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The Impatient Gardener

Garden, Garden design

Even more garden styles

February 6, 2014

Last week we looked at three kinds of gardens: modern, formal and cottage. Of course there are many other kinds, but I’m going to try to cover them in one fell swoop, rather than individually.

N A T I V E   G A R D E N S

 

Contemporary Landscape by San Leandro Landscape Architects & Designers Urban Botanics

Simply put, native gardens strive to use plants and trees that are native to the area where you’re gardening. There are great benefits for the eco-system (wildlife will love you), but be forewarned, it can be hard to ascertain exactly what plants are native and which ones are not if you’re going to be strict about it.

Asian Landscape by San Luis Obispo Landscape Architects & Designers Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture

I think native gardens lend themselves to a more naturalized look so angles and formal-type order are uncommon (although you note how they accomplished that in the photo above). Once established, there shouldn’t be much maintenance beyond good clean-ups a couple times a year as well as keeping an eye out for particularly aggressive reseeders that may try to take over.

J A P A N E S E   G A R D E N S
Photo from http://tempodadelicadeza.com.br/
 
Seeing a good Japanese garden such as one might find at a botanical garden (or, I suppose, in Japan) can be mind-blowing. They are structured, but colorful (imagine a sea of Japanese maples in autumn). The plants that are commonly found in them often have undulating habits, many times they have been pruned into a layered effect that I personally find to be extremely pleasing. Hillsides are covered in mosses, cherry blossoms drift down into streams, color is broken up by a zen rock garden. I think these kinds of gardens again require a regimented gardener and the right climate.

T R O P I C A L   G A R D E N S

Tropical Landscape by Key West Landscape Architects & Designers Craig Reynolds Landscape Architecture
 
Tropical gardens special in the beauty of texture. Since many of the plants are green, texture often has to come through foliage and tropical plants deliver. Banana leaves, palm fronds, large-leafed perennials all make a statement through form. I suspect that tropical gardens, which are very much dictated by where you live, are one of those things where people who have them wish they could have something else and people who don’t have them would love a taste of them in their own back yard.
 
Tropical Landscape by Sarasota Landscape Architects & Designers Grants Gardens
 
Of course there are so many other kinds of gardens, often specializing in specific plants. Conifer gardens can be amazing in their structure. 
 
Traditional Landscape by Morristown Landscape Architects & Designers dabah landscape designs
 
Moss gardens are the kings of the miniature landscape.
 
Via Pinterest (if you know the original source, please let me know.)
 I couldn’t possibly list them all, but there’s a whole world of gardens waiting out there.
 

 

Next: What kind of garden do I have? What kind do you have? What kind do we all really want?
garden design garden style
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
3 Comments

About Erin @ The Impatient Gardener

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previous post: Discovering garden styles part 3: Cottage gardens
next post: What kind of garden do you (and I) have?

Comments

  1. Heather - New House New Home says: February 6, 2014 at 1:25 pm

    I'm loving this series, Erin. Thanks for putting it together.

    Reply
  2. Karen says: February 6, 2014 at 2:15 pm

    I am so enjoying this series!! I guess we all are because of the winter that never ends. I am currently taking a Master Gardener course and this is making me long all the more for warm weather and greenery, although we currently are renting and I am hesitant to put too much money and effort into a garden that I hope to leave as soon as possible. This is also the house search that never ends. I guess I will be doing some containers but it's really not what I really want to do after seeing the glorious pictures you have showed us. I hope spring arrives without too much longer of a wait and that all of you can plant to your hearts' content!

    Reply
  3. Ms. Wis./Each Little World says: February 7, 2014 at 12:22 am

    All this green is such a high given all the white we are surrounded with. I think that 1st Japanese garden pix has its color ramped up a bit much. I was at the Huntington when that bridge was still painted red. Love those gravel gardens at the beginning of the post.

    Reply

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The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

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Erin Schanen 🌿 The Impatient Gardener
Get your dahlia engines running. All the dahlia th Get your dahlia engines running. All the dahlia things are happening very soon. I actually started dividing my dahlias last weekend, about two weeks earlier than I usually do because the weather kept me cooped up inside. I’m glad I did it because I had some (not unexpected) losses that I’ll have to adjust some plans for. So stay tuned: we’ll be talking lots about dahlias soon. 😀
Want to give a gift to your future self? This fall Want to give a gift to your future self? This fall plant snowdrops and winter aconites and I guarantee you that it will bring you happiness the next spring. They are tiny blooms of joy.
A favorite groundcover and a favorite reseeder. Fi A favorite groundcover and a favorite reseeder. First off, you should know that I really love groundcovers. I would rather see a plant than bark mulch any time. Ajuga is a favorite because there are several forms (my favorites are ‘Black Scallop’, shown here, and ‘Chocolate Chip’) and because they can handle most conditions from sun to shade. Popping up next to it is Talinum paniculatum ‘Limon’ (Jewels of Opar). It reseeds around the garden and I just move it around where I want the chartreuse, succulent foliage. Tiny flowers in red and pink bobble on with stems, looking a bit like peppercorns. Then they drop their seed and come back the next year.
Make this the year that you grow a plant you know Make this the year that you grow a plant you know very little about. If you love your garden that’s all that matters. BUT I promise you’ll find even more joy it it when you broaden your horizons. I feel like I’m starting to see the same plants in gardens over and over again. By all means appreciate and love those plants, but also add something you have to learn about. There is great reward in getting to know new-to-you plants. 

Here are two good candidates you might consider: Athyrium niponicum (Japanese painted fern) ‘Crested Surf’ and Persicaria (or Bistorta, thanks to the taxonomists) amplexicaulis ‘Golden Arrow’.
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