What are the Different Options for Creating a do-It-Yourself Garden?

With more than 375,000 species of plants, do-it-yourself garden options are almost endless. Even if the same plants were used, gardens can vary in location, content, and design, thus further increasing the number of options. When creating a do-it-yourself garden, therefore, choosing a location and a purpose for the garden will help decrease the wide array of options.

The structure and content of any garden depend largely on its location. Do-it-yourself gardens can be planted indoors, outdoors, or in greenhouses. Each option has various levels of maintenance required. Setting up a greenhouse aquaponics system, for example, is much more time consuming than creating a natural garden. Even within each location, most spaces are unique in their lighting, size, and humidity, rendering them suitable for specific plants.

While deciding where the do-it-yourself garden will be located, reflecting on the purpose of the garden can help narrow the wide range of options. Gardens are constructed for a variety of reasons, all lending themselves to different content and design choices. A tropical garden, a spice garden, and a flower garden each fulfill a different purpose or desire, and each requires specific plants and maintenance.

Do-it-yourself gardens can also make use of various landscaping techniques. Utilizing current weather conditions or waterways can manifest into gravel gardens, water gardens, or natural gardens. Each of these gardens vary in design and maintenance requirements as well.

Landscape design and garden design can range from haphazard to formalized. Informal gardens can be created without any planning and in any location. Gardens can also be very structured in nature, with precise measurements plotting out additional plants. Landscaping plans also depend on the purpose of the garden and its potential visitors. A garden in a high-insect area next to a dog park and a soccer field will need to be much more durable than one located inside a private greenhouse, for example.

The content options for your do-it-yourself gardens, meaning the plants inside of it, can be chosen by beauty, taste, or their likelihood of survival. Local nurseries and florists are a well-informed source of information about specific plants or garden creation. Written sources, both in-text and online, also provide plant-specific requirements and compatibilities. Many of these options will depend on the location, purpose, and design of your garden as well.

When creating a do-it-yourself garden, the choice of plant, insect, and soil maintenance is also a gardener's to make. This involves deciding whether to use insecticides, pesticides, or fertilizers. These decisions can alter the organic status of your garden and can be considered based on use, practicality, and personal preference.