Backyard Garden Design Ideas

Wildlife Garden/Habitat

• Turning your backyard into a wildlife habitat is simply about changing the way you think about gardening. Rather than gardening for purely ornamental purposes, think about the value each plant and shrub you pick might have for the local wildlife in your area. Birds are the most common neighborhood dweller, and depend mostly on seeds and fruit bearing shrubs such as holly bushes and wild blackberries. The National Wildlife Federation also recommends providing a water source for drinking, bathing, and raising young. This can be provided in the form of a birdbath, pond, water garden, or even a backyard stream. Trees, shrubs, and bushes are also very important parts of maintaining a wildlife habitat as they provide natural shelter for small wildlife. Reducing turf grass and replacing it with a wildflower meadow is also a good option for cover. Chemical free gardening is another way to round out your wildlife habitat.

Cottage Garden

• Cottage gardening started off as just that - a garden centered around a small cottage. Many of the cottage dwellers were poor and everything grown in the garden had a purpose. Most of them had an herb garden convenient to the kitchen door for easy access and an efficient system for vegetable gardening. The beautiful cottage garden style that eventually emerged from that was a result of plant trading and the cottage dwellers' discovery of the flowering properties of many common herbs. While cottage gardens were typically small scale gardens, they have become more of a 'theme' in today's time and can be replicated no matter how large the area. To create a cottage garden effect think of soft pastel colors and climbing roses such as "new dawn." New dawn is a climbing rose that is classified as a rambler. Soft pink clusters of fragrant roses bloom profusely all year around, and can cover a wall with ease. Adding other old cottage garden favorites such as hollyhocks, pinks, sweet pea,and other antique heirloom roses such as "sally holmes" will complete the cottage garden picture.

Green and White Serenity Garden

• When thinking about designing a garden for the backyard, consider turning it into a serenity garden. While "serenity" may have different meanings for different people, the concept of a serenity garden remains the same. Foliage in varying shades and textures of green is accented by simple flowering plants and vines. White and green is a common color scheme that was inspired by Vita Sackville West at Sissinghurst castle in the 1930's era. Her famous white and green gardens are still viewed by thousands of tourists each year. This effect, while simple to accomplish, will bring harmony and a sense of peace to the backyard setting. Petunias, candytuft, baby's breath, impatiens and even white roses are all good choices to use as accents for a green and white garden. Stone benches and a water feature such as a waterfall or pond will complete the effect.