Garden Purpose
What is The Function of Your Garden?

What is the garden purpose? What is it going to do for you?

Spend some time planning out what you want to accomplish with your gardens. Ask other family members what they would like to see or have in the yard.

Some Functions To Consider

Vegetable Garden
Flower Garden
Shade Garden
Night Time Garden
Cutting Garden
Butterfly and Bird Habitat
Native Plant Garden
Water Features

A Vegetable Garden can be used to provide healthy fresh food for your family. It needs to be located in a sunny area.

Water Features should be located where you will be able to enjoy them. A pond needs to be placed so that leaves from trees don't fall into it every fall.

Butterfly and Bird Habitats should be placed close enough to the house for you to enjoy them but far enough away that noises from inside don't scare them away.

Other Garden Ideas

Evergreen shrubs to form a living fence to hide trash cans.
A large deciduous tree used to hide the neighbors back patio during the summertime.
A row of evergreen trees to create a windbreak for winter.
A large tree to shade the roof of your house during the hot summer months. Plant hostas and annual flowers in a ring around it for color.

You may decide the purpose isn't any of the listed items. You might just want a single herb planter. The great thing about your garden is that it's yours to decide what it should consist of.

Your next step after deciding your garden purpose is sizing the beds and plant materials.

You might also enjoy these other garden design principles:
Create garden unity through repetition.
Create movement with garden color.
Texture in your garden.