2008 Resource Guide

Lynn Felici-Gallant

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A Buddhist precept suggests that to realize joy, one must first “start where you are.” Rather than deny essential aspects of our personalities, the theory proposes, we must embrace our inherent selves in order to venture forward.1 The same may hold true for gardening.

There is a movement in garden design circles to identify “garden personalities.” There are creative personalities and innovative personalities to be sure; but a “gardening personality?” Initially, I was skeptical.

Wildflower or Meadow Garden

Gardening is characterized by experimentation and risk, after all. It is, by nature, a release from constraint, fortuitous in its essence. The notion of defining gardeners according to certain categories seems counterintuitive. But is it?

Lynn Felici-Gallant

American Mixed Border Garden

Formal Garden

English Cottage-Style Gardens

Just as the style of one’s home, choice of indoor décor and taste in clothes reflects a person, the design of one’s garden speaks volumes. I only had to examine my own garden to confirm the concept.
For better or worse, I am an orderly person, averse to chaos and disorganization. I revel in tidiness and abhor clutter. I like symmetry, balance, and occasional drama, so long as it has its place.

When I first started gardening 20  years ago, I, like many new gardeners, was initially drawn to a cottage garden, with its characteristic color and fairy-tale-like whimsy. I planted the prettiest, and, in retrospect, unkempt plants imaginable. One of this, a second of that, and soon my gardens—while showy—were a study in anarchy.

Each year I found myself tearing out and discarding in frustration plant after messy plant to gain some semblance of order. Today my gardens are less vibrant than in the past but, for me, gratifying and neat. 

I recently revisited a few primary garden design styles to determine if in fact I was drawn to a particular genre. I examined five styles: formal gardens, English cottage gardens, Japanese Zen gardens, wildflower gardens, and the American mixed border.

 Indeed, I gravitate toward two design styles: Japanese Zen gardens and the American mixed border. Japanese gardens feature spare plantings and abundant space, punctuated by intermittent drama. The mixed border focuses on order, rhythm, unity, and the deliberate placement of plants and accents. Both techniques reflect my penchant for organization. While I am admittedly still attracted to the splendor of a cottage garden, the very definition of it now makes me shudder.  

To be sure, just as one may enjoy an eclectic indoor palette, a garden may combine diverse approaches, or a gardener may create multiple beds to reflect distinct genres or aspects of the gardener’s personality. The theory of the “garden personality” suggests only that gardeners pay attention to their innate selves when designing beds and borders. 

At the sidebar are the garden design styles I examined, followed by corresponding plant and garden accent suggestions. My suggestion is to review the styles as an exercise in self-reflection, but not be wedded to particular labeling.

If you are a gardener, the classifications may help guide your plant purchases, or illuminate past trials and triumphs in the garden. If you hire a gardener, they may begin a conversation with that person.

But as is true of all conversations about gardening, what is most meaningful is that you enjoy the unfolding of it all—the experience of tending to and nurturing beauty, and of reflecting upon your accomplishments.

Embracing your nature may simply help you start where you are.

1 Chodron, Pema. Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living. Boston & London: Shambhala Publications, 1994.

Your Garden Personality: 5 Design Styles Unearthed

I. English cottage-style gardens comprise sprawling, informal beds, a fusion of color, and differing heights, shapes, and meandering paths. While quaint and cheerful, these fairy-tale borders are labor-intensive. The cottage garden accommodates a large variety of plant material, each demanding its own care. If you relish spending time nurturing a sweet collection of flora, then a cottage garden may suit you well.   Plants and accents to consider: • Trellises, arbors and picket fences, preferably white • Intimate walkways • Small flowering trees or shrubs such as Cherry, Hybrid Tea roses and Spirea • Perennials, including daisies, Delphinium, foxglove and hollyhock • Annuals such as Alyssum, pinks and Zinnia • Vegetables and herbs tucked among ornamentals II. Japanese gardens combine serenity, simplicity and spirit in the selection and placement of plants, elements, and structures. They feature spare plantings and tremendous space. A Japanese garden is a contemplative place, and may be unsettling to those inclined to fill every area of the landscape with color. Plants and accents to consider: • Meticulously selected boulders • A natural water feature such as a stream or pond, or a dry stone river bed • Rigorously pruned conifers with dramatic, exposed bark, broad-leafed evergreens such as Azalea, and small deciduous trees including Japanese maples • Foliage perennials such as ferns and Hostas, and simple plantings of Japanese Iris or Wisteria; and • Well-placed stone lanterns and benches III. A formal garden is marked by precision and symmetry. Formal gardens often feature topiary, statuary, and pergolas. In a formal garden, you may find fountains, stone birdbaths, and linear or circular paths. The style conveys control over the environment and perfection. Plants and accents to consider: • Clipped evergreen hedges • Low-lying shrubs or massed plantings of compact annuals • Intermittent architectural spikes of cedar or juniper • Flowers in well-disciplined color schemes, including standard roses and peonies, or herbs densely planted in knots IV. A wildflower or meadow garden will suit a free spirit. The opposite of a formal garden, this style prefers native* wildflowers to flowerbeds. Self-seeding plants attract birds and butterflies. Plants and accents to consider: • Native ornamental grasses • Perennials including Asters, black-eyed Susans, columbine, Joe-pye weed, Echinacea and Lupine • Self-seeding and airy annuals such as Verbena bonariensis or Cosmos • Woodland plants such as Anemone, bleeding heart, ginger, fern, and wild Geranium for shady areas • A weathered split rail fence or rustic birdhouse V. The American mixed border comingles many plants in one garden, including trees, shrubs, annuals, perennials, roses and bulbs. While most gardens are mixed borders, the objective of a mixed border is to create intrigue throughout the year. Plants and accents are situated to draw the eye from one area to another in undulating patterns. Emphasis is on order, rhythm and unity. It is the placement of plants and accents in relation to one another, rather than the plants or accents themselves, which defines this garden style.    *The determination of “native” in this context means indigenous to North America, in contrast to exotic plants with origins elsewhere. For questions or more information about these or the many other garden design styles, please feel free to contact Lynn at indigogardens@comcast.net.