garden design tips would be to think about your garden as a three dimensional space and find ways to incorporate things which take the eye up.

For instance in my village there is a garden which makes great use of ivy-covered pergolas, to give a greater sense of space.

Now we don’t all have the space or budget for a big structure like this, but a simple container like the one below on my patio, with an obelisk in it can do the trick. I think it creates some lovely vertical interest.

5. Creating Privacy

Most of us have neighbours and so we’re overlooked to some degree by others. Trees, screens and climbing plants will help give your garden as a whole more privacy. But most of us in particular want to add a sense of greater privacy to a seating area.

If your garden doesn’t naturally provide this, it is relatively easy to achieve with planting. I’ve seen a mix of perennials and shrubs of different heights in pots used to fantastic effect to create a cosy, quiet, private spot.

Or if you’ve the space, a pergola covered with a climber such as a gorgeous rose or wisteria creates a beautiful more permanent private seating area. Quick word of warning – a wisteria will take many years to do this.

The gist of all this is that with some garden design tips and tricks, a bit of confidence and a magpie mind that constantly hunts for new ideas, we can all create gardens that work for us. Happy gardening x