Create A Classic Garden

Investing in a gorgeous landscape ensures that you will have a place in which to relax, entertain, and find inspiration for many years to come. At its core, a classic garden’s charms are rooted in timelessness, durability, and its capacity to delight the senses, and to help us plan our perfect outdoor escape we turned to the experts at Lambert Landscape Company in Dallas, Texas. In addition to advising us to plan well and pay attention to patterns, textures, light, flow, and the direction of a summer’s breeze, they offered the following recommendations:

1. Begin by listing all your immediate and stretch goals.
2. Evaluate the site and how your garden will evolve over time.
3. Consider incorporating axial views for focal points.
4. Look at slope, grade, or drainage patterns and how the terrain can be used to guide your thinking.
5. Create a sense of luxury at every price point.
6. Think about diversity and the use of edibles as a chic focal point. For example, look for ways to integrate them as part of a blended ornamental and herb border.
7. Integrate sustainability in the context of design, not just as in replacing thirsty lawns, but also choosing plants for their climate tolerance as well as for their beauty.
8. Invest in natural materials and good design that is built to last.
9. Invest in lifestyle versatility by creating outdoor family-friendly areas, built-ins, kitchens, and outdoor living rooms.
10. Plant for privacy with a mixture of trees, shrubs and perennials to provide screening so that your garden becomes a secluded retreat and a destination area in itself.

Expert tip from Tom Nugent, landscape architect, Lambert Landscape Company, Dallas, TX.