Planting Styles
There are many different garden styles and it is important to choose a style that suits your home, your taste and how much time you wish to spend maintaining it.
Formal Gardens
Characteristics of formal gardens are straight lines, order and geometry and delineated garden areas. Lawns and clipped hedges (topiary) are traditionally key features of this style. Flowering plants are repeated and used sparingly amid evergreens. The level of formality can range from completely symmetrical to just having a few formal elements in a more contemporary design.
Another example of formal planting can be found in some public parks when they plant annual plants in regular tidy patterns and contrasting colours.
Plants that are common in a formal garden include yew (Taxus), box (Buxus), holly and pittosporum.
Mediterranean Gardens
There is a long history of beautiful formal Mediterranean gardens. However, the most attainable Mediterranean style is an informal style. Typical planting schemes include olive, bay and fig trees, and herbs such as thyme, lavender and rosemary. When creating a Mediterranean garden in Ireland, it’s important to choose plants that are hardy enough to survive an Irish winter.
Cottage / Informal Gardens
Cottage gardens traditionally have a simple layout with planting beds filled with flowers, herbs and vegetables on either side. In larger gardens, it may also include more naturalistic areas such as orchards, meadows and informal wildlife ponds. In modern cottage gardens, there has been a move to having a more limited number of plants. Plants that are common in this style are hellebores, daffodils, foxgloves, hardy geraniums and poppies.
Coastal Style
Coastal gardens are almost always windy gardens and many plants grow really well by the sea. In general, plants that have narrow, grass-like or needle-like leaves, as well as those with silvery, leathery, or waxy leaves, tend to thrive here. Common coastal plants include grasses, catmint, salvias and stachys.
Tropical / Exotic Gardens
This style of garden is derived from tropical and warm temperate regions, but it can be mimicked in Ireland, by selecting the plants which are suitable for this climate, such as bamboo, palms, tree ferns, canna lilies and agapanthus. A tropical garden is a celebration of foliage shapes, textures and colours.
Ecological or Wildlife Friendly Gardens
Wildlife friendly gardens are designed to provide habitat for birds, insects and mammals. Gardens will have nectar and pollen rich flowers and trees for nesting and shelter. Plants will thrive in the local conditions so they won’t need much intervention such as watering or feeding, An informal pond is usually a great feature. The All-Ireland pollinator Plan has lots of great tips on how to make your garden more wildlife friendly.
Japanese Gardens
The Japanese garden style is designed to reflect the natural landscape using a limited number of plants to produce a quiet, contemplative space. Common plants in Japanese style gardens include trees with beautiful autumn colours such as Japanese maples (Acer palmatum), pines, azaleas, camellias and cherry blossom.
Contemporary Urban Garden
The design typically features clean lines and may include built-in benches or sculptures. Due to space constraints, the planting often emphasises a narrower selection of plants that offer architectural appeal. Popular choices in modern designs include grasses and large-leaved plants like the hardy banana (Musa basjoo) and cordylines. In overlooked urban gardens, pleached trees, resembling hedges on stilts, offer privacy while occupying minimal ground space. Block planting is common, and a striking container can serve as a focal point.