8 ideas for planning a garden and backyard

A landscape is always a work in progress, but it need not always feel like work. Instead, view your garden as a canvas that reflects the best things nature can do in that particular site, as interpreted through your own creativity and personal tastes. Here are eight ideas for getting started planning a garden and backyard.

• Spend some time getting to know your yard from both a plant and people point of view.
• Become familiar with patterns of sun and shade and consider the many views that can be improved or created.

• If there is little to see when you look out your favourite windows, you may quickly find great spots for colourful flower beds.
• A yard that lacks excitement when seen from the street may instantly benefit from the addition of shapely shrubs or other architectural plants.

There are practical matters to consider, too, such as defining boundaries and making sure that your landscape plans don't interfere with underground utilities.

Yet the most practical matter of all is what you want your landscape to do for you and your family.

• At its best, a landscape provides space for recreation and relaxation and maintains its handsome good looks without constant maintenance.

It's important to consider plants and man-made structures when landscaping your garden.

• It is a gardener's nature to love plants, especially plants that love us back. When chosen and planted with care, shrubs, vines and trees will do exactly that, growing bigger and better with time.
• Far from being boring, plants dramatize the changing seasons and many provide habitat and food for wildlife.

• But be forewarned: growing roses — especially disease-resistant shrub roses or historic heirlooms — can be addictive!
• The syndrome known as azalea fever can strike unexpectedly, too, or you may fall in love with the alluring textures of stately ornamental grasses.

And each time you indulge your passion for these special plants, your landscape will benefit for years to come.

Go ahead. Try a spirited vine or flatter the corner of your house with a shapely flowering tree. Plant a shade tree that will outlive you.

• As long as you stick with species that match the site and soil you have to offer, you can't go wrong.

Plants make the garden, but man-made structures of all kinds make a garden more liveable and enjoyable.

• From flower-covered garden walls to cool, shaded patios with romantic lighting, the things you build in a garden help define the space and open up new ways to enjoy it.

To decide what kinds of structures your garden needs, simply imagine the ways you want to use your outdoor space.

• If you're a passionate plant person at heart, a sturdy cold frame will serve you better than a nicely outfitted outdoor kitchen. Yet the latter — along with comfortable outdoor furniture — is a reasonable priority if you love to entertain.
• Gardeners who long for more privacy can have their desires fulfilled with the help of a fence or wall.