Many of us strive for that ‘natural’ look and feel when creating our gardens and landscapes, but cringe at the thought of just letting the yard go ‘wild’. With a little guidence, however, we can still get Mother Nature to do most of the work.
Designing a natural garden requires a little forethought, planning, and prep work. Following these few simple preliminary steps will help you successfully create that natural feel and get Mother Nature off on the right foot.
- Site prep is the most crucial part to your natural landscape
- Soil prep
- The good topsoil in most yards is usually scraped off during house construction
- Without it, plants will not thrive, and will need constant care
- The good topsoil in most yards is usually scraped off during house construction
- Soil prep
- Carefully analyze the specific conditions in your landscape and select plants accordingly
- Focus on plants (native & non-native alike) whose requirements match all of the conditions in your space (hardiness zone, soil type, sun, wind & water exposure)
- Doing so, not only emulates the natural habitat for each plant, but also maximizes plant health and eliminates excess work on your part
- Shape planting beds and place plants naturally
- Large sweeping curves for the bed shape look more natural to the eye
- Take into consideration existing elements and the lay of the land
- Incorporate resident rock, logs, stumps & plants into beds
- Blend beds smoothly with the natural layout of the sight. Utilize existing curves, valleys, hills, etc.
- Plant en mass
- Larger groupings of one plant look more natural and keep the garden from looking fragmented
- Odd numbers of plants are more natural looking & pleasing to the eye
