The planning of a garden takes into account many considerations besides just the plantings. You need to pay attention to the character and position of the site and your surroundings, as well as to choosing horticulture in good taste.
Each site determines the garden. The Gardner first must study the factors themselves, and allow the site to guide them into creating an artful and stunning result. These factors include soil conditions, positioning, aspect, and your particular environment.
Garden creation is often controlled by the principles of art, but this must come second to the practical needs of horticulture. The incorporation or fountains can help to create a focal point for your garden setting.
Utility, as in other areas of art, takes the primary role. When creating a garden, the welfare of the flowers, the comfort of the gardener, and the convenience of the garden area are the most important factors.
All of this is not to say that successful gardens overlook the beauty of flowers. To do this would be to ignore the beauty the garden brings. You can still create a stunning picturesque setting with the proper time given to horticultural practices.
On the other hand, only too frequently the mistake is made of supposing that well-filled beds and borders, abundant blossom, and neatly kept grass and walks create a true garden setting. If that was the case, it would be better to grow one's flowers as the market gardener grows his cabbages - in rows.
A gardener must not see the individual picture, but view your garden as a picturesque whole. Often the gardener finds such pride in the blooms of his flowers, and overlooks the value of the garden picture. A gardener should this less of the plants as plants, but more as elements in the composition.
Any garden, even the very small, can have artistic principle applied to it. The first step is to create a homogeneous look. The garden should capture the eye as a whole, before the eye is drawn to a particular flower or element. The idea is to create balance and harmony, so that the plants are interdependent on one another to create a stunning picture.
If common-sense principles, based upon full knowledge and recognition of the governing factors of the problem, be allowed to control the design, the result will not only make for beauty, but gardening, in the sense of successful flower culture, will be agreeable and plain sailing.
There is no difference in planning a large or small garden setting. Just remember to plan your garden based upon these principles, and apply them to your own garden scale.
