How to Design a French Quarter Garden

Measure your future French Quarter-style garden's approximate dimensions with measuring tape. Draw a plan of the garden to scale on graph paper with a pencil. Include every feature, such as trees and other natural elements and man-made structures, such as walls and pathways. Note the areas that are mostly sunny, mostly shady or half sunny and half shady.

Choose which features you want to highlight in your plan and which ones you want to downplay. For example, wrought-iron gates, old statues and fountains are effective French Quarter-style focal points while modern or trendy features should be downplayed.

Place one sheet of tracing paper over your graph paper garden plan, and sketch features you would like to add to your garden. A classic French Quarter garden icon is the Andrew Jackson statue that is in Jackson Square. It is not necessary to replicate the statue exactly; a black statue of a horse or a dark stone statue of a man mimic the original statue well. Additional French Quarter features you may want to add include a low brick wall, trellis and cobblestone path.

Outline the plants you want to include in your garden. The French Quarter is in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plant hardiness zone 9b, is surrounded by USDA zone 9a and contains a large variety of plant life. Consider including anemone or windflower (Anemone coronaria), which is a perennial that blossoms colorfully in spring and is hardy in USDA zones 7 through 10. Additionally, include a fern, such as Boston swordfern (Nephrolepis exaltata), which has thick, green foliage that reflects the French Quarter look. Boston swordfern is hardy in select states, including Louisiana, in USDA zones 8b through 11.

Include terracotta pots in your plan. Such pots are common in the French Quarter. Pick several differently sized pots, and plant dark, leafy green plants such as a bay laurel, or true laurel (Laurus nobilis), a broad-leaf evergreen tree that grows well in a large pot and is hardy in USDA zones 8 through 10.