Design

"The journey is the destination," goes a well-known saying. This is especially true for the garden. Paths don't just lead us somewhere—they also structure the garden and emphasize individual situations.

A beautifully designed front yard is like a calling card for your home and garden. It reveals a lot about the preferences of the residents: Some have a romantic flair, others prefer variety, others prefer low-maintenance gardens, and yet others want a representative garden. This is usually a relatively small area between the house and the street, easily visible to everyone. The front yard, therefore, determines the first impression visitors get of a home.

Bulbs and perennials can delight us with their diversity and abundance of blooms almost year-round. Svenja Schwedtke from the Bornhöved Perennial Nursery explains how to best combine these "beautiful" plants.

Some start over again, while others plant perennials. Landscape architect Heiner Luz explains what makes these perennial plants so valuable.

They bloom along roadsides, in meadows, and on embankments. Native perennials not only beautify our landscape; many species and their selections are also quite rightly finding their way into our gardens. "They bring a piece of nature into the garden," says Uta Kietsch. The horticultural technician knows and cultivates many wild plants. In addition to their beautiful flowers and structures, they are above all a food source for many animals and very popular with bees, butterflies, beetles, hoverflies, and many other insects. These insects often specialize in native plants, where they find nectar and pollen. This creates a magnificent natural experience in the garden. "Another advantage of native plants is their adaptation to our climate," says Kietsch. They are generally very easy to care for and often easier to integrate into the garden than species native to Asia or other continents.

They can be unpretentious and pure or wrapped in opulent ruffles, enchanting as miniatures in pots or captivating as magnificent perennials in the flowerbed: Irises are so diverse that they would easily defend their title as the favorite plant of many garden enthusiasts, even in black and white. This love is all the more understandable given the incredible variety of colors offered by the 2016 Perennial of the Year.

There are perennials whose beauty makes you want to kneel down – if only to be able to admire them properly. And there are specimens that simply leave you rooted to the spot and in awe: No one can resist the overwhelming splendor of man-sized perennial sunflowers (Helianthus), sneezeweeds (Helenium), ornamental grasses, asters, and other large perennials. One person who should know is Erich Luer, owner of the Röttger perennial nursery.

Romantic gardens are idyllic places full of surprises. Closing the wooden door, you leave everyday life behind and enter a place to enjoy and linger. A stream gently burbles, birds chirp, and the scents of flowers enchant our senses.

Those who spontaneously decide to create blooming spring impressions now can take full advantage of the colorful variety of pre-grown bulbs. They will shine brightly in pots and later in the garden.

With the renewed desire for the countryside, cottage gardens are becoming increasingly popular here. They exert a special appeal due to their plant diversity and their blend of elegance and untamed wildness. These cozy green oases have a dreamy, nostalgic quality, and one associates them with older English ladies like Miss Marple, who would trim their roses there. Indeed, it was the garden-loving English who elevated the simple farmer's garden to the cottage garden: The rustic country house style developed in the 19th century by the architect John Nash quickly became popular on the island, as did the corresponding garden type.

Whether as a sea breeze or as the epitome of white and blue coziness, white and blue simply go together perfectly and look equally good in romantic and modern gardens.

...the dream of a wildflower meadow. If you like things colorful and natural, and love bumblebees, bees, and butterflies, you should try a wildflower meadow in your garden. It's a colorful alternative to the traditional lawn. And if you follow a few basic rules, you'll soon be enjoying your own wildflower meadow.

If you love a vibrant garden or balcony, opt for a colorful mix of bee-friendly and long-blooming perennials. Especially in late summer, many plants once again display their full splendor – and their blossoms attract a variety of bees, bumblebees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects.
Whether delicate autumn anemone, robust yarrow, elegant masterwort, aromatic scented nettle or nostalgic hollyhocks – they all not only offer real added value for the animal world, but also beautify any flowerbed or balcony.

To ensure the first splashes of color appear in the garden early in spring, you should start planning and designing your tulip bed in the fall. A tulip bed will be particularly beautiful and robust if you plant several varieties of tulips, rather than just one. We'll show you how to create a distinctive interplay of colors and shapes in a tulip bed!

The garden is a cultural space in which we work with living materials – plants. An understanding of nature's numerous habitats helps us design our garden spaces.

Evergreen isn't always green. We'll show you how delicate flower clusters, slender foliage, and picturesque growth forms only really come into their own when the background is consistently calm. Evergreen plants prove indispensable for this task.

In her book "Big Ideas for Small Gardens," Gartenzauber editor Victoria Wegner presents great ideas for small gardens based on 10 gardens ranging from 100 to 350 square meters. She not only demonstrates how diversely they can be designed, but also shows how to create more space in a small space. The great thing about them: these are truly small terraced house gardens or semi-detached plots like the ones you and I have, and they are beautifully staged with beautiful images by photographer Marion Nickig.

No one wants to feel confined and trapped. At the same time, the property and garden should provide a safe haven for privacy and security.

When the weather's good, it's simply the best outdoors. Outdoor kitchens and comfortable lounge furniture are a great way to extend your outdoor time. We're introducing you to a truly elegant option for outdoor living.

Anyone can have a standard wooden fence in their garden, but not a homemade privacy screen! We'll show you how to build a beautiful privacy screen that dispenses with rigid posts and support frames, instead creating a light and harmonious effect from individual horizontal boards.

A house tree can do much more than just add a little greenery to your home. If you look for the specific qualities you value in a tree, you'll quickly find your favorite. It has to be the right tree, but finding one requires clarifying a few questions beforehand. First and foremost, the house tree must be a good fit for your family and the house.

An anti-authoritarian garden – is that even possible, or isn't it a contradiction in terms? And what does it entail? Such a garden is beautiful, ecological, and time-saving.

If you don't want to replant your balcony every year, permanent planting with perennials and shrubs is the solution. Most perennials also grow in containers.

For centuries, gravel has been the first choice of all types of surface for spacious parks and extensive paths or squares around castles.

"Opposites attract" – as the saying goes. Day is followed by night, rain is followed by sun, light and shadow alternate. The world thrives on opposites that together form a harmonious whole.

Who doesn't dream of a successful perennial border? Expressive or harmonious plant arrangements don't happen by chance. A "border"—as the English call their flower beds—is usually the result of careful planning. With a few basic design rules, which are also used by professionals in the gardening industry, the dream of a perfect perennial bed can be realized.

Are you looking for an unusual ornamental tree for your individually designed garden? Then the small-crowned Japanese maples are a great choice. As a special treasure among ornamental trees, they meet this requirement and lend your garden an exotic flair.

They are the color all-rounders among perennials – plants with silvery leaves or flowers. They adapt to other plants, mediate, connect, and blend harmoniously into a planting. In both architecture and gardens, a certain trend toward simplicity, reduced material choices, and the colors gray and white can be observed. Perennials with their silvery shades can be used appropriately in these settings. We interviewed perennial gardener André Stade about which plants are particularly recommended and what you should keep in mind.

On warm summer nights from June to September, with a little luck, we can observe the glow of fireflies. We'll tell you how to attract them to experience the light show in your own garden.