I like curved beds mostly, lillyfinch. I used a hose too, to work out what I wanted. And I like overflowing. I also like box edging in some places, for things to overflow over. I would love to have some seating, but I just don't have the right spots, or else it would mean lifting things to mow. So I usually sit on the steps.

When I moved here 6 years ago, it was mostly knee high weeds, and as it's terraced, I was dragging the mower up and down, I decided that having beds would be much easier in the long run, and also, of course, much more attractive.

My favourite area is my circular 'Tea Circle'. That's Tea as in roses. It's yet to reach fruition, as I had to remove many roses I'd planted because of disease. The new ones are only 2 years old. And the spartan pines are yet to form a proper hedge to enclose it.

I partly plan ahead, and partly as I go. But, as the 'bones' were laid out decades ago in the form of sandstone paving and walls, much has been decided for me

You're going to have a lot more room for plants with your wider beds. I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun!

This photo shows the 'main' terrace. I just curved the beds to 'embrace' the steps you can just make out in the middle. The rose in the foreground is Mrs Dudley Cross, and is in the 'Tea Circle'.

And this photo is looking down at the 'Tea Circle', which is behind the pines. There's box edging in there, but it's still tiny.

Trish

Designing my garden beds would imply something drastic in my case, meaning that I might (um) have a plan. I think "evolution" is the kindest word for how my garden beds came to be.

Initially when we moved into this house, I had some various plants that I moved from my old house that I needed to quickly replant in July, so I dumped some newspaper and compost and leaves and mulch down and plopped the plants into the space I made. None of these yet were roses (this was around 12 years ago). I started on the south side of the house in the sunniest spot, or under some long-standing pines for shady spots, and sort of made the plantings look like they made sense under the trees. For me, "makes sense" was having enough mulched out non-lawn space so that the plants weren't too crowded by grass, but not extensive patches of pure mulch either. Nothing very planned beyond sun vs. shade though.

As I started to put in shrubs (including a few roses) I had the brilliant design idea to put large things at the back of the beds and shorter things in front (though I have a sinking suspicion that others have figured this out before me). However, even my shining moment of design glory was unsuccessful, since I immediately set into planting more things into those beds, which meant widening the beds, which meant the formerly short things were now in the middle of the bed (you should see the odd places I have crocus growing that were intended to mark the front of a bed). Since I'm way too lazy to move anything without looming disaster, I already had a mish mosh of sizes much less types of plants, particularly in my sunniest bed.

Here's one of the beds where the "tall in back" strategy worked, at least for a few years, before the Smokebush at left decided to want to be a tree and the Black Lace Elderberry decided to die to the ground for some inexplicable reason then grow back to waist high the next year. So much for planning, eh?

I mostly find that I follow natural or permanent barriers to garden bed evolution, so the growth stops somewhere, and that varies in different spots. In the bed below (sorry I don't really have the "before" pictures - this was about 5 years after starting the bed), you can see the patio putting a natural limit on how wide the bed can be before it looks odd. It's also handy to plan to cover eyesores like the AC unit or bag of leaves for later mulch that you can see in the background.

You can sort of see that I tried to maintain a bit of a curve inward from the patio, both because curves look nice but also because it would look odd to have a straight line out from a curved patio. However, once I'd decided the least garden-worthy spot to put a shed, it made sense to have a straight line out from the shed along the fence (which coincidentally gives me a lot of deep space to plant in all along the fence). Here's the widest shot I can find of that bed, complete with ratty low green fence that I'm too lazy to take out, and in a good year the roses disguise it anyway. The cage in the middle of the bed is to house a net to keep the birds away from about 12 blueberry bushes.

The spots under the pine trees evolved as more space was created by circumstances (oh, taking out a tree? - what lovely soft soil and natural mulch there is RIGHT there). The ground slopes away toward the house from these pines, so it naturally looked right to curve the bed along the curve of the trees and stretching down the hill. You can sort of see that in the line of grass at the bed edge here.

This photo shows the curve a little better heading into the fence.

And of course, once the neighbors put in a fence across the back (that you can see in the shed picture), it only made sense to continue that fence the short distance down both sides of our yard. And what's a poor rose gardener to do with all that lovely fence, hmmm? Here straight lines made sense to me, at least for now.

Front of the house is a lot of straight lines, so straight lines make sense for this bed, out to the edge of the yews that you can see both at the back and to the right along the sidewalk. It's part shade and a zone colder than the rest of the house, so tough as nails is the rule of the day here.

Here's the biggest expanse of this front bed I could find. Oh yes, and when you plant a climber that actually wants to (um) you know, climb - after you've been too lazy to do anything about it for several years slap a trellis over the top and put one on the other side of the house so it looks sort of symmetrical. Lose a lot of bloom, when said climber is Quadra. Like I said, no planning - the extensive blood loss isn't something I would have chosen if I actually thought ahead.

A mailbox makes a nice permanent landmark to plant around and the sidewalk is straight, hence a straight bed makes sense, and totally filling up that narrow space. Start with a square bed, keep plantings 3' high or lower, and let the bed creep sideways until DH says "um, honey, could we leave SOME grass on the "parking". Plant redbud trees there in the remaining lawn to keep me honest so I can't get away with more creeping without being obvious (at least not much...). Here is the best shot I could find that shows the redbud trees, with the unfortunate addition of the neighbor's truck (but hey, at least it's a complementary color).

FWIW, that's the way my mind works. Gardening is one of the few right brained things I do, so I let my eye do what it feels like doing, and you can see that in the "design" that is basically chaos with some limits.

Cynthia

Cynthia,

What impressive plantings and lovely roses you have!

Is the large flowered rose in your 7th. photo down Sweet Fragrance?

Evolution is such a spot on word for how it seems to go with gardening!

Not too much to add here since I'm still a newbie, but I go in with a semi-plan and then I sort of move things around, and get rid of what's not working and learn more every year. I do wish I didn't move things around so much, but it seems to be part of the process for me - impatience + impulse purchaser =). I find pinterest and other people's photos really helpful because you can see what works in other people's gardens, especially if you see plants that you know work well in your zone. I have also learned the hard way to pay better attention to size and warnings of plants that are aggressive.

I used to be stressed out when things didn't work out or I didn't plan carefully enough and had to move things around, but now I see gardening as a beautiful way to learn about resilience (on the part of plants) and patience and the joy of experimenting and learning along the way (on the part of me).

Trish and Cynthia, your gardens are to die for. Thank you for sharing - so much inspiration!

Trish , you have a wonderful back yard ! I love the terrace , and the tall pines create a beautiful back drop . I'd love to see more of the tea circle this summer ! I had mrs b r cant but she couldn't ;) ( too cold here) . I would love to sit on the steps too and take all that beauty in! And I love the pond as well .

Cynthia, evolution is absolutely the right word for us ! I don't think there's any fun in getting it right the first time . I've had to go gradual with these gardens , they are much bigger than what I came from , therefore more expensive to fill in . I like my straight line beds but just realized they were very one dimensional. You have done a wonderful job with your beds and I'm going to refer to the photos for my designs . I love your quadra bed ! Eventually I'll move my work out the front of my house but I enjoy the back yard more . Thanks for sharing your photos both of you ! It's very helpful. I wish it wasn't 36 degrees so I could wander around outside and see what I want to do .

This area has a rich tradition of estates, and estate gardens. The usual, early 20th century layout is a formal bed pattern, planted with some symmetry, but it takes a fairly keen eye to winkle it out. It sounded like a good idea at the time, so I totally overextended myself to make something like that happen in my back yard.

These are all such wonderful photos. I love looking at everyone's garden on these forums to get ideas. And on Houzz. But I also find the need to reign myself in to make sure I'm staying true to my style instead of adding everything I see that I like from others yards. Sometimes I'm really tempted!

Lilyfinch have you ever looked at gardenia.net? I really like their plant combination ideas. Here's a link to a bazillion photos! https://www.gardenia.net/plant-combinations

Here are a few of my favorites...

A fragrant path.. https://www.gardenia.net/garden/a-fragrant-path

A welcoming hedge... https://www.gardenia.net/garden/a-welcoming-hedge-denise-dering-design

I also love all of the Northern California garden ideas... https://www.gardenia.net/plant-combinations/regions/north-america/northern-california

And there's some really gorgeous ideas for your area in TN too! https://www.gardenia.net/plant-combinations/regions/north-america/south/middle-south

Cynthia, yeah..........lazy.........right! Wonderful photos, and I do hope you have a good rose year this year. Am I right in thinking you have almost a thousand. It must be some show.

mad_gallica, I love your design, and the way the seating is nestled in. What a lovely spot for an afternoon cuppa, or an evening drink.

Oh geez I guess I forgot to say what I do when I'm designing my beds! So I actually am a planner. There is no hiding it... as a lot of my posts kind of show that fact about me.

I watch and wait and plan. I like to watch the way shade moves across the yard. I like to watch where water moves. I watch where weeds naturally grow in abundance. That's a good spot to plant in! I watch where the worms hang out. And where the birds hang out. I watch what the ground and the land and all the life in my yard want to naturally do. Then I build on that.

I like curves and straight lines together, in a way that follows the countour of the land that is already there.

I like big, wide paths that a wheelbarrow can move freely down without scratching elbows. I like perimeter paths around the whole yard and paths to every part of the garden so it's accessible from lots of different directions. I like fluidity, but I also like structure. And I like height.

I have laid out designs in the past with the hose, with empty pots, with plants in pots, with spray paint, with string. I plan with photo collages to get a visual sometimes. I draw pictures or plans. It's all helpful.

But I think it's especially important to lay it out in the actual garden space... and then leave it for a while so you can watch how the sun moves across, how the shadows change, how drainage may change, etc.

But... I'm super persnickety and enjoy the planning process. I find it fun and satisfying. It's in my personality. We are all a little different though. If planning is not enjoyable, or causes any kind of anxiety, definitely don't do it! Some of the most gorgeous gardens are very bohemian and organically just come together.

I will take some photos maybe this weekend to add. :)

Just snapped some quick photos. Please excuse the mess it's been a busy week.

Heres some good examples of the straight lines and curves together that I tend to like. And height. And wide paths. The paths are all 6 feet wide at least. That's super important to me!

Heres an example of how I dig holes and play musical chairs with plants while I decide how the light hits them etc. I'm not home a lot during the day so I have to wait a couple weeks to a couple months to really get a feel for how to place things in a new bed. In the mean time I pitchfork holes, check out the soil, move pulp pots around, etc. If you're home more often I don't think it would take that long to figure it out. I like taking my time though because once something is in the ground here... it stays. The soil is just too heavy to dig things up and move them around all the time.

I like to test out newer plants in areas where they get a lot of sun and heat to see how they do. Here's a line of grafted roses in pulp pots in a hot, sunny area. I don't think any will actually stay there. But if any seem to like the heat there, maybe.

Heres another photo that shows the hot rose line and the things I like... curves and straight lines, height, wide paths, etc. That ginormous putting green grass was my husbands request and it's not real. No grass at our house. Too high maintenance.

Heres another staging area for bare roots that are leafing out. Once they're more mature I will be playing musical chairs with them too.

Again, excuse the mess. But this is a good example of all straight lines... although I think I made it look curvy with the design of the plants and flagstone pathways. Added a lot of height and structure with the arches, raised propogation beds, obelisks, etc. It looks messy right now but it will look great once I clean it up a bit and everything is blooming in a week or two.

Before I redid my backyard, I did the same thing in my front yard. My neighbors probably think I'm nuts for moving pots all around and leaving them there for a week or so... but I need that live demo in order to really see if it's the right spot or not. Especially when starting from scratch and making a whole new bed or planting area.

Hope this helps!

Gorgeous, Cori Ann - and WHAT mess? All I see are elegant lines, creative structures, and clear evidence of planning (as if your previous thoughtful posts weren't evidence of that). This is going to look gorgeous when things start blooming.

See, your garden and Madgallica's and Moses' all have the careful elegance and grace that comes with planning. I can hear the string quartet starting and a muted "yes, rather lovely actually" in your best Queen's English. Trish's exquisite garden and terrace say "sipping Chardonnay on the palazzo". Mine says, "uhhh, Grog plant pretty flowers in dirt". Well, except for when I plant them, they're mostly spiky sticks with the hope of flowers.

And yes, Trish, I am lazy! I'll put about half an hour each into planting the roses at most, and then they're basically on their own, with a little water if I remember it. The photos you see are from the one year I actually fertilized, so that's one of many reasons I was wistful over your gardens. I'm hauling my sorry keester out to the garden this weekend to start pruning and (sigh) fertilizing, hoping for another year like that after such a mild winter. Yes, the forsythia are blooming so early already - we're in a 2-week cycle at least of mild temperatures.

Lovely photos all!

Cynthia

Grog plant pretty flowers. Too freaking funny!!!!

Glad you don't see the mess. There's dog land mines all over. Maybe they look like dirt in the photos. ;)

The Landscape Design forum used to talk about 'perimeteritis'. Garden beds would start around the perimeter of the house, then around the perimeter of the lot. Then, in its most extreme form, things like flagpoles would show up whose major function was to create more perimeter. It seems to take fairly serious garden ambition to let go of the edge, but it is necessary if you want a garden to walk through, or sit in.

I'm hoping to be able to find my garden sometime in April.

Cori Ann,

Not only is your garden awe inspiring, the perimeter trees on your neighbors' properties are the perfect backdrop for your garden. It looks like your garden is enclosed within an arboretum!

Your eyes look down, around and forward to see the layout and plants close by, then they are drawn up to view the perimeter trees, and their varied structures. After that your eyes return to view the primary subjects, your lovely landscaping structures, and then the plants and their blooms.

A successful work of art, a fine painting for example, does the same thing as your garden. It gives the viewer's eyes the same, 'pleasurable workout,' your garden does. One's eyes travel about viewing with great pleasure the harmony, experiencing both the tension and relaxation of the artwork before them.

Good job, Cori Ann.

Oh my goodness thank you so much Moses! That is exactly what I was going for!!! Soothing images that draw the eye into a motion like a figure 8 pattern are almost as good as getting a relaxing massage to me... and it causes me to slow down, take a deep breath and just take it all in. Thank you so much!

I plan, plan, plan, plan, plan. Sometimes I get overwhelmed, but luckily have a DH with a visual/artistic streak who helps me when I get stumped. I scoured magazines and garden images on GW to the point of overload!! When planning my current garden, that is still in the works, I began by writing down the elements of a garden I like.. so arbors, trellises, garden rooms, little things tucked away but peeking out for example. I knew that I wanted a garden that had plants spilling here and there, so I avoided rough edges, but added a touch of formality or neatness. In planning, I tried to make the most of our space by creating a design with a flow/feel, best fitting the space and USAGE. I read advice from GW members (so invaluable) and implemented suggestions like for example, making wider (at least 4' or more) paths throughout the yard. My DH drew the paths on paper and then we used marking paint to draw the areas for the paths on the ground. This served as a guide for our landscapers. I am so "particular" about colors, and thus selections in that respect was easy. I followed the smaller in the front, tallest in the back rule, but also thought about how the garden would look when plants go dormant or are pruned. For me, drought tolerant/low water usage was key. With the exception of citrus trees, all of my trees, the majority of shrubs /plantings etc. are low water use. The roses are definitely less than water hogs when planted, watered and mulched with water conservation in mind.

I’m of the school that feel you should make the viewer ask ‘what is over there?’…… that is, block their view so they have to venture further into the garden. You don’t want a person to stand at the edge of the garden, look around and say ‘okay, I’ve seen it all’. Also have a plant placed such that it becomes the focal point when looking thru a trellis.

If you have solid fences then you could place a huge mirror on the fence so that it looks like you are looking into a garden on the other side of the fence when you approach the mirror. If you go with curved beds, make sure you build the pathways such that a lawnmower can follow around the beds with ease. Let the grass grow high, then mow around what would be the edges of the beds.

Wow what amazing responses ! I can't tell you all how much I appreciate you taking the time to write about your gardens . This is a very informative thread!

moses I hope you can share a photo of the whole bed this spring ! It sounds so well planned and perfect for you .

Madgallica , your garden also requires much thought and perfection and I admire theses types so much !

Cori Ann , oh my goodness ! I love the structure of your garden . Formal but relaxed , done by a true designer . Just fantastic. I love all the hardscaping .. I wish I was still working so I could invest in that but yours is wonderful !

Toolbelt .. I love the idea of "what's around the corner ". Most photos I save have that look to it . I feel like I will achieve that effect in 5 years or so . Honestly I'm so obsessed with roses and clematis if I don't find another plant interest I may not quite achieve it .

Desertgarden , I get obsessed and stuck in the planning stage as well . I get hung up on plants .. it's almost as if I'm not happy unless I'm unsure of something I'm working on ! I do ask my dh what he thinks and sometimes he really gets it and helps me . sometimes you need a fresh set of eyes !

I really love to read and research and pin and save things online. Then I get out there with my shovel and go to town. I'm horrible with measuring and perfecting the lines. It drives my husband nuts when he's mowing around it ! This year I aim to Iron it all out and stop leaving messes around and get my projects done . But you know , it's part of who I am and I can't change everything!

Thansk again everyone!! I'm going to reread it now and really apply what I can to my own garden .

Mine has evolved with time. it used to have a mix annuals and perennials and the annuals changed every year and there were few roses. then I got into roses and planted a few floribundas, then I found out about old garden roses and started adding them. I had an hybrid perpetual but knew nothing about it other than it was passed down in my family. now I'm inclosing the roses along paths with formal hedging. the sitting areas which are curved, are unhedged and are done in rows with clematis and climbing roses in the back, then the main roses then a row of carnations/ dianthus with a row of stock in front to complete it. One corner was done in tiers with a birdbath in the middle with two icebergs flanking the sides, pink ogr style mini roses lining the front, Barbara's pasture rose behind the birdbath and Mary rose austin behind bp. I also have a three tier fountain I'm going to surround with noisettes across from the birdbath to balance the sides out: I want to have a formal Victorian cottage garden with deminsion that draws you in to see more.

Garden nut , that sounds wonderful!! I can already imagine it . I do hope you'll show it off one day !

Everyone has such pretty gardens above. As for the planning, I think it all depends on what you begin with, costs & style. I love the look of formal & modern landscaping; however, I bought a resale 8 year old home that looks somewhat traditional with an existing patio & a flat square backyard with a 6 ft privacy fence surrounding it. The patio is a curvy number with smaller interlock brick with a beige stone. It kind of sets the tone for the yard. It's not what I would have done, but it's nice enough that I can't justify replacing it. The original back fence line garden came with a few clumps of ornamental grass, a willow type shrub, a few other false spireas & a peony. In a bed that was about 3 feet deep. Already overgrown with weeds. So I spent the 1st summer cleaning that up, saved a few choice plants, planting 12 trees - front & back yards. And I started making fence line garden beds. Obviously have to plant the larger foundation plants & get them thriving first. So in 2 summers I made about 300 feet of garden around fence areas between the front and back. Planted the trees, 30ish varying shrubs, 45ish roses & quite a few perennials. Lots of edging & mulching. I also have a 6 ft fence along the front yard on one side. When we moved in there was no plants along the sides of the yards. I am very happy with the progress so far. But I want to extend more, add more, etc. Because my yard is very flat it was relatively easy & cheap to get as many beds as I have. If we had to do more hardscaping it would not be as simple. So I think a lot of someone's garden planning comes from the complexity or issues their actual property has ie. slopes, drainage, soil types, etc. Also I live in zone 5 so hardiness is a factor. I love boxwood hedging around beds, but it's easily ravished by winter winds, sun & ice damage. And I'm too lazy to winter protect that much. There are just so many variables.

This is a picture of 3/4 of my back fence line last September. Started out as a 3 foot deep straight line bed.

Here's another view of the back fence. There's is a small square patio tucked in the right corner. The stones for edging were used because there was a big pile of them in the corner when we moved in.

So this came from an evolution plan.

This is my side fence garden bed. Once the hornbeams & limelight get bigger I will widen this bed again.

Wow hallo , that is fantastic!! Really reminds me of my style of garden . I love the curves you added and that's just what I need . Your yard looks wonderful!

do you just use a shovel to edge your beds ?

This is bed that I added off the side of our patio I can't handle bare fences & just grass.

Another view.

The other thing I'm having an issue with is; we are seriously contemplating adding in a pool. Plus, we are doing a garden shed, building this summer. We also want a fire pit area too. So I'm leaving over half of our backyard grass until we make up our minds. Which halts all further garden planning until we figure that out. If we do a pool we will probably redo the patio with another material & move the existing stone to do a front walk or a side yard path. So many variables.

And this is my front yard. Need to work on the weedy grass still. It was bad when we moved in, a work in progress. There was nothing planted in the yard other than the city linden tree & the glacier rock.

Front garden bed. This was the only garden bed when we moved in. Had to clean it up a bit, pulled some overgrown stuff out. This summer I'm replacing the shoddy dogwoods with lady of shalot & planting Munstead or boscobel in front. Just waiting to see how things grow & fill in before making any more moves on stuff. Always something to tweak though. Plus, I can always find another spot for a pretty rose! Sorry for the long posts!!!

HalloBlondie,

Very beautiful! Impressive! You're a talented designer!

At first look I thought the columnar trees were spur-type apple trees. Hornbeams.....something I wouldn't have thought of....very nice. I will keep this great tree, hornbeam, in mind for advising young gardeners who want an elegant well behaved columnar tree. Can they be kept under 15' tall and no more than 5' wide with only a once a year pruning?

Limelight hydrangea and its many fellow H. paniculata cultivars are such workhorse shrubs of great beauty. You will grow to love and appreciate yours more and more each year.

Is that Hosta 'Plantagenia,' I see blooming in one of your photos? I am nuts about this hosta. It is not as readily available in commerce as it should be. I guess the foliage is too ordinary, but the flowers in late summer....intoxicating scent from elegant white flowers.

You have a great garden layout with great plants....with plenty of room to expand, too!

Thanks for the compliments. I just love gardening! My problem is trying to restrain from planting too much at once & impulse buying. I did spend a lot of time researching tree & shrub sizes to allocate enough space. One of my pet peeves is overcrowding which is something I see a lot of. I plant a lot of annuals to fill in bare spots until things fill in. My background is a graphic designer, but I'm better at interior decorating. I think it helps me visualize sizes, heights & colours in the planning process.

As for the question about edging, I use a straight shovel edger in the spring to make my edges neat. Then every time I mow the lawn I use my grass whipper upside down to trim the grass edge straight. This keeps my lawn edges maintenence free for the rest of the season.

The hornbeams are European pyramidal ones. They can be used for pleaching or left natural. I have also seen people chop the tops because they can get quite tall. I bought babies to save money. Each was $50. They grow a foot a year here & will get more oval shaped as they mature. By that time they will be completely above the fence line making a wall of green for privacy. The limelight will fill in the fence boards.

You are right about the hosta. Funny thing is I didn't know the variety. It is a chunk from my mother's garden, which was taken from a chunk from my grandparents garden from over 40 years ago. I love that thing about plants. It's always nice when they bring a good memory.