In this post: How to build a perfect garden that will grow all year with minimal upkeep; plus planning a small space garden and tips for picking plants and soil for an urban garden.

What does it mean to build the perfect garden? It depends who you ask! For some it means planning a garden with minimal upkeep; for others, it’s about picking the perfect plants for their small space. In my case, building the perfect garden is a blend of knowing how to grow vegetables and plants in an urban space, but also knowing how to use the garden to cultivate colour and joy.

The perfect garden depends on many factors and the individual who will use the space. For some, their perfect garden already exists, and the maintenance and management are the joy. For others, satisfaction is derived in the journey of exploration and creation. And the personal definition of “perfection” can shift with age, knowledge, preferences, and even trends.

Key elements of a perfect garden

When creating your perfect garden, you must consider several elements and those elements will influence and determine how you build, nurture, and cultivate the garden and yourself, as the gardener.

Conditions of your outdoor space

Climate - The length of your growing season and how wet or dry your climate is will affect what you can grow in your garden and how the plants will grow. Climatic factors will also affect how often you will need to water, which could involve using some form of watering aids, like drip irrigation.
Location - Whether you want to create a patio garden or a large backyard garden, location must be considered. You want your perfect garden to be in a location that provides the conditions (e.g., light, soil, space) that will allow the plants to thrive AND work for you as a gardener (e.g., near a water source).
Aspect - A garden that faces south or west will be much hotter and receive more light than a garden that faces north or east. This will affect what plants can be grown and other aspects, like how quickly the soil dries out and needs watering.
Size - Size of the space available, size of plants you want to grow, and size of a garden that makes sense for you as the gardener are all important elements to consider.
Soil health - The type of soil you use for your garden could be what is already there or created from purchased soil and added compost and other amendments. Soil health quality is key to successfully growing plants.

Existing plants - Your garden and/or how your create your garden will be influenced by plants already existing in the space, whether they are shrubs, trees, or even perennial weeds.
Existing structures - Structures already in place (e.g., retaining walls, raised beds, pergolas, walkways) also affect how you create your perfect garden. Perhaps the existing structures will remain or you may want or need to remove them.

Considerations as the gardener when planning your perfect garden

My exploration of gardening has been a lifelong journey and my idea of the perfect garden shifts with my garden locations varying from balcony or container gardens to long rows on the family farm, sometimes focused on ornamental plants and other times on edible gardening. Currently, I rent an apartment in an old house with an established yard. A small side garden has been provided to me as their tenant, for which I am grateful.

Who you are as a person, what you are able to do, and what you want to do are all important considerations when planning to create your perfect garden.

Your values as a gardener

Your values in life will transfer to how and what you garden. Planting and setting up your garden to be kid-friendly will be important, if you want your children to be involved in the gardening. Other ways that your values might influence your garden could be how you source your materials and what types of materials (e.g., soil, plants, seeds) you use.

Your gardening goals

Do you want to garden for food or other plants, like therapeutic herbs or for natural dying of textiles? Perhaps the main reason you want to garden is for the positive effects of gardening for mental and physical health. You may want to garden to create something beautiful to look at and work on, or create a biodiversity garden.

Your personal circumstances

Physical abilities - Your physical abilities as a gardener are hugely important to consider when creating your perfect garden. Different garden types and structures within gardens can used depending on abilities, whether those are raised beds or containers or including benches nearby.
Time available - How much time you have to give to your garden must be considered. Creating a garden and finding you have little time to spend with the garden can become frustrating. Be kind to yourself and to the garden and factor in how much time you have available when you create your perfect garden.
Budget - How much money do you want to put towards creating, maintaining, and nurturing your perfect garden? Budget will affect what and how you acquire plants, structural components, and other supplies.

Your main gardening priorities

Identifying your gardening priorities will help in understanding and developing the master plan for creating your perfect garden.

Food - growing vegetables, fruit, berries, or other edible plants may be the main reason you want to garden.

Flowers - growing flowers provides many benefits, from simple enjoyment of the blooms in the garden to growing a cut flower garden specifically to create bouquets.

Aesthetics - your main gardening priority may be to improve and maintain how well your property or landscape looks.
Low maintenance - all gardens require some maintenance and perhaps you want a garden, but you want it to require as little work as possible.
Privacy - some parts of a garden can be dedicated to creating privacy in your outdoor space, or even to block views into windows.
Landscape structure - retaining walls, walkways, or patios are examples of structures that may be a priority for you in creating your garden.
Other personal reasons - your gardening priorities may change over time and may not be on this list, but are personal to you.

Taking a look at the different elements can help to bring that perfect garden into focus. When we can visualize our garden, we can start to plan the path to get there, what changes to make, where to focus energy, time, and budget, and possibly gaps in knowledge and experience. Professionals to bring in for some aspect, like irrigation installation or anything electrical.

Common garden challenges are also some considerations for creating the perfect garden are simple:

Healthy soil – it quite literally starts from the ground up!
Freedom from seriously invasive and pervasive weeds (what is a weed anyway?)
Protection from wildlife browse and/or interference
Access to water - for those long stretches of weeks without rain!

Beyond those basics, my dream garden is a space that provides a mix of food for me and food for other living things that share the surrounding environment that makes up the garden (and broader) ecosystem. Gardening is hard work, takes time, energy, and money.

Easy flowering bushes to grow in your perfect garden

Flowering bushes/shrubs are a great addition to your perfect garden as they provide colour and add living structure and texture to your space. You can choose flowering bushes/shrubs that bloom in all seasons and in a variety of colours to brighten your garden space and your mood all year.

Flowering shrubs/bushes can be used to add structure to your garden, with height and depth, or create privacy or to hide the uglier/less attractive parts of your yard (or neighbouring yards), like utility meters or poles, building foundations, sheds, or storage bins. besides adding loads of colour and fun and interesting blooms.

Frequently asked questions about building the perfect garden

How do I start a perfect garden for beginners?

The perfect garden for beginners can be as simple and small as a container, or a larger plot with room to experiment. Mindset is the important part of starting a perfect garden for beginners: exploration of space and self, openness to learn, low expectations, and having fun. You can learn more about building a garden as a beginner in my post How to Build a Garden for Beginners: a Step-by-Step Guide if You’re New to Gardening!

What are the best vegetables to grow in my garden?

The first step to determine the best vegetables to grow in your garden is to look at which vegetables you eat. Next, from the list of ones you eat, determine which vegetables will grow where you live. Thirdly, decide which vegetables you have the time, space, and abilities to grow.

Can I grow a perfect garden indoors?

Whether you can grow a perfect garden indoors depends on what you want to grow. Houseplants are great for creating a perfect indoor garden, as well as some herbs and flowers. Other plants are more challenging or just not possible to grow indoors, at least not without a lot of your help, such as by providing artificial lights.

All of this to say that while I may not have my perfect garden now, all gardens can have some piece of perfection. And if it seems like they don’t, maybe the best part of that garden is the learning and growing towards your perfect garden.

If you want to share your dream garden goals, keep learning, or follow along as we grow together, send me a message!