Garden Design

Hello Friends!! I hope your week is going well! I’m back today with some more inspiration to help you spruce up your outdoors! So many of you have written and left comments on how much you are enjoying the past few posts I’ve shared on refreshing your curb appeal, and I’m so glad you guys are enjoying them as much as I do! We are focused on all things outdoors right now, with the snow gone and spring temperatures starting to stay, it’s been great to get outside and get some dirt on my hands! And today I want to share some garden design inspiration with you!

Now, I know what some of you might be thinking. The thought of gardening might not be your strongest suit. I get it because I was there too, in fact sometimes I still feel like I’m not that good at it. But over the last 8 years as we’ve worked on our own yard, and more specifically the last 4 years, I’ve learned a lot.

My biggest obstacle was knowing where to start, heck sometimes that’s still the case. I turned to Pinterest for inspiration, and that helped me narrow down what style I like, which I was then able to identify what types of plants I wanted to incorporate into our landscape.

Last year, after we extended our gravel patio around our barn, I really started to get a vision for how I wanted this particular space to look. A friend turned me on to the term “shade garden”, and after searching the term on Pinterest, I was smitten! That same friend also shared quite a few plants from her shade garden with me (seen below) to help me get started.

I think part of figuring out where to start is first determining the amount of sun the area gets. Once you know that, you can narrow down your search to shade loving plants or sun loving plants. Pinterest is a great place to look for inspiration, but I’ve more recently turned to a few garden specific websites. One in particular is White Flower Farm.

They have so many different search options, but if you are like me, and like to see a completed design to really help get those creative wheels turning, then you will love browsing their Garden Designs page. You can even get really specific as to what type of design you are looking for. Below I clicked on ‘Preplanned Gardens for Shade’.

And it gives you dozens of options. For me it’s just nice to see a visual of what it will look like once its completed, so once I see what I like, I take note of the plants used to create that look.

You can also narrow your search down by a specific type of plant. Hydrangeas happen to be one of my favorites. It’s what we planted in front of our chicken coop, and I actually ordered three more hydrangea bushes from White Flower Farm this year for that area.

Once I’ve figured out the look I want, or the plants I’m drawn to I begin to write a list. One list for sun loving plants, and one list for shade loving plants. We have more shaded spots in our yard than sun, so I tend to be looking for more part-sun to shade lovers.

If gardening overwhelms you like it did me, break it down into smaller sections. Don’t try to tackle your whole yard in one day, heck a year even. This has taken us a few years to establish, and figure out. But I started by picking out plants that I loved. Our yard has a variety of ornamental grasses, lilac trees, and hydrangeas. Last year quite a few Hostas were added to the mix, along with some white Azaleas.

There are so many great ideas on Pinterest, if you are feeling stuck, I suggest start there. And be sure to check out my “Curb Appeal” board for tons of inspiration on exteriors and garden design.

I realize not everyone might be planning a garden, or landscaping in their yard, but if you are anything like I was in the beginning, sometimes it can feel really overwhelming. I’m no landscaper, but over the past years I’ve been able to narrow in on what I really like and what I don’t. This is not a sponsored post. Just something I really wanted to share that I thought would help anyone who is trying their hand out in their outdoor spaces for the first time, or perhaps is stuck on what to do next. AND if you are seasonal vet, and have some plants that you love, I want to know about them!! Please leave any tips or advice you have in the comments below 🙂

Check out some of our past outdoor projects below :

And if you are looking for inspiration on refreshing your front door, check out my latest post below :