Explore Garden Styles

Gardening
From formal to informal or somewhere in between, let us give you a better understanding of which garden style you prefer. Below are a few unique garden styles you may enjoy creating in your own landscape.
Gardening
Formal Garden

This garden type conveys power and control over the environment as well as its visitors. Early French Gardens were constructed with control and manipulation of nature in mind. Many were very large gardens the had a strong geometry instilled into the plans. Nature was subdued into submission and water played an important role in expressing the freedom in the garden and in nature. Later formal axial views gave way to long winding paths surrounded by gardens of natural land which people used to great extent in the pastime of escaping into the countryside and spending the day strolling through the gardens. It wasn't until the 19th century that the idea of a flowering trees and shrubs or the addition of flowerbeds entered French garden design. There were still thoughtfully layed out walks and paths to enjoy, with plantings of seemingly free formed plantings surrounding there walks and paths.

Gardening

Woodland Garden

Usually with an existing canopy, this style has a soft delicate pallet of under story, shade and partial sun loving plants, dispersed randomly in groupings that mimic nature's distribution in colonies with subtle meandering paths that blanket the forest floor. Typical materials used in the woodland garden are natural like wood and natural stone. The design of a woodland garden should be almost undetectable as it's design is to mimic nature's way of placing plant materials and the use of hardscaping elements such as the foot bridge shown above. The use of a natural appearing water feature or stream, complete with rocks and boulders, can enhance the feeling of nature and add to the authentic feel of the woodland garden space.

Gardening
English Garden

English landscape gardening in it's early form was mainly utility in function. Vast deer parks surrounded large estate homes and small knot gardens filled with lilies and tulips may be near the house itself. Orchards and kitchen gardens would be planted further away from the home and paths with walls or hedges flanking them. Later, as the middle class implemented their English garden influence, the style became a more relaxed form of garden design the removal of some of the boundaries and hedges and working the garden into the natural landscape became the foundation of the English Garden we know today. Other influences in the English Style are the of the Palladian architectural style, the Italian use of Sculptures in the garden setting as well as the formal French garden style the uses long lawn vistas. Long lawn views bordered by natural plantings of trees and lush border plantings along natural appearing, but planted trees and shrubs.

Gardening

Selecting Tools For Gardening

Gardening

Having the right hand tools is very important in gardening. Buy the best quality you can afford. Be sure to choose a sturdy hand trowel of cast steel, aluminum, or forged steel. Avoid cheaper trowels made of stamped steel which will bend easily under the strain of heavy soil.

A good quality long-handled pointed shovel is essential for general digging. Try to get one with a reinforced spine.

A spade is useful for digging trees and shrubs, shaping root balls, and digging trenches. Choose tempered steel for best edge holding or stainless steel for rust resistance. Foot treads make digging easier. Spades generally have narrower blades than shovels and extend more or less straight downward from the handle, where shovels are more angled.

There are many different types of hoes on the market. All of them will do the job as long as they are sturdy. Remember that a hoe is not an excavating tool. It is used to shear off weeds, not to excavate soil. Make sure your hoe is always sharp.

Gardening