Garden Design Ideas

Garden Design Ideas: Landscaping ideas

Many people prefer to have a formal garden compared to a garden that is sprawling and informal. There are benefits to formal garden design ideas and there are also some drawbacks, all of which are based on factors that affect the design. Garden design ideas for formal gardens are usually similar to each other because these usually follow the same train of thought. This train of thought is the perfection of geometric designs and lines. Garden design ideas regarding formal gardens usually have straight lines and level ground formation.

Hedges And Shrubs

Although hedges ad shrubs are common to any type of garden, these can also be found in garden design ideas for formal gardens, The hedges and shrubs of most formal garden design ideas are usually in a straight line and constantly pruned and clipped to follow the desired level of the design. These garden fixtures are used to elaborate a boundary and to mark paths. These are great for garden landscaping ideas.

There are many different kinds and varieties of plants that are suitable for formal gardens. Ideally, bushes and hedges with smaller leaves and smaller flowers are great to use in garden design ideas for formal gardens. Most of the time, hedges, shrubs and bushes of formal gardens are fashioned in such a way that they complement each other. Some gardeners even make shapes from the bushes as garden design ideas.

Grass And Flowers

The grass in most formal gardens is trimmed to a level that looks like a beautifully manicured lawn.

Flowers in most formal gardens are stately flowers that do not grow rampantly wherever they might . Garden design ideas for formal gardens are classic rather than innovative.Flower beds and hedges are constantly pruned and trimmed to maintain their look.

Roses are very popular in a formal gardenjust as they are in the cottage garden. But in a formal garden the design idea is to have them planted in separate beds of their own without any undergrowth. Usually too they will not be in beds of mixed colours or sizes. They will be carefully matched for colour and size.

The garden design ideas for a formal garden include carefully small box hedges forming areas in which herbs or decorative leafy plants are grown. Herbaceous borders where they exist are carefully planned. Taller flowers such as delphiniums will be at the back with smaller flowers in front. Often too, if there is a wall behind the beds, you will find espaliered trees.

Garden design ideas for formal gardens may also include water featres like fountain and pools. But the water features will be formal and very unlike a natural water course. The water will be carefully channeled rather than free flowing.

This picture here shows a good example of a formal garden design.

In many ways the formal garden design is easier to control and upkeep than the popular cottage garden idea.

A cottage garden design may seem easier because it is "natural". But in fact there is nothing natural about it except for its propensity to grow eeds in inaccessible places! A cottage garden design takes quite alot of upkeep to retain its natural wild look.

So when looking for garden landscaping ideas think about what you will find possible to keep up and what your needs are. Its no good setting up a beautiful formal garden if you have animals or children who will not be able to play in it without you worrying about it. A cottage garden is great for children and animals but can you spare the time to keep it looking as if it is natural without actually allowing it to become completely wild looking!

There are lots of great garden design ideas in books and magazines and also online so you will never be short of ideas for garden landscaping.

Don't forget that on this site, although you can't see all the hundreds of garden design ideas you only need to enter your search into the search box above to see if we have what you are after.