outdoor living

What's Your Garden Personality?

Your garden says a lot about you. The plants, shrubs, flowers and accessories you choose create a mood that provides a glimpse into your personality. Symmetrical and orderly Euro-style gardens are for the elegant traditionalist. The seemingly riotous abandon of English country gardens evokes energy and charm. And the serenity of a contemporary, Japanese-style space is for the low-maintenance-loving urbanite. Here's how to achieve the right look for you.

european garden

Elegant European Style
Do you love the formality and classic symmetry of the garden of Versailles in France? It's a study of green, geometric sophistication and organization. Focus on clean, simple structures, such as a four-square or knot-garden design. Create a centre path laid in stone, gravel or cobblestones with an aged appearance, which radiates away from your house. Let additional paths separate sections of your garden into beds outlined by low, solid evergreen hedges or clipped topiary. Fill the beds with fragrant roses, violets and lavender - even herbs such as rosemary. Where the paths meet, add a statue or water feature, such as a fountain, low pool or pond edged in concrete or stone. Add a granite bench where you can enjoy the view.

country style garden Country-style Charm
Drawn to the informal cheeriness of an English country garden? To create your own, choose plants in a variety of upbeat colours, such as foxgloves, columbines, daisies, lilacs, lilies and pansies, and plant them in curved beds. Limit yourself to four colours-either co-ordinating or contrasting hues.

Create a snacking ground for butterflies and birds with clusters of black-eyed Susans, cornflowers and sunflowers. Butterflies are also attracted to dianthus, alyssum, lobelia, as well as snapdragons, which will draw in hummingbirds, too.

Add a white trellis of climbing ivy, and lush, wisteria or trumpet-vine-filled lattice and make a path with stepping-stones mixed with gravel. You can also create an English garden using strategically placed containers and planters, either in bright plastics or painted pots that add to the riot of colour. Just ensure taller flowers and shrubs are in the back and shorter ones in the front. For the authentic look, don't forget a bird bath and one or two bird houses.

urban garden Easy and Urban
Urban hotels opt for this type of contemporary garden. It focuses on natural and irregular forms to help achieve peace and harmony. Restrained and minimal, seemingly random rock placements, mass plantings of easy-care grasses, ground covers and ferns, and multiple water features, such as cascading streams and koi ponds, are key to this look. Strategically placed Japanese black pines or red maples, stone bridges and slab seats are places for quiet contemplation. No more than one variety of plant should be flowering at any time. You can even achieve this garden style in a tiny area using clean-lined, minimalist-looking pots and containers, ornamental grasses, a portable waterfall and bamboo accents.

However your aesthetic leans, think of these three garden looks as frameworks upon which you will build over time. Choose your favourite colours, blooms and finishes to personalize your outdoor space and you will be forever rewarded with a slice of nature that brings calm and beauty to your life.