Garden Rooms

While gardens are a lot of work, their main purpose is enjoyment. Dividing garden areas into garden rooms can create a more private and beautiful envelopment where you can relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

While gardens are a lot of work, their main purpose is enjoyment. Dividing garden areas into garden rooms can create a more private and beautiful envelopment where you can relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

The intrigue of garden rooms is that they can be designed so the entire garden isn’t visible in one glance. These separations encourage visitors to walk around and explore, and allow you, the designer, to be creative in planning themed areas.

Planning a garden room is similar to decorating an interior room. Like any other room of your home, the garden room will need walls, a floor and a ceiling, then you can add furniture and accents to complete the area and make it inviting.

Floors include carpet and paths. A grass lawn is a common carpet choice for garden rooms, and most include a combination of soft lawn and hard surfaces, like flagstone, gravel, wood or bricks. The ceiling of the garden room could be as simple as the sky above, or could be made from shade features, like a large tree or pergola. Arbors covered in vines provide shade, color and texture overhead. Walls enclose the garden space and create privacy. Fences, flowering shrubs and evergreens provide borders, as so the edge of adjoining buildings. Curved walls can maximize space and create hidden areas.

Furnishings and accent pieces truly transform the garden sections into actual rooms. Strategically placed benches, chairs or hammocks create inviting areas for relaxation. Fountains, birdbaths or sculptures can help develop a theme or add more interest to an area. Natural accents, like boulders or moss-covered pieces, also make excellent focal points.

Since garden rooms visually split a single area into smaller ones, even a backyard garden with limited space can benefit from this design technique. If you don’t have space for dozens of rooms, even a small corner reading nook or walls between flower and vegetable gardens can create a beautiful area with the illusion of more space.