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jjpeace

What is your garden style?

I have always admired the formal garden style when I was a student majoring in Art history at university. I am very influenced by the European formal gardens. At the same time, I love the "Romantic style" which is more natural and wild yet paid homage to nature and otherworldliness.

However, in reality my garden is much more cottage garden type or at best a pottager type of garden with its mixed vegetables and roses. I tried to use recycled stones and used many broken stones which makes things less than formal perfect.

Every summer as I look at my garden, I find that what I have in my mind and what is reality are worlds apart. Don't misunderstand me, it is not like I am disappointed or anything, just that it does not reflect what my "sanctuary" is.
I am therefore curious about all of your experiences. Does your garden reflect what your garden style is?

Comments (33)

  • aegis1000
    9 years ago

    Gardening style ...

    Cottagey, informal, woodsy ...

  • smithdale
    9 years ago

    Very pretty, aegis500, I do love pinks.
    My garden style is practical(no lawn), romantic(lots of roses & perennials) Cottage. For me this also means having lots of cuttings from other people's gardens as well as fruit trees & bushes. During the summer I love going out to pick roses & raspberries.
    Jane

  • nanadollZ7 SWIdaho
    9 years ago

    Aegis, you have the look I crave, but can never have. That beautiful green lush look with lots of pink superimposed against the green. I love it!

    Here in the semi-arid desert, with 10 inches of precipitation in a decent year (we actually had more this year-yay), it's hard to be green, and the blazing summer sun makes light pink look white at best, and gray- blah at worst. So, though I have my pinks, I use yellow, dark reds, and purples a lot more.

    Here's my view directly out back to give you the idea.

    Diane

  • frenchcuffs13
    9 years ago

    I love romantica with a bit of formal mixed in. I use Graham Rose's The Romantic garden book as inspiriation. Love love love. you can get one on ebay for about $5.

    This post was edited by frenchcuffs13 on Wed, Jan 28, 15 at 3:03

  • Marlorena
    9 years ago

    ..a very mixed garden... not what I would really like but I can only work with what I have here... and that probably goes for most people I should think...
    ...I love trees but we are not permitted to plant them here on this modern estate...where no plant is more than 8 years old..
    ....it's very constrained, straightjacketed in many ways... it cannot expand so I have to plant accordingly... but I manage to have a Mediterranean type border on sand and rubble, recently infiltrated by roses of all things... a small cottage style area with as good a soil as any....(surrounded as I am with rose fields and fruit orchards)....a long border of cottage style shrubs, clematis and roses...plus an area for container planting... unfortunately, it's all fairly recent...and lacks maturity...

    ..but reasonably diverse I would hope...and I like it for the most part...plus the changeability in the weather makes growing easier I think...

    ...Diane,
    I love that photo....in fact I love most pictures of the American West....even the old historical ones, including the Great Depression/Dust Bowl and way back...some are quite harsh, but here I am reminded of this old Cole Porter song...which I enjoy very much, as sung by Bing Crosby...

    Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above
    Don't fence me in
    Let me ride through the wide open country that I love
    Don't fence me in.....
    .....Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle
    Underneath the western skies
    On my Cayuse, let me wander over yonder
    Till I see the mountains rise....

    ..I hope no one minded that...best wishes...

  • seil zone 6b MI
    9 years ago

    Lax. That's how I'd describe my garden. I'm a pretty lazy gardener by most standards. Even though I spend hours every day out there it never looks like it. I would have to say it's a mix of everything from fruit and veggies to perennials to roses and annuals thrown in for good measure. Big, blowsy, over filled, over grown and a bit messy are my trade marks. But I like it! I've never been one for the formal look. It's to regimented for my taste. I don't like that "landscaped" look. To me that's not a "garden". Gardens are, or should be, always changing and morphing with new things and new ideas. You really can't do that with a landscape or formal garden. Everything has to be just so to keep them in order. Order? You won't find that in my yard, lol!

  • shopshops
    9 years ago

    I'm with the lax folks! My aim is for an English cottage garden..... Texas style!
    Im currently in the slow process of eliminating awful bermuda grass from the periphery of my property front and back. I'm leaving long strips of lawn as a pathway with roses interspersed with perennials. I'm cramming 200 roses on a 8100 sq feet lot..There is beauty in every gardening style, but I love relaxed and informal vignettes.

  • toolbelt68
    9 years ago

    shopsshops, when you get rid of your Bermuda grass please let us know how you did it ! ! ! ! I covered a 10x20 area with black plastic. Removed it after 6 months and the grass was still there. The roots were bone white but it was still there. I've tried mulching -- 8 inches deep-- and it just eats it up. It winds up through any bush I have, no matter how tall it comes out the top.
    My garden is for our viewing pleasure. Everything planted here is positioned for our pleasure not someone riding up and down the street.

  • lesmc
    9 years ago

    CHAOS....Messy, busy,always changing! Love the riot of colors, textures and every single thing about it! My garden is always a work in progress and always changing. But, it`s mine and I adore it. Lesley

  • shopshops
    9 years ago

    Toolbelt68 I have had to resort to round up and sod cutting, in that order. Where my property borders my neighbors with Bermuda I'm using St Augustine grass which crowds out Bermuda. I've covered some areas with thick cardboard until I can get St Augustine plugs in. I intend to have very little grassy areas so this will account for the St Augustine water use.

  • sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
    9 years ago

    I mostly grow tropicals and subtropicals. I am in a zone 9a in a rural residential area on 4 acres. I don't have a lot of beds put in yet (just moved here a few yrs ago from a smaller city lot) . I am working on it. We have poultry and rabbits for composting.

    We do get a few freezes every year so I have a temporary greenhouse that I set up for tropical stuff (usually mid Dec - mid Feb.) I have lots of plumeria, tropical fruit trees, passiflora, tropical vines and shrubs, brugmansia, etc. I am just getting back into roses so I have more color in the yard during the cooler months and the big plus is that I don't have to move them into the greenhouse lol.

    I am currently trying to figure out how I am going to blend roses into a tropical garden. I know the brugmansia will look real natural with the roses but not so sure about bananas and all the other stuff.
    If anyone has any photos of how they are mixing roses with tropical plants I would love to see them :) I really need ideas lol.

    Here are some older pics to get an idea of how it is. I want to incorporate roses into this and I do have lots of space to add more beds.




    {{gwi:2120478}}

  • jacqueline9CA
    9 years ago

    I would describe my garden style as "the more the merrier". I love any pretty plant which will survive in my garden - if they survive and bloom (which many do not), I plant more of them.

    This is, believe it or not, a pic of one of my main rose beds! The roses are hiding behind the hollyhocks, etc. at the moment.

    Jackie

  • ArbutusOmnedo 10/24
    9 years ago

    I would describe my space as 'Informal Mediterranean Cottage', mixing succulents, annuals, perennials, flowering shrubs, and mostly fruit trees. I love dense, lush plantings, but traditional cottage garden plants like a bit more water than either I'd like to use or naturally comes here. I let Centranthus, Eschscholzia, Nigella, Cerinthe, and some natives like Platystemon californicus run wild between Salvias, Roses, Australian and South African shrubs, Echium varieties, and other shrubs/perennials to achieve that look. There isn't much serious hardscape or garden ornamentation beyond the plants, which is fine by me for now.

    The more I get into plants the harder it is to keep everything 'well designed.' If I see something unique or inspiring, I'll find a way to work it in. That makes for some strange pairings, but on the whole I'm still able to pay attention to texture, color, vertical interest, and fragrance fairly well.

    If I had a massive space to work on, I would aspire for a more formal look in a central area with meandering informal mixed beds branching off. A walled garden would also be lovely to create.

    Here's a picture from yesterday of a part of a mixed border. It has Correa 'Dusky Bells,' a very small Galvezia juncea, Pennisetum, Centranthus, a peony poppy, and Lavendula dentata. Sydonie is next to this little scene:

    Jay

    Ed: I should add that I have a small sub-tropical shade garden with some Abutilon, Cantua, Brugmansia, and a Deppea splendens. I've planted a larger, but similar mixture of sub-tropical plants in my parents' shade garden. There are some climbing species Fuchsias I'm interested to see mature in their yard. I love South American Cloud Forest plants, but I don't have a ton of shade and I'm trying to cut back on watering.

    This post was edited by ArbutusOmnedo on Wed, Jan 28, 15 at 17:18

  • ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
    9 years ago

    I have a property in the hills, much of which is left unplanted since water and gardener energy are sparse. What is planted I'd categorize as Mediterranean with a muted palette so that plants blend into the background of hills and valleys, which is why I tend to use mostly old or antique-looking roses in white, different shades of pink, lavender and purple. Red, orange and bright yellow have no place here, except for some golden yellow irises. I have no annuals and perennials are limited to those that do well here, which are mainly reblooming irises, pelargoniums, sea lavender, day lilies and shrubs such as butterfly bushes, vitex, junipers, crape myrtle and trees such as pepper trees and cypresses. I strive for harmony but not formality and a degree of cohesiveness among the different garden areas.

    Ingrid

  • nanadollZ7 SWIdaho
    9 years ago

    Lesley, your garden is not mess and chaotic. I've always thought it was extremely well thought out and showed a lot of artistic talent, as does Ingrid's garden. Nevertheless, it's fun and revealing to read what you all think of your garden style. I'm enjoying the photos, too. Love the brugmansia, Jasmine. I've never thought about trying to incorporate roses into a tropical garden, but I think some climbing roses in hot colors would work well and not be lost among the tropical plants. Diane

  • mariannese
    9 years ago

    An English visitor thought my garden was very English but it isn't. It's a Swedish "granny garden" the term for the cottage look over here. There is some formality near the house with boxedged beds in a style copied from the south of Sweden and not at all English. The garden gets progressively wilder further on. It's a suburban garden with no views and five close neighbours so I've had to create interest within a confined space of half an acre. The first thing we did 20 years ago was to plant a lilac hedge around the perimeter to complete the existing hedge to the street. We finally have some nooks where we can't be seen from the outside but we can see the roofs of neigbouring houses almost everywhere.

    I've tried to create vistas although there weren't any natural views to frame except perhaps the little bit of natural wood left to one side by the original builders of our house, a narrow strip of Scots pines, young oaks and birches, perhaps 20 trees in all. Because of these native trees we only planted fruit trees in the bottom of the garden. This is the major fault, we should have planted more trees from the beginning.

    I take very few photos so I may already have shown this old picture of the view from one garden bench to another along a double row of roses.The climbing roses are taller now and cover the arches. Several climbers froze regularly their first years and have been replaced. The house is to the right behind an apple tree, the kitchen garden is to the left.

  • mariannese
    9 years ago

    A photo of the unimproved bit of native wood. There are species and near species roses along the edge, among them R. pendulina, R. moyesii, R. spaldingii, 'Nevada', 'Louis Riel', 'Betty Bland', Austrian Copper and Persian Yellow.

  • lesmc
    9 years ago

    Thank you, Diane. Your kind words warm my heart on this cold January day! My garden feels quite chaotic to me.Mariannese, your garden is so lush.You must have a lot of property to care for. Lucky you! I love all the pictures. It helps to pass the cold winter days. Lesley

  • jjpeace (zone 5b Canada)
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thank You everyone who has posted. I really enjoyed reading about all your experiences. What is interesting for me is the different challenges gardeners faced in different areas and climates.

    I am practically drooling at all your garden pics. All of them are beautiful. However, I was surprised to see Diane's "backyard". I would never had thought that you live near a desert Diane by looking at all your wonderful pictures in the past. You should really be proud of yourself.

    I realized that by looking at everyone's picture of their gardens, what seems to resonate for me is the "chaos" as Leslie called it. I find all the wild and natural feel of all your garden just perfect. I agree with Seil and I realized that this is how gardens should be in our lifetime. It reflects our lives and souls.

    Thank you all for sharing your piece of paradise with us all.

  • mustbnuts zone 9 sunset 9
    9 years ago

    Oh, I just love the pictures! Everyone's garden is so beautiful! The variety is fabulous!

    I try to go for an English, more cottage style of garden to go with the style of my house, but was told by one of the master gardeners that came through last year that I am a plant person and that is why if there is a different variety out there, I am willing to try it in my yard.

    That row of brugsmansia's was just delicious! I have no space (live in a planned unit development on zero lot lines) and so I have one of them in a pot as I love those flowers. I do a lot of gardening in pots. Most of my "garden" is hardscape, so pots it is.

    I have different zones in my garden. I have my veggie garden in pots in one part. My fruit trees (super dwarf) are in another part. (helps with watering to have things that are alike in zones). My roses are in another part. The desert garden at Huntington Gardens is one of my favorites so I have succulents and cactus in pots on my front porch. My citrus trees tend to be in another location. I even grow Yuzu and have an Australian Finger Lime. So I guess my garden is a bit of a mish-mash but it suits me fine.

    I will throw up some pictures. I fear you all get tired of the same pictures over and over but I do have a teeny place to garden unfortunately.

    Here is a picture of my Brugmansia (sorry if I spelled it incorrectly) flowers. It is currently in a pot next to my passion fruit vines (and you can see a tiny baby passion fruit in the picture).
    {{gwi:322128}}

    Here is a picture of my lotus which is also in a pot (well actually my whole "water garden" is in a pot). I got sent the wrong lotus (I wanted a Chawan Basu), but I keep it anyway.
    {{gwi:291547}}

    I had a spot in the garden where things did not grow well, so I put a bird bath there with some rocks in it for butterflies to drink from on hot summer days. The rose bush next to it is Lady Alexandra of Kent. She apparently loves this spot considering her blooms this year which was the first year I had her.

    {{gwi:2120479}}

    Front yard in April of last year. Roses to the right are Pretty Jessica and roses on the left are Lady Alexandra of Kent and further down is Munstead Wood. All are on their first year in my garden.
    {{gwi:288405}}

    Last picture is of my back yard in early summer at dusk. My favorite time out there other than the early morning when the sun is coming up. {{gwi:288409}}

  • ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
    9 years ago

    mustbnuts, in your case size has nothing to do with beauty. Your garden is arranged with great care, that much is obvious, and you've made the most of your limited space. I never tire of seeing that picture of your walkway with its lovely flowery borders. I really the little lights in your back garden. I'm a fellow lover of dawn and dusk, although I see much more of the latter than the former. There's hardly an evening when I'm not outside, admiring our apricot sunsets, and then walking around until it's almost too dark to see. I think the garden and surrounding landscape are at their best at those times, and also on cloudy or partially cloudy days when the light isn't harsh and blinding.

    Ingrid

  • jacqueline9CA
    9 years ago

    Here is one last pic of my "the more, the merrier" garden - taken 10 minutes ago. Front rose is Burbank, then there is some salvia leucantha (which is definitely not supposed to bloom now), and then the top rose is "Schmidt's Smooth Yellow".

    Jackie

  • daisyincrete Z10? 905feet/275 metres
    9 years ago

    I have no idea what my style is. I only know that my garden is too small to fit in all the plants I want and the ideas I have.
    As to which garden styles I enjoy, it is definitely those that include lots of flowers.
    I could happily live with Jackie as one neighbour and Hoovb as the other.

    I have no garden in the front of my tiny village house, just pots along a village footpath. I try to keep all of the stronger colours to these pots, leaving the softer colours to my little garden behind the house.

    {{gwi:2143188}}

    {{gwi:2143189}}

    {{gwi:2143190}}

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    The rear garden has a completely different feel.

    {{gwi:230185}}

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    It was fascinating to see the view from Diane's garden. Here is the view from my village. It was taken during the green of winter.

    {{gwi:2134399}}

    {{gwi:2143195}}

    Daisy

  • Samuel Adirondack NY 4b5a
    9 years ago

    My Garden is different every month, every week. I just tried to fit as many flowers and plants in my back yard and still walk around or sit in the Adirondack chairs.
    {{gwi:2143196}}

  • bragu_DSM 5
    9 years ago

    poorly planned with whimsy

  • jjpeace (zone 5b Canada)
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    SultryJasmine, love the tropical style. You definitely won't see this style where I live but it really give those of us who live in cold countries a warm reminder that spring will come.

    Mustbenuts, love your style. It is very tranquil and quiet, just like a far away retreat.

    Daisy, your garden looks very big in the picture. I would hardly call that small. It is just stunning. The last pic looks like somewhere in Europe. You are very lucky to have such a beautiful view. All I see when I look at my backyard is my neighbour broken window. Yup.

    Sam, I think you said it basically for everyone. Gardens should be constantly evolving. Beautiful retreat.

    Bragu, you can't go wrong with hostas, planned or not. Very charming.

    Thanks for sharing.

  • mustbnuts zone 9 sunset 9
    9 years ago

    It is too bad we don't have smell-o-vision and sound-o-vision on this board. First, I would be sniffing everyone's flowers. Second you would be hearing me saying OMG when I look at everyone's yard. They are just beautiful!

    Daisy, your garden is incredible. What lucky towns-people you have who get to walk by it every day. The views are so beautiful! You should have heard me ooh-ing and awh-ing over the fountain and the pottery vase you have filling it. So, so pretty!

    Jackie, how are you doing with the rain? It poured here last night but right now it is a gentile rain. Was glad I was able to prune the last of my roses yesterday, weed and feed them before the rain started so the fertilizer could be watered in by the weather this weekend. Garden is always beautiful! Love the variety and the colors,

    Brag, LOVE hostas but here they don't do well heat and the snails and slugs love them. Yours are gorgeous! I too love a bit of whimsy in the garden. Mine is a mermaid that was named at the nursery where I got her as Lovely Lenore. She is an older mermaid, with pointy sunglasses on her face. I adore her.

  • Kippy
    9 years ago

    Victory Garden-Cottage Garden-Educational Garden

    Dad was a serious gardener and always wanted the garden to provide food both for eating and thought. As his age prevented up keep things fell deeper in to a jungle. Our garden is a work in process. I have spent years cleaning it up, creating zones or garden rooms and now filling it back up.

    I have more white picket fencing than any sane person should have, but much was given to us and it is used to define some of those zones.

    We have a big veggie garden, a wide variety of fruit trees, chickens, and roses.

    {{gwi:2143197}}
    {{gwi:2143198}}
    {{gwi:2143199}}

    As the garden is today, Dad would hate the picket fencing, but love the diversity and volume we get from the garden and the usage it can get in the future.

    I am looking forward to taking photos this spring

  • sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
    9 years ago

    Wow what beautiful gardens everyone has! I am getting tons of inspiration.

    nanadoll: Hi I think you are right about growing some wild bright colored climbing roses in with the brugmansia. That would help them to stand out. The only climbers I have now are softer colors except I have Pat and CPM (DA) on order that are little more orange. I will look for something bright like Pinata or St Joeseph's Coat to put in with the wild things lol. I eventually want to plan 'garden rooms' and kinda transition from the tropicals to different areas with different styles and looks but blended together somehow with pathways.

    mustbnuts: I think we are kindred spirits. I grow lotus in pots also! I also grow several tropical waterlilies and one hardy yellow waterlily in water pots as well. I have a small patio pond but there are fish in it that like to eat the plants lol.
    Here is a pic when I first started them.
    {{gwi:452169}}

    Later On
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    {{gwi:452172}}

    JJPeace: You would be surprised at what some Canadians are growing as far as brugmansia and tropicals. There are a few Canadians on GW that have brugmansia gardens that put mine to shame. ruth_ann in Ontario who posts on the brugmansia forum is one :) She plants them out in the spring then cuts them back and lets them go dormant no watering and stores the pots in a frost free area overwinter. Many elephant ears are very hardy especially the colocasias.

    Here's a few gingers to brighten up the winter blahs. These are Globba gingers and are hardy to zone 7b/8 but can be stored dry in their pots overwinter somewhere above freezing.
    {{gwi:570371}}
    {{gwi:570373}}

  • mustbnuts zone 9 sunset 9
    9 years ago

    Sultry, another lotus fan! I love your gingers. Beautiful!

  • thorngrower sw. ont. z5
    9 years ago

    Standing ovation for Daisies garden..............

  • floridarosez9 Morgan
    9 years ago

    I'm finding it fascinating to see the pics of the landscape surrounding our various gardens. I think I'll go take some of my surroundings this afternoon.

    I would be hardpressed to pick my favorite garden out of all those posted. They are all so lovely.

  • jjpeace (zone 5b Canada)
    Original Author
    8 years ago

    Now that spring is here and we have a few new members, I thought I bring this post up again for everyone inspiration. I am planning to rejuvenate my front garden and is studying everyone beautiful pictures and opinions for ideas.