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A Garden Guide
Give Your Garden a Theme By Teri Brown
I started out with all the good intentions in the world. After drooling over books filled with the riotous splendor of English cottage gardens, I decided that was the style of garden I had to have. So I planned, planted and waited with baited breath for my unruly masses of blooms to arrive.
When they finally did, I realized that I had a problem I couldn't stand the messiness. I kept trimming things back, longing for edges, borders and neatness. Uncontained brilliance was not for me. How was I to know?
When Kimber Schmal and her husband decided to revamp their backyard, they put quite a bit of thought into it. Originally from Florida, the Schmals had a hard time dealing with the long, cold winters of Ontario, Canada. Knowing that and their love for warm tropical weather, the Schmals created a tropical-themed garden in their backyard. "My husband and I met in Florida, and we wanted something to remind us of that," says Schmal. "We wanted to go out into our backyard and feel like we were on vacation."
It wasn't easy bringing the tropical feel to the Great North, but the Schmals managed it by using a selection of both plants from other garden zones and native plants that have a tropical feel. They even created an open tiki hut for entertaining, where they and their guests can relax overlooking the rest of their tropical paradise. "We bring in several 10- to 20-foot palms every year to keep up the feel of the garden, but the results are worth it," says Schmal.
Though most people are not willing to go to quite that extent for their dream garden, they should have a grasp on what style of garden suits their own personal tastes and needs before planting. Jimmy Turner, director of research for the Dallas Arboretum, says there are many types of gardens. Read on for a look at some of the more common garden styles.
Here, Turner defines a few of the more common garden styles:
