Transform your outdoor garden with decor and design. Whether you own a home in Cambria, CA, or rent a condo in Seattle, WA, this home improvement project will give your garden year-round appeal. Not only can you create a biodiverse environment but also a serene space filled with fragrance and color by adding plants, outdoor ornaments, water features, and furnishings. We reached out to experts to give you the best garden design tips – here’s what they said.
Garden decor ideas
Every garden needs a dreamy water feature to complete the space
“A water feature is a great way to add tranquility to your backyard. Make your fountain a focal point in your yard. Cast stone fountains are an excellent option for a water feature because they last forever with minimal maintenance.” – Tuscan Basins
Consider a color scheme for your garden
“Basic garden ideas can come from the inspiration of color. I try to follow the color wheel when selecting flower colors, creating an ambiance and feel that is relaxing, while fragrant and inviting. Creating a “zen” like garden environment will bring immense rewards when trying to recharge for our busy lives.” – New York Garden Design and Landscape
Decorating your garden
“We like to think of our garden as an extension of the home and decorate accordingly. Outdoor rugs like mad mats work wonders for pulling together a seating area. Fun pillows, a sunbrella, or another solution-dyed fabric add a splash of personality. Arrange a low bowl of succulents as a centerpiece for your coffee table. Add a statement potted plant in a corner or two. You can even hang “art” on the walls or fences utilizing metal scroll trellises or patterns of old wood arranged in a pattern.” – Potted
Decor placement to bring the space together
“I always tell clients that adding a focal feature in your garden can help ground the space and give visitors a place to rest their eyes. Whether it’s a bird bath, a fountain, or a grouping of glazed pots, this can help add interest and bring all sides of the garden together. Bonus points if you repeat material or color, for example, using all glazed blue pots, or incorporating a material that already exists in the space like natural stone.” – Spell Garden Design
Choosing plants for your garden
Gardens bring beauty and other benefits to your yard
“Creating a new garden is a great way to enhance the exterior of your home. Along with adding beauty, native plants can benefit for many other reasons. It can help reduce the amount of stormwater runoff in your landscape from a downspout or neighbor’s yard or help create a food source for our local wildlife, including honeybees. Native plants are also easier to grow and less maintenance, as they thrive in our unique weather conditions. In your new garden, it’s important to think about plants that will provide year-round color and texture within your new garden. A few low-maintenance plants include black-eyed susans (Rudbeckia fulgida var. fulgida), anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum), tickseed (Coreopsis ‘Zagreb’), and oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia). When choosing the right plants for your unique landscape, it’s also important to consider your landscape’s conditions. Whether you have full sun, shade, dry or wet soil, and other obstacles, including deer pressure and furry rabbits. Whatever your landscape conditions may be, there is the perfect plant waiting to be planted in your garden.” – Strawberry Fields LLC
Aim for biodiversity when choosing your plants
“We are fortunate to live in one of the world’s 36 biodiversity hotspots right here in Los Angeles. Plant biodiverse, native plants along with some other favorite Mediterranean climate-appropriate plants. Your garden will become a wildlife habitat that will attract birds, butterflies, and many other desirable species. Each garden becomes a link in a daisy chain of natural habitat gardens that feed living things and helps protect our environment. Some beautiful California native plants for your garden: – Santa Barbara Lilac (Ceanothus maritimus ‘Valley Violet’), St. Catherine’s Lace Eriogonum giganteum), Aromas Sage (Salvia clevelandii ‘Aromas’), Blonde Ambition Blue Grama Grass (Bouteloua gracilis ‘Blonde Ambition’), Silver Carpet Aster (Corethrogyne ‘Silver Carpet’), and California Milkweed (Asclepias californica).” – Urban Oasis Landscape Design
How to create a harmonious garden
“Add variety to your garden to create resiliency, and this encourages us to get creative in our gardens. Create communities, not all plants are competitors. Plants form communities around their specific needs. For example, a tomato plant vulnerable to aphids will thrive near marigolds which deter the pests. Attract beneficial insects with plants to protect your gardens by pollinating and preying on bugs that pester our beloved plants.” – Barefoot Garden Design
Utilize your gardens shaded areas
“If you’ve been trying to figure out what to do with that shady spot in your garden, you have options. There are numerous plants that will grow in the shade, such as hostas or bleeding hearts. Consider planting in a big pot if visual weight and filler are needed.” – Grounded Garden Design
Proper preparation will take your garden to the next level
“Beautiful large pots can add a welcoming feel to front flower beds or a front door. When installing a new landscape, measuring out your plant spacing instead of eyeballing will take your landscape to a professional finish. Prepping the soil with great amendments before planting and fertilizing on schedule will ensure that your landscape always looks pristine.” – Renken’s Nursery
Planning plant and tree placement ahead of time
“When planning a landscape design or garden, layout evergreen trees, and shrubs first, they are seen all year, and start with largest, at their mature size, then go down in size from there in plant material.” – Spring Lake Garden Design
Garden design and decor is the perfect exterior project
The style you choose for your garden is up to you; go for a tropical, Mediterranean, coastal, or woodland vibe – or create your own style. Take into consideration the native plants in your region and decorate from there. Utilize old objects as planters, add stone facades and dress up your garden entrance. Working on your garden will only get better with time. Consider asking your gardener or landscaper for design tips – the spaces they create are truly a fairytale.
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