How to: Create the garden of your dreams

9 Mass plantings
“We use lots of mass plantings,” says Tumber, for visual impact and for practical reasons too. “Six to seven junipers will grow into one large area; weeds will have no room to germinate as the junipers grow and block the sun from reaching the soil underneath.” In this award-winning garden, the pink blooms of a ‘Gold Flame' spirea add hits of colour.

10 Separation
Pathways and bridges meander through this multi-level site, creating numerous private, secluded areas. To further the sense of enclosure, Tumber positioned terraces away from the house. “I like to create a green buffer between a house and terraces,” he says. Otherwise the harsh vertical lines of a structure meeting the horizontal ground feels overwhelming, as though the architecture looms over you. Trees and shrubs create a “safety blanket” for the garden, says Tumber, making the space “an emotional retreat.”

There are key things landscape artist Randy Tumber considers when designing a garden. Follow these guidelines – in this order – to obtain your own well-planned space.

1 Practicality
“The design has to function for pedestrians as well as for vehicles,” says Tumber. (This point pertains to driveways, for instance.) In this garden, the steps and pathway are wide for easy traffic flow.

2 Maintenance
Tumber advises clients to include more shrubs and fewer perennials, which require substantial moving, dividing and pruning over time (that's why he loves native plants). Here, the trees and shrubs are low maintenance.

3 Aesthetic
“People think of aesthetics before anything else, but practicality and maintenance should come first when designing a garden.”

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