Garden Styles That Wow Waterloo Region Homebuyers

And You'll Love Them Too

Now that the weather is starting to improve and Spring is officially here it's time for most of us to head back outdoors. In fact, you really should, as all that vitamin D from the sun (even weak sun) is essential for good health.

If you are planning to sell your Waterloo Region home at some point in the near future then you know how important curb appeal is. But having a great outdoor space, in general, is a wonderful thing, both for your own enjoyment and to impress your summer guests (and the neighbours of course!)

And maybe, with that in mind, you have been thinking about changing and improving the overall look of your backyard, but feel that you lack the gardening skills to make a good job of it. All those gardens on Instagram and TikTok look beautiful, but you doubt that you could create something like that.

The good news is that there are some popular backyard landscaping ideas that are not as difficult to implement as you might imagine and in terms of looks and appeal they are certainly wonderful.

To help spark your gardening creativity and imagination, here are a some backyard landscaping ideas we love and that usually prove very popular with Waterloo Region home buyers too, as they are fairly easy to maintain and can certainly add the 'wow' factor homeowners look for as they view homes for sale.

The English Country Garden

The term English county garden isn't easily defined, but it generally refers to a romantic, sweeping landscape design in which the land overflows with plants and lush flowers in an organic-looking sort of way. First developed in 18th-century England, it is thought that the English country garden was initially intended to go against the "architectural gardens" of the time, which were far more rigid in structure, pattern, and shaping.

Tall plants, short plants, pink blooms, white flowers—all can be combined in an English garden, and right next to one another too. Of course, you'll need to make some tweaks to ensure that all of your plants get enough sunshine and aren't overcrowded, but in general, you should avoid overthinking a garden like this and instead opt for a free-flowing design.

When it comes to English country garden style, it's also not just about what's on the ground Be sure to think about the "y-axis" of your space as well. Consider adding a trellis or simply twisting ivy, draping wisteria, and high-flying vines around a shed or other already-existing structure.

Plants typically great for use in an English style garden, which are also very well suited to our changeable Ontario climate, include all the following:

1. Delphinium

If you are looking for flowers with some height, delphinium is a plant that can grow to be up to six feet in height, depending on the variety that you plant. You may need to stalk the taller varieties so that they stay upright in the garden. The blooms come in shades of pink, purple, and blue, so they can add quite a bit of color to your outdoor space. Delphiniums like full sun, but they can also do well in partial shade.

2. Rambling Rose

This is a beautiful flower that can be used to cover structures in your garden. With the right help, this plant can grow to a height of 20 feet. The pink blooms grow in clusters, which will attract butterflies to your garden. They grow best in well-drained soil with full to partial sun.

3. Peony

Peony is a flower that has very unique blooms that will add elegance and a lovely fragrance to your garden. The blooms are filled with bright pink petals that that are ideal for attracting pollinators to your outdoor space. Depending on the variety that you plant, this plant can grow to be five feet tall, which can add some nice height to your English garden.

4. Hollyhocks

Hollyhocks are one of the tallest plants that you can grow in your garden. It is a perennial that reaches heights of up to eight feet. Smaller varieties will stand at about four feet in height, so you can easily vary the height throughout your garden. Hollyhocks also prefer to grow in moist, well-drained soil. The blooms range from light shades like yellow and pink to darker colors like red and purple; they are great for inviting pollinators into your garden.

5. Lavender

One of the best plants to grow in an English garden is lavender. It is a wonderful ornamental herb that will fill the spaces between your other plants. Lavender smells great, and you can take clippings from the plants to make lovely smelling potpourri for your home. It prefers full sun and well-drained soil to thrive, and with proper care, it will grow to be up to two feet tall.

Japanese Garden

For those who prefer a backyard landscape that is a little more spartan and minimalist than most landscaping themes – and one that also requires less maintenance, then a Japanese-style garden may be a perfect choice.

The central features of a Japanese-style backyard usually include carefully placed rocks, lush and long-lasting evergreens, and stylish water features, none of which really call for a great deal of effort in order to maintain them.

There should still be greenery, however, but there are certain blooms that are best suited to this garden style, including the following:

1. Azaleas

Azaleas have been prized by Japanese gardeners for centuries for their trumpet-shaped spring flowers in pink, yellow, salmon, red, violet, and white. Modern hybridizers have created a reblooming azalea, that flowers for a whole growing season, so you won't have to wait until the next spring to enjoy this perennial shrub's floral feast. To boost acidity, plant your azalea shrub in partial shade and treat the soil with organic materials like compost or leaf mold.

2. Irises

Do you have an area of the garden that never seems to dry out? Take advantage of a soggy area with a planting of Japanese irises, which love to stay moist year around. The Iris ensata is always hungry for both water and fertilizer, and it will reward you with flower stalks up to 5 feet tall. Planting Japanese irises near a water feature like a pond or stream will satisfy the growing needs of these plants, leaving you with nothing more to do than dividing old clumps every few years.

3. Ornamental Cherry Tree

Plant an ornamental cherry tree, and it will reward you with four seasons of beauty for many seasons to come. Pink or white spring blooms typically have an almond scent and attract eager bees just emerging from hibernation. Bright green leaves soon follow, and provide an attractive anchor in the border, especially on weeping specimens. Fall and winter highlight handsome bark if you plant the paperbark cherry, which features reddish bark with a striated texture.

Woodland Garden

If your backyard already has a number of trees you are already halfway towards creating a rather magical woodland garden anyway. The idea behind such a landscaping choice is to highlight the natural way that fauna grows in a wooded area so, if you are looking for a very low maintenance landscaping theme whose beauty will not really suffer if it goes a little untended, this may be the perfect choice for you.

The main component of a woodland garden are wildflowers. You can actually buy seed mixtures that will create a beautiful carpet of wildflowers in just a few months that will then practically take care of themselves.

Butterfly Gardens

There are certain trees, shrubs and flowers that are especially attractive to the butterfly population. By creating a butterfly garden you will not only be attracting a some actual living color to your backyard to brighten up the landscape but doing your bit for conservation as well.

These butterfly-attracting plants include sunflowers, clovers, snapdragons, lupins, and pansies, and if you wanted to add a tree or two any member of the birch family would be an excellent choice.