From small parts can come a great garden

The most important part of designing and installing a garden is understanding that the process is ongoing and will take at least a decade. It's at the 10-year point that your garden begins to become a “work of art.”

Cost shouldn't hold you back from creating your ideal design. However, ultimately, budget will determine the size and the quantity of plants that you are able to install.

If the bottom line is unrealistic, there are always ways to cut costs. The grandest of designs can be broken into smaller parts to manage design installation. In other words, do paving this year, plant trees next year, shrubs after that, and so on until you've reached a point of satisfaction.

Installing a garden is about the journey. There is always something that will change or require further fine-tuning of your garden. For example, you may use annuals to fill in empty spaces until other plants have time to grow. It's helpful to establish a preliminary budget. A rule of thumb is to spend about 10 percent of your property value on landscaping.

Trees add the greatest value to a property, according to the American Nursery and Landscape Association, so install them first. Balance the front of your property so it is equally weighted — a large tree to one side and shrubs to the other. Ornamental plantings should highlight the front yard and enhance the appearance of your house. Sweep beds wide, eight to 12 feet around the front corners, with a vertical element — like a holly, hinoki false cypress, water lily star magnolia or chindo viburnum (V. awabuki “Chindo”), planted about eight feet off the corners — anchoring the house to the landscape. Larger beds add an expansive appearance to the property. Large plants placed tightly against walls will make houses seem smaller.

Beds that are sequenced with low plants in the front, tall ones to the back and a separation of two feet or more between foliage and house walls also enhance the landscape design. Large beds are very effective at allowing room for a wide variety of foliage and color.

Selections of plant material can be installed in groupings for greater impact. For example, the front of the bed can be edged with hakone grass if the location has filtered sun, backed by several dwarf cavatine pieris, an evergreen shrub that flowers in early spring. Back those plants with conoy viburnum, which has fragrant flowers, bird-attracting fruit, maroon fall color and foliage that persists into winter. Fill in with assorted groupings of shade-tolerant perennials and annuals that flower at various times throughout the growing season. This type of arrangement needs a bed 10- to 15-feet deep to accommodate mature plants.

Repeating plants en masse — using the same flowers in large sweeps — has an eye-catching effect and won't be a big hit to your budget. So if you're planting black-eyed Susans in full sun, plant them in groups of three to five in several open sunny beds. They seldom fail to catch your eye, and they will return annually. Bath's pink dianthus is another good perennial that has fragrant flowers in spring. For little cost, it provides an evergreen mat of blue-green foliage that will feather over the edge of walkways and soften them.

Color, texture and form get your property noticed. Use shrubs with interesting architectural form and texture, fall color, berries, flowers, summer leaf color and foliage variations. Choose shrubs for their ornamental value year-round. Some shrubs and trees offer 12-month interest. Kousa dogwood, for instance, has spring flowers, edible summer fruit, fall color and a winter bark that is mottled tan and brown. Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica) has at least three seasons of interest. It displays deep maroon-colored stems in winter and thick-textured maroon fall foliage. Its fragrant, eye-catching, horizontally growing white panicles open in spring.

Some of the following suggestions might have to be phased in over a number of years, but they are important for safety or to make the property more aesthetically appealing.

An entryway should be comfortable, not overwhelming. It should lead you into the house without confusion, in the most efficient manner.

Walk grades should be no more than 5 percent, and walks should be at least 42 inches wide. If steps are necessary, always build at least two or more. A single step is a “trip step.” Build each riser a maximum of six inches high. Make the part you walk on — the tread — at least 14 inches deep. You may want to consider redesigning your paved areas if they are in poor condition.

Containers can enhance any entry. Almost any plant that can be placed in the ground can be grown in a container. And virtually any object that will hold soil can serve as one if it has holes punched in it for drainage. You can install trees, shrubs, annuals, perennials and most fruits and vegetables, provided the container is the right size for the plant. Containers make it possible to have plantings in places they wouldn't ordinarily grow, such as on a deck, patio, balcony or roof. They can provide green space around a home with no space for a traditional garden and can help overcome problems of poor soil aeration and drainage.

Sculptural elements, seating, fountains and water gardens are desirable additions to most landscape designs and can be added as your budget allows. At least one of those features in a private corner of the yard, tucked into some background shrubs surrounded by perennials, can add interest to your garden.

Position a piece of outdoor art or a specimen plant near entries, but be sure to use only a piece or two. Sculpture can provide contrast and serve as a focal point to set off walkways, backyard entries and private garden spaces. Plants and sculptural elements should be in proportion to the size of your home or property.

Check views from every possible angle. Enhance or frame pleasing vistas, and draw the eye away from things that are not attractive. For example, if a heat pump detracts from the scenery, you might position benches with ornamental qualities in such a way that the viewer looks away from the objectionable apparatus. Install color and interest on the opposite side of the garden.

For an unpleasant view that appears in the distance, plant large pines, spruces, cedars, or hollies, staggered in masses of three or more. When planted strategically, these evergreens, which grow full all the way from the base, will serve as year-round cover and focus the eye inward, toward the garden.