Taking an Idea and Running With It - Theme Gardens

June 3, 10:26 AMGardening ExaminerRobin Ripley

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A lavender garden can incorporate lavender plants
and even lavender-colored seating.

One of the best ways to pump up the style quotient in your garden is to have a cohesive idea around which to organize the structure, plants and ornaments. It helps to have a passion or particular interest. But effective theme gardens can be organized around general ideas too, such as colors, a family member or pet, an activity or a collection.

For years before I began seriously gardening I subscribed to dozens of home decorating and gardening magazines. Before tossing them into the recycle bin or passing them along, I would tear out photos that appealed to me or even photos that had a small element that appealed to me, such as a walkway or fence, even if I didn’t like the overall effect.

I started massive three-ring binders organized around general ideas and rooms—herb garden, ornaments, sheds, walkways and such. I would insert the magazine pages into plastic sleeves and add notes on my thoughts. On rainy days I would page through and refine my ideas, adding or deleting pages as my tastes became more defined. Over time, the binders became my own style library.

Of course, this made me a total nightmare of a client when it came time to build our house in the country. Most builders cringe to see the “little woman” haul three-ring binders out of her car and declare, “I have an idea!” But it did do quite a lot toward helping me make some basic decisions—and avoid costly mistakes.

There are dozens of books on the market devoted to particular garden themes. Two to look up are Barbara Damrosch’s Theme Gardens and the inexpensive Sunset book, Theme Gardens.

Here are some questions to consider:

• How will I use the garden? A garden for entertaining will require better pathways, more tables and areas for seating than other garden types. A garden designed for food productivity will need much more sun than other garden types.
• What do I have to work with in the space now? It will be far more difficult to create a luxurious tropical oasis if you’re living in a suburban neighborhood where the builder has devastated the trees. If you dream of a cactus garden but live in Zone 3, your first step will include calling the moving company.
• Do I have a collection or want to start a collection that I can highlight? Some collections I have seen include outdoor statuary, gnomes (really), mosaic pots and garden elements and even antique farm equipment. All of these types of collections can be effectively integrated into an interesting theme.
• How much time and money do I have to develop the theme? Some ideas, of course, are bigger than others. And if you’re new to the whole gardening idea, it may be best to dip your toe in with a small project, such as a container garden, before you rent a backhoe to dig a pond.

If you’re anything like me, once you get the hang of running with an idea, you’ll want to develop many more themes. Let’s see, I have my rose garden, my yoga garden, my courtyard garden…So many ideas. So little time.

Do you have a theme garden? Robin wants to hear from you and may even feature your garden here on Examiner.com. You can email Robin at GardeningExaminer@gmail.com. You can see her Colonial theme garden at Bumblebee.