Simple Garden Designs

A garden is a place of beauty and serenity, and there are many ways to create simple garden designs whether you live in the city or country. Gardens take many forms. They can consist just of roses, or they can sport a profusion of plants, such as in a cottage-style

garden. They can be informal, formal or natural. A garden can contain other elements such as water or rocks. Your first consideration before you start designing and planting is where you live and the architectural style of your home so that you create a garden that exudes a feeling of balance and harmony, and so that the plants you choose can survive in your particular climate. Of course, it also depends on what types of plants and flowers you prefer.

One easy garden a novice can grow is an herb garden. This simple garden design is more flexible in that it isn't as limited to your home architecture or to where you plant it. An herb garden is basically a container garden when grown indoors, but can be designed in a concentric circle or in rows outdoors.

Herb Gardens

An herb garden is perfect for those who like to cook with fresh ingredients. What could be more convenient than a variety of herbs planted outside the kitchen door?  We are referring to culinary herbs. There are other herbs that are not used in cooking.

First decide whether you want to plant your herb garden indoors or outdoors. An indoor herb garden can simply be planted in pots or in window boxes in a sunny area of your home. The amount of sun determines which herbs to select. Southern and Western exposures are the sunniest. So good choices of herbs would be thyme, coriander, French lavender, parsley, sage and rosemary. Northern and Eastern exposures are less sunny and not as warm. Examples of herbs that would grow under these conditions would be again parsley, chives, peppermint, borage and Cuban oregano.

Indoor Herb Gardens

For your indoor herb garden, choose the containers in which you want to plant your herbs, and half fill with a mixture of equal parts of potting soil, peat moss and vermiculite. Then choose where you want to place your containers, keeping in mind the exposures. Arrange the pots in a pleasing design, making sure that plants that will grow tall when mature are not placed in front of those that do not grow very tall when mature.

After you have placed the plants where you want them, add potting soil to about 1 inch below the rim of the pot or container. Tamp down the soil and water until moist but not soggy. Pinch back large growth.

Outdoor Herb Gardens

Where to plant herbs in an outdoor herb garden depends on their size and growth habits. For example, creeping thyme can spread out over a large area and mints spread profusely and rapidly. An option is to combine a variety of herbs in colorful shades and that fit a particular area in the rest of your landscape. Choose a spot that gets at least six hours of sunlight a day.

You can start easily with some clay pots on your patio or on a baker's rack. In beds, you can grow the herbs in a concentric circular design or you can mark off the garden in squares or blocks. Take the heights and sizes into consideration and make sure there is sufficient drainage. For an aesthetic effect, edge the beds with a border of bricks or cobblestones. The bed also should be located as close to the house as possible for easy accessibility.

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