Tips for Planning Your Garden

Today I’m going to give you a little advice on how you can find yourself moseying through a beautiful garden this season without spending millions.

Riddle me this.

Now is the time to gaze onto the frozen earth that used to be your garden, and think. Write out these questions and answer them on a piece of paper.

What did you like about your garden last year? What did you dislike?

Did you get compliments on anything? What?

Did you do anything different from previous years? What were the results? Will you change it a little this year?

If you took pictures of your garden, pull them out and take a look. What is your eye most attracted to?

Have you seen photos of other gardens and want to plop parts of them into your garden?

Plan.

With these answers, think about what you’re going to do this spring to get the garden you want. Perennials may stay where they are or you may decide that the space needs a makeover. The most important thing to remember here is to plan. Without a plan, you will find yourself at your local garden centre wandering about looking at everything. It’s like grocery shopping when you’re hungry – you just don’t do it.

How much space do you need to fill?

What colour combinations do you want? Do you even want combinations or do you want a beautiful mix of colour like I had in my wildflower garden last year. (Photo – you should have one from the pics I gave you).

Draw it out!

Go outside.

On a nice, sunny day, take a trip to the space where your garden used to be and where it may be again this year (maybe you’re going to move it, who knows). Look at the space and picture your garden. Not necessarily the garden you had last year, but the garden you want for this year.

Budget.

Everyone has one – it’s a fact of life. Just remember that any space can be transformed into a beautiful one without breaking the bank.