If you are planning to create a new garden or even just a new section within your yard the best advice is to put your spade away. All the experts agree that you should start by making a plan first on paper and then marked out on the ground as shown in the picture. I found this article over at the National Garden Bureau. After setting out five key tips the author then goes into more detail and stresses the importance of a color theme.
Key Planning Tips
Start Small. If you decide to plant up some new areas this year, start small so that you can test for success and appearance. You can always make it bigger next year.
Consider water access. If you are planting an area far from a water source, figure out how you are going to get water there. If a long hose isn?t practical, you may have to carry water there, or plan on carrying the plants (assuming they are in containers) to the water source.
Try something new each year. If something in a seed catalog or in the garden center captures your imagination ? try it. Starting on a small scale and a new spot, you can test the plant without a lot of expense or disappointment if it doesn?t please or doesn?t succeed.
Go for variety. Even within the confines of a color family you can achieve a pleasing mixture of different flower forms, heights and textures. While large displays of a single flower can be awesome, too much of a good thing can be boring.
Keep a ?cookbook.? In a notebook, write down which classes and varieties you planted where. Often you can just tape a plant label to a page and write ?front door,? or ?patio tubs? next to it. At the end of the season you can write down how it performed and whether you want to plant those again, try them somewhere else, or try something new.
To be sure you take advantage of all your growing areas, get a piece of paper and a pencil and make a rough ?bird?s eye? sketch of your lot, including marking out where your house is. Indicate which areas are the sunny, partially sunny, and shady areas. Be as detailed or as rough as you want. The idea is to identify all potential growing spots and then decide what to put where.
Once you have your sketch made, think about each area and where you would like the color and texture of plants. If you have a deck or patio, baskets or tubs of flowers can add a lot to the appearance. If there is a spot in your yard that you look at all the time from the kitchen window or that guests in your yard naturally tend to look at, brighten it up with flowers. And there is no rule that says you have to shove your garden back against the fence or property line ? a garden spot in the middle of a yard can become a focal point and attractively break up boring expanses of grass.
Read the rest at National Garden Bureau
Image source: National Garden Bureau
