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Secrets of a ‘magazine’ garden

Perhaps the pile is on your dining room table; maybe it's in your office or even lying in your car. If you are like most gardeners you have a stash of magazine pages somewhere that depict the gardens of your dreams. And like most gardeners, you have discovered that it is difficult to translate what is shown on those pages to your own garden. We may not be able to recreate the glossy gardens faithfully, but if we look closely, we can pick up a few secrets that transcend the details and make perfect sense in all of our settings.

Flow
Photo worthy gardens are rarely comprised of a series of disconnected beds. We have a strong tendency to follow fence or property lines and create narrow strips along the foundation. Some of us have even plopped a bed into the circle of dead grass left behind from the kiddies wading pool. Magazine gardens have beds that flow continuously. Connect your beds by using garden hoses or spray paint to lay out a more fluid design.

Uniformity
We all want to have a Japanese garden... and a desert garden... and a cutting garden, ad nauseum. Don't do it. Our gardens should be reflective of the home and the region where we live. This principle is of some import in choosing decor for the garden as well. A well-decorated garden will have pieces that would look comfortable together if they were assembled in a group on the driveway.

Slips that really show
You will never find an upscale garden layout that shows black plastic edging, plastic weed barriers, plastic hanging baskets, sticks and strings that truss up plants or a whirligig that was given as a Mother's Day gift. These things are ridiculously easy to correct and equally easy to overlook. Scout for slips.

Lose the mulch
The garden savvy Brits raise an eyebrow over our obsession with mulch; and apparently, the magazine scouts dislike it too. You rarely, if ever see mulch in the high-end gardens. Even leaf mold (finely shredded leaves) is preferred. Instead, note how plants are used densely, eliminating open soil.

Stand tall
Notice how the most interesting and beautiful gardens have some height, usually from layers of woody plants. Don't forget the small trees and large shrubs that are needed to keep the garden in scale with the house. Pergolas, vines, columns and arbors can also be used to add height, but make sure they are high enough. A six or seven foot arbor, weighed down with foliage will do little to elevate your garden.

A well-worn accessory
Look at any twenty garden layouts and you will no doubt find a dozen or more with flower filled pots or objets d art centered in an otherwise green bed. Even the best gardens have beds that are mostly just green ten months out of the year. Magazine stylists will often supply the garden with a much-needed splash of color, just as the same stylist will place the ubiquitous fruit and vegetable still life in a kitchen layout.

Moisturize
Midwest gardens have dry skin. Seattle gardens and English gardens are always moist. If you are having guests, taking photos or showing your garden to the local garden club, water it well just before the event. It probably needs it anyway.

Share your best garden performers of the 2006 growing season with fellow gardeners!

Tell us the name of your favorite plant and why it outperformed all its garden counterparts this year. We’ll compile a list of your favorites and share them in the December issue of O&E (available mid-November).

- Best performing plant
- Why it stood out
- Your name
- Your city and state

E-mail your input to editorial@ornamentals-edibles.com.