The craze for water features. Waterfalls arising from nowhere, pouring furiously down a fake hill, and then being mysteriously swallowed into the earth. Ponds attempting to look natural in the most unnatural locations. Spurts of water with no explanation. You get the idea. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

I'm undecided about my neighbor's staggered hedge of dwarf Alberta spruce. It runs along the driveway in a landscape timber raised bed, and is about 5 ft tall. The idea of that many, that large, that green cones in one place is rather staggering.

The weeping cherries planted as doorway sentinels too close to the house are unquestionably bad.

There are all sorts of accoutrements you can buy for your garden.

Not that you necessarily should.

Eric, that website is a hoot! Did you see these?

{{gwi:24149}}

Good lord, what ARE those?!

Deeje,

To quote the website:

"Hobgoblin of Harwich Manor
The British secret weapon in the war against weeds
Legend has it that English estates are inhabited by creatures who keep watch even while the master gardener is away! Our Hobgoblin is said to gobble up whatever pests are threatening to overtake your home or garden."

I'm sending off my money for a dozen of them ASAP! They are sure to scare the gophers out of my yard, dontcha think?

Here is a link that might be useful: Hobgoblins

I vote for mini concrete retaining wall block that nearly everyone can afford and lift, allowing any homeowner and all too often, "professional" landscapers to circle all the trees, beds and other features with cute little....totally unnecessary....walls. j-b-y-c-d-m-y-s.

Just because you can bring this nonsense to the board doesn't mean you should. What had you in mind Vicki, schizac takes it seriously but seems to be in the minority. Conspicuous consumption is rampant: just because you want to demonstrate that you have excess money and no taste etc...
We all make choices and in spite of the power of advertising we don't have to buy it because it is for sale.

...buy and plant non-native invasive species.
Patty

Apparently there is a huge market for bric-a-bric, kitsch--whatever it's called. (I call it "fru-fru" or "junk"). Farmer's markets, the local "Top 100" garden store, even the gift shop at the zoo--where you might think they would feature books and other educational materials--are bursting with it.

Guess I have to express a different take on your question, Vicki. If one follows down the road of "just because you can" and starts playing with ideas, new ideas may evolve which might be of interest to others. The creative mind is never still. The creative mind should not allow itself to be disciplined. Play! Experiment! So...a gardener builds up a hodgepodge of a plant collection. Or adds some of those statues from the site that Eric posted. So what? Why allow yourself to be boxed in by formalities. How else can one find one's 'style'. Likes and dislikes? Most plants are very forgiving allowing us to arrange and rearrange them as we wish.

Many postings on this Forum indicate that DYI beginners or new homeowners are afraid that they will break some imaginary landscape rule.

Gardeners will never know what they 'can' do until they experiment with some of those 'should not do's. That is the fun, fulfillment and surprise of landscaping/gardening.

Nandina,

Yours is a refreshing take on the question, and it is actually one I thought about but didn't articulate in my opening post. In my own case, I occasionally suffer from decision paralysis, but that's only with regard to really expensive things, such as some house remodeling projects I've been mulling over. I suppose for some people that applies to expensive landscaping projects. But like you, I have done much experimenting with plant selection, combinations and arrangement. Some succeeded, some disappointed, and some were wonderful surprises. I am not a conservative gardener designer (hobbiest) by any stretch. Still, I do think there are JBYCDMYS situations that all gardeners face.

With your home remodeling analogy you came up with what "formalities" are good for--they make sure the result is a success. If somebody doesn't build something that will fall and kill them (or someone else), or burst into flames then sure, experiment away--as long as they end up liking what they ended up with.

Garden effects also fail or succeed due to rules that exist because of how humans tend to see things. Bed shapes appear to have rhythym, flower colors are 'cool' or 'hot'. Theses are shared perceptions that affect planting design.

Seems to me that you can approach this idea several ways, as already mentioned. There are the extremes of normative taste which sometimes, when pushed hard enough, move what appears to be a "could but shouldn't" toward its own creative result.

There are also those situations where the thing that could be done, shouldn't  because it reeally shouldn't. I remember some old threads about DIYers who were dang well going to put in retaining walls 6 or 7 feet tall without any consideration of the physics involved because they had the sweat equity to get the job done and no budget for professional assistance. I even vaguely recall a thread about the moral dilemma of a pro observing the installation of a questionable retaining wall by another pro in the neighboring house's back garden.

I'm curious about the more subtle nuances of the jbycdmys line. For instance, just because you can doesn't mean you should Â
Grow a lawn.
Put in a foundation planting.
Use a higher end paving material in certain situations.
(All of the above have created some powerful threads around here.)

Wellspring

Cover a tree's root system with 8" of soil and mulch because "nothing will grow there otherwise."

I thought that this was going to be about Spandex, Speedos, and those belly shirts.

It is the same thing, I suppose.

Not if they're cute.