Plan “rooms” into your landscape

We frequently draw comparisons between our landscapes and our interior designs. Let’s borrow a word from inside our homes and refer to the various spaces as the “rooms” in our gardens.

This is where our front yard melds into the side and back yards. The hollies that flank it are 45 years old. Container plants change seasonally. Images clickable for larger views.

When you walk through a model home, you’re aware of moving from one room to the next. You may notice that the rooms have been planned very carefully. They’re probably somewhat coordinated, but at the same time, they’re usually different, each with its own personality.

I took this photo looking across our backyard looking into our house the night that Lentz Landscape Lighting finished adding new lights to our tallest pecans. You gotta have lights in your garden rooms – indoors and out.

Well, gardener, you have the same chance to do that with your landscape. Gardens can have “rooms,” too. Rooms where you work. Rooms where you play. Rooms where you dine, and rooms where you just meditate. But you do need to plan.

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It’s easier to build rooms into a landscape when you have a little extra space. It’s tough with townhouses and apartments, but in urban developments you simply need to determine where each part of your landscape will be, then figure out ways to set them apart.

We poured these concrete stones, then pressed rock salt into all of them and tree leaves into a few as they cured. As they were hardening, but still not completely dry, I took my rock hammer and chipped off the edges. Then, a few days later, we used a masonry blade to cut them into circles so we could have two totally round patios. It’s not all that hard to do.

Since horizontal footage may be at a premium, wrought iron fences, brick walls and wooden arbors are all space-saving ways of dividing one area from the next visually.

Vines can do miraculous things without taking up valuable ground. Or you may decide just to hint at the division, still being able to see through to the next place, but with visual interruption between the two. In the house, that might equate to sheer drapes to the outside or an open archway between rooms.

We made these concrete steps, 15 per night, so we could have a less formal garden hallway (path) through my plantings. I’ve since replaced much of the container garden space with groundcover beds for easier maintenance.

Your main goal here is to create interest and function in each part of your landscape. If the concept is carried out fully, people will walk through your gardens wondering what they will see coming up next.

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When guests leave an area with an outdoor kitchen, table and chairs and walk into space with a spa, hobby greenhouse or swing set, they’ll realize that they’ve left the dining room and made their way into the playroom.

Photos: We love our deck built by friend Rick Poland of Future Fence. The look it gives us across the creek to the other side changes each season. I especially like it on foggy or rainy days.

Each room in your landscape has the opportunity to have its own look. It might be through changes in color schemes of the plants and “hardscaping,” or it could be from the textures and growth habits of the woody plants you’ve included.

Every room in your house has some type of art. So should all the rooms in your garden. Since I have shade, tropical plants are the stars that I feature.

I’ve really enjoyed developing this concept of “rooms” around our house. Hopefully you’ll be able to put it to use at your place as well.

Hollies make decorating my garden rooms easy – this is a redo of the landscape around the arch.
Posted by Neil Sperry
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