Garden Design Step Three: Turning Inspo Into Decisions

Once you understand your site and have an inspiration board you love, it’s time to move into practical design decisions. This is where a garden shifts from ideas to something you can actually build.

Start With Height

The first question to answer is simple but critical: how tall can this garden be?

Can you include:

• Large trees or multi-stem shrubs?

• Medium shrubs and ornamental grasses?

• Or only low perennials and annuals?

Height determines structure, privacy, shade, and long-term impact.

If you are wary of height, dip your toe in by planting grasses that are 6 feet + since they are only tall a the end of the season but add structure going into winter.

A Note on Planting Near Structures

When designing around a house or building, it often looks strange if nothing in the planting is taller than the structure itself. Beds made entirely of low plants can feel flat and artificial.

Including taller shrubs, small trees, or vertical elements helps anchor the garden to the building and makes it feel intentional and integrated.

Here is an example of my house. Since it is new construction we have no mature trees and it looks out of place. Once the magnolia tree I planted to the right of the house grows (where you can see the gray house in the background) it is going to look so much more settled in the landscape. 

Does the Bed Have a “Back”?

Next, consider whether the bed is viewed from one side or multiple sides.

If the bed has a clear back (against a house, fence, or hedge), you can scale the planting:

• Tallest plants in the back

• Medium in the middle

• Shortest in the front

To keep this from feeling stiff, intentionally break the rule. Pull a few taller but see-through plants toward the front — think ornamental grasses or spiky, upright flowers. This creates depth and movement without blocking views.

If the bed is viewed from all sides, height should have one or more peaks and you can see through between.

Here is an example. This is meant to be viewed from both sides. So you can see the sculpture through this gap in the bed. the sunflowers add a peak.

Grouping Plants for Impact

Plants almost always look better in groups.

As a general rule:

• Group perennials in odd numbers — 3, 5, 7, or more

• Shrubs and trees can stand alone as specimens, but may also be repeated elsewhere

Grouping creates visual rhythm and prevents the “one of everything” look that makes gardens feel busy and unplanned.

Look at how the chartreuse foliage repeats at the front, right and far back of this garden? You can also see the purple foliage on the coleus pop throughout. The entire base of the Japanese maple tree is ringed in alliums. These larger groupings and repetition give this whole garden cohesion.

Revisit Your Original Observations

Before moving on, go back to what you learned in Step One.

If the space needs to feel symmetrical, your layout and repetitions should reflect that.
If it’s meant to feel informal, repetition still matters — just without mirroring.

Repetition is what makes a garden feel calm and cohesive, even when it isn’t symmetrical.

Narrow the Color Palette

One of the most important — and most overlooked — steps is limiting your colors.

I recommend:

• 3 foliage colors

• 3 flower colors

• Again look at the picture above as a great example.

Common Foliage Colors

• Deep green

• Medium green

• Chartreuse

• Silver

• Blue

• Variegated white

• Gold

• Yellow

• Purple

• Brown

• Pink

Foliage does most of the visual work in a garden, especially outside peak bloom.

Flower Colors

Choose either:

• All pastels or

• All bright colors

And keep them either warm or cool.
For example, light purple could be a cool lavender or a warmer mauve — they feel very different when mixed.

When in doubt, one of the most universally successful palettes is:
soft pink, white, and warm lavender.

This has chartreuse, green and purple foliage. For flower color it is white, green and light pink (yes green is also a flower color!)

Consider the Building Color

Always take nearby structures into account.

Flowers should either contrast with or intentionally match a building color. Colors that sit next to each other on the color wheel often clash without truly contrasting.

For example, pink roses tend to look off against a red house — they neither match nor contrast cleanly.

Online color-wheel tools can be incredibly helpful here.

A Note on Blue Flowers

True blue flowers are rare. Not impossible — but limiting.

If blue is important to you, plan carefully and be realistic about how much of it you’ll actually get in the garden.

What Comes Next

At this point, you’ve done the hardest thinking:

• You understand your site

• You’ve defined the mood

• You’ve made clear decisions around height, structure, repetition, and color

In the next post, we’ll bring all of this together into a simple planting layout and plant selection strategy.

If you’d like hands-on guidance through this exact process, we’ll be working through it step-by-step in my Garden Design Workshop on February 7 at Scout Hill Farm. I also offer one-on-one garden design consultations for homeowners who want a clear, personalized plan they can confidently plant from.