By adding low-growing plants, you can soften the edges and bring a sense of fullness to your garden.
Why on earth has it taken me this long to figure that out?
This Spring I'm renovating my back garden. When I was looking through photos, it dawned on me that I need more short-growing plants.
Smaller plants work as filler, tying together the taller foliage and making the design feel complete. Short plants can add colorful highlights and intricate details to cover bare spots, ensuring no area looks empty.
Winter is the Perfect Time to Design Gardens
I'm planning to use the Winter to work out this garden renovation.
If you're updating your garden this Spring, I'd love to have you share photos. We can include your garden and share design ideas as part of the Wintertime Garden Design Book Club.
If that sounds like something that interests you, just hit reply to this email and we can work out the details.
Growing Plants from Seed
This garden renovation needs to be done on a budget so I'm planning to reuse plants and grow a lot of the plants from seed.
I already purchased a few white-blooming plants from Select Seeds. I included a description of the plants below.
Nigella damascena 'Miss Jekyll Alba'
Hardy annual
Grows 12-18 inches tall
Prefers a sunny location
Blooms Spring to Summer
Adds great texture to the garden
Easy to grow from seed and will self-seed freely
Asperula orientalis 'Cloud Nine'
Annual
Prefers full sun to partial shade
Developed by Dutch breeder Rob van der Vort
Blooms Summer to Fall
Grows 12 inches tall
Easy to grow from seed
Eschscholzia californica 'Alba'
Hardy annual
Prefers a sunny location with well-draining soil
Blooms Spring to Fall
Grow 8-12 inches tall
Easy to grow from seed
May end up in the pollinator garden
What Do You Think?
I'd love to hear what you think of the white, blue and grey color. I'm excited to dive into old garden design books this winter to finalize the design. I hope you'll join me.
That's it for this week. Happy gardening!
If you're looking for help creating your garden retreat, here's how I can help:
Garden Design Winter Book Club: Join my Winter book club to learn new design skills and connect with fellow gardening enthusiasts! Together, we'll explore 5 classic Garden Design books so you can a create more beautiful garden this spring
Garden Moxie Blog: Where Midwest gardeners discover simple, region-specific design ideas and inspiring resources to transform their yard into a beautiful, relaxing retreat.
Garden Coaching: I offer virtual garden coaching to help you design and manage your garden. Garden Coaching is perfect if you’re looking to start a garden, but don’t know where to start. Or perhaps you want to improve your existing garden, but feel stuck on the next steps.
I inspire Midwest women to transform their ordinary yards into charming retreats. Through practical advice, creative ideas, and historical garden wisdom, I share ideas to inspire you to create a beautiful garden.