Creating Your Secret Garden Oasis

Creating Your Secret Garden Oasis

We’ve all driven by the house with the perfectly green grass lined with crepe myrtles, mature oaks and flowers that make the floral shop options look pathetic. It’s hard not to stare and fantasize about creating such an oasis in your own yard. You don’t have the full-scale landscaping crew that the owners of this house utilize, but that doesn’t mean you can’t create an equally stunning work of art. DIYers and Pinterest addicts alike are creating their own Secret Garden oases and you can too with these pro tips.

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It All Begins in the Front

Maintaining a beautiful home on the inside is essential for happy living, but what about the outside? When guests pull up to your house, they want to see a beautiful home with a well-manicured yard. A power wash and fresh coat of paint can spruce up your home, but adding curb appeal to your yard will require a bit more work. You’ll have to consider:

  • Do I want a pathway?
  • Do I get enough sunlight to have the kind of flowers I want?
  • Can I maintain function and beauty?
  • Do I have the time to maintain my yard?
  • What kind of plants, flowers and trees will my yard support?

You may want a winding pathway with a giant weeping willow and a small pond in your front yard, but if you’re only living on a quarter-acre lot, you’ll need to adjust your wants for what you need. Creating a functional front yard is key, according to DIY Network, as it’s the first thing guests see and leads to your front door.

Pathways First

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How do you get to your front door? Chances are you have a few steps leading to a patio or a pathway off the driveway leading to the front door. And for good reason. While pathways are often beautiful and lined with flowers and shrubs, they do serve a purpose. That purpose is to get you from point A to point B without wreaking havoc on your lawn. After you’ve worked so hard laying down sod, planting beautiful flowers and getting rid of all those weeds, the last thing you want is someone trampling across the lawn to get to the door.

As you can imagine, these projects are typically construction heavy, which means your yard is guaranteed to get a little beat up in the process. This is why DIY Network urges DIY landscapers to complete these projects before designing the rest of the yard. Some “hardscaping” projects that you should absolutely do before anything else include:

  • Porches
  • Sidewalks
  • Driveways
  • Parking Areas
  • Patios
  • Decks

To add a little whimsy and extra functionality, try lining your pathways with outdoor lights. Most stores even offer solar-powered lights so you don’t need to use energy to light the way!

Outdoor Entertaining

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With beautiful weather nearly year round, outdoor entertaining is incredibly popular in Georgia. Summer barbecues and outdoor dinner parties are so commonplace that most of us have been to a few backyard parties. There’s just something about being outside with good friends, delicious food and a bottle of wine that is so appealing. For this reason, more and more DIYers are creating inspiring outdoor spaces dedicated to entertainment.

Some prefer a deck while others prefer a patio with an outdoor kitchen. Whatever you fancy, every outdoor space has a few things in common.

  • Privacy: no one wants their nosey neighbors eavesdropping on conversations, so creating some sort of privacy is a must. Install a fence or line your entertaining area with tall shrubs that can act as a barrier
  • Seating: once you’ve created your entertaining area, add in seating for guests. If you’re a frequent dinner party host, add tables, surfaces for guests to set their drinks on and comfortable chairs
  • Décor: just like flowers add color and interest to your garden, décor makes guests feel at home and creates a space that is an extension of the home, not just some chairs in the lawn
  • Kitchens and Fires: while outdoor kitchens certainly aren’t required, they do make cooking with guests much easier. Not your taste? Consider a fire pit to gather around and roast hotdogs or s’mores!

Research, Research, Research!

As with every DIY project, a little bit of research will do you a world of good. Unless you’re a botanist, you likely don’t know the ins and outs of the plants in your garden or what kind of soil you’ll require. By doing a bit of research online and consulting with a garden pro, you can learn a lot before making major mistakes. For example, did you know that you need to add additional nutrients to the soil (or in our case, clay) before planting? It encourages root growth, which is a vital part of a plant’s health.

Another consideration is when and where the sun rises and sets in relation to your home. DIY Network explains that this will help with the placement of plants so as to meet their nutritional needs. For example, a vegetable garden requires a lot of sunlight, so planting one under a large, leafy tree won’t be your best bet. Do your research and thank us later!

Height, Texture, Shape

Perhaps our favorite thing about the garden in The Secret Garden is the look they achieve through varying plant heights, lots of color and all sorts of different trees, flowers and plants. This can be achieved in your garden, too. Add texture and interest by placing smaller, low-to-the-ground plants next to tall, simple plants. Add in some color, but not so much as to overwhelm, and you’ve got yourself a beautiful garden that will be the envy of even seasoned gardeners.

It’s All in the Details

The last thing you need to do to create your garden oasis is to put your personal touch on everything. DIY Network uses hanging baskets and window boxes to add color and large planter boxes to make their entrances more inviting. They recommend using garden art and water features to add more interest and personality.

We are big fans of Edison string lights strung across decks and rustic wooden benches by the garden as a peaceful retreat. All these small details will add up big time. They infuse your style into the garden while establishing the kind of vibe you’re going for. What’s your favorite way to add personality to your garden?

Ready to Buy your New Home?

Excited to create a stunning garden retreat? Now might be the time to move into your dream home and customize your garden. If so, contact us to learn more about our beautiful homes. We’d love to show you what our homes have to offer and why we’re known for being one of the best!

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