Design Ideas for a Moon Garden

Create a Moon-Shaped Bed

• Barbara Damrosch, author of "Theme Gardens" presents a moon garden example that is small, and in the shape of a crescent moon. You view this garden from inside the curve of the crescent at either ground level or looking down upon it from a balcony. Depending on the plants grown, the white flowers can begin as early as late winter with tiny bulbs, such as snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils, and extend through the growing season with lots of white, silver and gray tones of leaves and night-fragrant flowers. In winter, shrubs with powdery-white bark or twigs would look good in the moonlight, as would evergreens with silvery needles.

Non-Plant Focal Point

• The moon garden need not only be a collection of plants easy-to-see in the moonlight. You can also accentuate the garden design by adding hardscape features like a walkway or patio brick pattern, small water fountain or piece of art. Moonlight will illuminate and cast shadows on statues, benches filled with light-colored pillow and cushions, as well on a white birdbath. Electrical or solar-powered lighting can be added to highlight the focal points and can also aid to illuminate the moon garden's plants when there is a new moon or the evening is overcast with clouds.

Use Black Foliage

• While variegated foliage, white flowers or silvery gray foliage may be the plants of choice to grow in a moon garden, do not disregard black-leaved plants. In the daylight these black foliage plants look like dark red, maroon, burgundy or blackish purple, but at night they become jet black. Juxtaposing black foliage next to silvery leaved plants or white flowers accentuates the contrast, even in dim light. Thus, the moon garden becomes filled with seemingly black chasms that frame and highlight the shapes and textures of the lighter colored leaves and flowers. Black mondo grass and black bugleweed can create a low groundcover backdrop for islands and clusters of other plants. The key is that the black plant creates negative visual space at night, not highlights (which would happen in daylight for them).