How to Landscape a Bungalow

Structures

• 1

  Build a pergola, either freestanding in a garden or attached to the house. Train climbing plants such as clematis, trumpet vine or wisteria to cascade over it.

• 2

  Attach a trellis to the outside of the house or to the front porch. Plant climbing plants or vines, and train them to climb the trellis. Opt for climbing roses to add scent as well as visual interest, or go with English ivy for a natural wall of green.

• 3

  Border the yard with stone walls. Use them to separate your flower garden into "rooms," as well as to provide places to sit.

Trees

• 4

  Choose trees that will not grow so large as to hide the bungalow's architectural features. Research which types of trees grow well in your planting zone and how large they get, and go from there.

• 5

  Consider miniature varieties that are useful as well as decorative, such as miniature fruit trees. Use them to anchor flower and vegetable gardens or border walkways.

• 6

  Pot miniature and dwarf trees in containers. Trim them into topiaries to flank your porch steps. Consider evergreens such as Korean fir and mugo pine as container trees. Opt for citrus trees such as Meyer lemon in warm climates.

Walkways

• 7

  Choose natural materials such as pea gravel, crushed shells, fieldstone and river rock.

• 8

  Avoid straight lines. Design the walkways with gentle curves more in keeping with shapes produced naturally.

• 9

  Design areas where the walkways widen out, circle around or even end. Place casual seating and dining areas in those spaces.

• 10

  Border the paths with vegetables, herbs and flowers.

Plants

• 11

  Cultivate a cottage garden. Choose a variety of annuals and perennials in colors that pop against the often muted hues of the Craftsman bungalow.

• 12

  Create container gardens. Plant a variety of flowers in containers of all sizes. Place them on your porch and pergola. Intersperse them among the shrubbery. Choose planters made from natural materials such as terracotta and stone.

• 13

  Grow a vegetable garden. Make it a small kitchen garden planted in a raised bed, or lay out a larger garden in plots separated by pathways.

Water Features

• 14

  Dig a pond and stock it with fish. Border it with stacked stone.

• 15

  Add aquatic plants such as waterlilies. Plant ferns along the borders of the pond.

• 16

  Highlight a flowerbed with a fountain. Choose a size that complements rather than overwhelms the garden.