Does your garden have a style or theme to it? Or is it a simple fill the space kind of layout- patio, center lawn and some shrubs around the perimeter? Is it overstuffed with trees, shrubs and plants or maybe you have a blank space you would like to design?

Garden styles or a theme to the design can help personalize and give a framework to a garden design. Known garden styles use certain layouts, plants and materials which makes it easier to know how to layout a design for your landscaping. There are the classic garden styles:

The Formal English Garden

Missing in these photos are the traditional sheared boxwood hedges outlining the planting beds. I pulled these from my Travelogue photos and they are all in the U.S. and fitted to the region and type of garden. The photos do have many of the characteristics of a formal English garden though. Strong geometric lines, topiary or sheared shrubs, symmetry, and a balanced amount of paving or lawn with plantings.

There is also the English Country Garden which is similar but differs in planting types to the French Country Gardens.

Similar in the geometric lines and symmetry of the formal English Gardens but the planted borders are softer and and even a bit wild. The paving materials are usually brick or square cut bluestone in both garden types, reflecting the materials most available in old England. Gertrude Jekyll, the famous British garden designer, perfected the perennial border with flowers of varied heights and bloom times giving a beautiful show of color all through the growing season. A classic perennial border builds in height from low plants in the front to the tallest at the back of the border. A center border builds in height to the middle or center row.

Color palettes vary with the taste and desires or the homeowner and are not limited to certain colors but the colors should compliment each other and some contrast colors worked in can enhance the overall design.

The Japanese Garden has been a great favorite, despite the great amount of care in pruning the small trees and shrubs.

Japanese Gardens exemplify a miniature mountain region with the elements of a huge park or woodland area reduced to the space of the garden. Boulders and mounds represent mountains and hills, ponds and running brooks represent lakes and rivers and Bonsai represent towering trees of the forest. In both English Gardens and Japanese Gardens the hand of man is strongly present with sheared and trimmed plants, all elements carefully placed, and statuary used as accents. Japanese gardens and formal English gardens tend to be less flowery and more austere lending themselves to contemplation and peaceful strolls. The Chinese garden is similar but has unique elements representing the culture and ideals of that country.

The Mediterranean Garden is much the opposite with hot, saturated colors and natural stone tiles as well as ceramic tiles. The layouts reflect the European influences with strong symmetry and geometric lines but more curving elements. The Roman influences are also present.

The Mediterranean region covers a vast area with Italian, Spanish, French, Croatian and Greek influences, The examples I show are a vey small collection of photos showing the warm colors of paving types and flowers, the use of urns in the garden and the cascading effects often seen on hillside gardens. The Western coast of U.S. especially the California Coast (which has a similar climate) has embraced the Mediterranean garden for its drought tolerant plants, soft color palette and use of walls to retain steep hillsides.

There are further garden styles that are not as well known but have a place in garden design history. The Ottoman Garden with its gorgeous blue and white tile and Islamic writing incorporated into the walled courtyards with tiered fountains and luscious fruit trees and exotic flowers.

Courtyard and Walled Gardens have long been a feature in the gardens of the world to give privacy, protect the home and occupants plus form an outdoor room. The gardens of Persia, China, Rome and Greece, European Estates and Castles, Spain, and India have fine examples of “interior” gardens creating an oasis from the dust, heat and noise of the city.

The U.S. has a unique garden style created for the open expanses of the larger properties. The Prairie Style Garden incorporates the concepts of the meadow, verge and natural ponds as a haven for relaxation and eco friendly type of home garden. This evolved into the native plant driven garden style.

There was a brief interest in landscaping populated by edible plants. Of course, landscaping and gardens have always had vegetable areas, orchards and herb patches but the idea of incorporating edibles right into the modern landscape has become in vogue. The concept of having ALL the plants in ones landscaping be edible or have fruits became to cumbersome for the average gardener, so a minor amount of useful plants is now used.

On the creepy and dark humor side of garden styles are the small number of gardens designed with all poisonous plants. I recently heard an audible mystery with the murder weapon being a poisonous plant from this type of garden- Ghastly!

Let us transition to the modern landscape.

While I was working on my Landscape Design Course, I decided to deviate from these classic garden styles and give some examples that the average homeowner of today could use for minimal maintenance, low water and to be in keeping with modern aesthetics and lifestyles. Garden styles can be as eclectic and personalized as the owner would like, but having some established and photographed examples can help make decisions easier when planning or remodeling a garden. Even small adjustments to an existing garden using elements from themed gardens can improve an area.

Here are a few examples I used, of garden styles that I worked with in my landscape design business and that proved to be pleasing and easy for homeowners to care for.

The Rockery– this garden style stems from the intricate alpine plant gardens of Bavaria, the raked stone gardens of Japan and the natural landscapes of the west. Minimal plantings, which are mostly drought tolerant, with boulders and stones to add texture and structure.

In drought tolerant gardens I often used dry rock stream beds, sitting areas with gravel or big boulders to break up areas, add another texture, give structure or to replace lawn. There are a variety of colors and rock types available to use. Rocks, boulders and stones are inert and long lasting so can be a low cost and low water alternate. We have all seen ugly rock areas in front of peoples homes but with some creative design and a few well chosen planting areas a rockery can be beautiful and long lasting.

The Minimalist Garden. This is quite popular in the area I worked- Silicon Valley. Considered modern and sleek, the minimalist gardens are usually geometric in design and have a small amount of plantings that are easy care.

The Seacoast Garden is for temperate areas that don’t have the freeze conditions and temperature extremes of inland areas. Succulents are very popular at the moment so these pretty gardens feature succulents creating a tapestry effect. As succulents dwindle of die out, new plants can easily be grown from cuttings.

Seacoast can actually be to as far as 20 miles from the coast, so temperate plants like Protea and Leucodendron (shown above) can work as well as Echium (tall purple spires in photos) and many of the ornamental grasses. Boulders and stones add interest in these gardens too. The plants vary from low to moderate water requiring.

The Shade Garden comes into play where over hanging trees and large shrubs cause dappled shade. In California we worry most about dry shade below Coast Live Oaks. We can’t over water the Oaks and cause their demise plus the leaf litter is extreme. We have had luck planting succulents, Correa, Cymbidium Orchids in pots and some ornamental grasses at the edge of the canopies where light is better. Blow off the leaves occasionally (not weekly) with an electric blower run on low as part of the maintenance.

The plants and gardens shown here are from a broad range of areas and climates. The plants are mostly for temperate climates but some are very adaptable. Ferns, the long go to plant for shade, are found all over the U.S. and simply go dormant in the cold weather. See the gallery on this website for information on shade and other plants

Keep in mind that nothing will grow in dense shade where no light ever reaches. The root mass of trees is also a big hindrance to plants growing below trees. Sometimes I resort to using plants in pots set into a mulched area below trees. Clivia, Aspidistra and Fatsia work well in pots below trees.

The Bird and Butterfly Garden is a very interactive and fun type of garden style to employ. As more and more people remove lawns and large turf areas, the ecosystem improves if plants with flowers, seeds and berries are use in place of turf. Wildlife certainly needs the help and people benefit from the added colors, fragrance, seeing the birds and butterflies and relaxing near an alive with nature.

Use of a lot of path areas with gravel or gold fines as shown above. This allows access to the borders and gives the garden some structure. Flowering borders are usually trimmed back hard in November or December to allow for new growth in the spring. I have the information in my blog posts. Use a small fountain or bowl with water and stones for wildlife to get water in the summer and fall. Plant the area with some evergreen shrubs to make places for the small birds to hide and nest. Use lots of red and warm color flowers and tube shaped flowers for the hummingbirds, bees and butterflies. Bees really like the flowers of herbs i.e. lavender, rosemary, thyme and sage. You can use them in your cooking as well.

This is a short run down of the concept of garden styles and their looks and types. There are lots of variations- as many as imagination will allow! If you are interested in designing your garden and choosing a garden style or theme, check out my landscape design course for further information:

There are loads and pictures, examples and information to help you with your garden.

The blog and gallery has lots of information to augment this article also.