How to Layout a Perennial Garden

Decide the purpose of the garden. A garden that provides flowers for the dining room table during spring through autumn is going to be different from a sitting garden, where relaxing evenings are enjoyed on a bench.

Examine the space available to determine what you have to work with. The amount of available sun dictates many choices in perennials. A limited space prevents choosing perennials that sprawl on the ground. Climbing or vining perennials may occupy a vertical space along a trellis or wall.

Study the plants that grow well in your USFA hardiness zone. Many perennials have been adapted from tropical plants and will do poorly in the chillier climates with harsh winters and short summers.

Choose the flower colors to match a theme. The flowers might match one another, such as various yellow shades of the fernleaf yarrow, the golden marguerite and the blanket flower. An alternative would be to go with contrasting flowers such as red cranesbill and Virginia bluebells.

Give space for each plant to flourish and be noticed on its own terms. Crowding the plants confuses the eye and doesn't allow a concentration on any particular one.

Leave enough room for you to care for and manage each plant. Some perennials need to be pruned back for best growth while others need their dying flowers removed for more new flower growth. Many perennials will crowd their roots together after several years' growth and need to be divided. If there is not enough room to reach the plants, they will be harder to maintain.

Arrange the plants so that the taller ones do not block the sun from the shorter ones.

Avoid tight squeezes and awkward curves that will make it hard to maintain the lawn around the garden. Ensure that a mower will have access to the surrounding area, and a weed trimmer can work without danger of damaging a garden perennial.