Four Basic Perennial Flower Garden Design Ideas

by Doug
(Somewhere in his garden)

If I were to give you a few basic perennial flower garden ideas for design, they would be as follows:

Limit Your Enthusiasm

Only use a limited number of perennial varieties but plant at least three of each variety to give you a large clump of color.

Putting in a single delphinium for example, gives you one exclamation point in a garden and this is quite lonely. Use at least 3-5 delphiniums planted in the same area (at the recommended distance apart) to give a WOW factor to your garden.

Huge Plants

Plants that are huge and that make an impact all by themselves ( e.g. Aruncus sylvestris) can be planted one at a time. A massive plant that gives you a huge flower and leaf display can stand on its own. There are not very many of these but the bigger the better in this case.

I'd only plant one hardy banana tree but I'd plant several Phlox paniculata or garden phlox.

Your own garden

Flower garden ideas should be your own. Do you like what you're doing?

Then ignore the helpful advice of others. Your garden is your refuge and your play toy so make it your own.

Unless you just want a fantastic display for the neighbors. :-)

Emphasize

Place an emphasis on perennial garden plants that bloom for a long time or that repeat bloom. Even plants such as common German Iris or daylilies have varieties that repeat bloom over the summer.

Go with repeat bloomers to get more bang for your buck. Yes, they are often more expensive but it's a small price to pay for a much longer bloom time.

Check out the lists of plants for categories of plants that will fill your specific space or purpose. You'll find the individual link-listings on the
sun plants or shade plants pages.