There are five suggestions for integrating a deck into your landscape.
1. Connect the deck and garden with patios and paths at garden level.
Build paths that lead from the deck to prime garden spots.
Certain people use Hackett stone for the walkways as well as a water feature and retaining walls in their garden.
Trails leading from the deck into the garden visually and physically link the two spaces, and repetition of the stone throughout the garden provides continuity.
2. Use vertical plantings to fill the space between the garden level and the deck level.
If only low plants surround a deck, the structure can seem looming.
Sometimes gardeners suggest three heights of plants and trees be incorporated in the design of a bed to please the eye.
- When tall plants are used around the perimeter of a deck, the deck becomes part of the garden area.
3. Select evergreens for year-round interest.
Evergreens planted near the deck assure that even in winter the base of the structure will not look bare.
4. Install a water feature near the deck. If you want a water feature near the house in a natural setting so you could hear the soothing sounds of the flowing water.
Since the deck is your favorite perching post for enjoying the results of your work in the garden, placing the water feature nearby was a natural choice.
Also plants that frame the pond may be found elsewhere in the garden to provide continuity.
So, once the pond was installed, you can add water plants -- including Japanese iris, pickerel weed, spider lily, and water hyacinth -- to complete the feature.
5. Bring the beauty of the garden onto the deck. - Plant clematis vines near the face of her deck, allowing the vining plants to use the deck as a trellis.
- Container gardens fill the deck with colorful blooms.
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