HGTV Gardens Pictures

The plantings around RMSer 66nick's front walk allow only a tantalizing peek at the cottage-style home, but ... (see next photo)

Bank of Color

A carpet of bright groundcover plants secure this terraced hillside.

Storage Shed Takes On New Life

An exuberant flower garden leads the eye toward a beautiful garden retreat. RMSer lross7577 says that "Toad Cottage, " formerly a storage shed, underwent a total renovation, complete with a gas fireplace, bluestone patio and fire pit.

That Jungle Feeling

The play of light and shadow enhances this private backyard oasis amid lush plantings.

Magnifying a Small Space

The use of multiple levels, diagonal lines in the decking and sinuous curves draws the eye around the space, so you don't "get" it all in one glance. Designed by Jamie Durie

Warm and Inviting

Jamie Durie used Sonoman design details — including Mexican roof tiles — to create this richly hued outdoor space. Colorful drought-tolerant plants complete the look.

Front Door Gardening

A cottage-style garden welcomes visitors to HGTV fan Sunny777's home.

Backyard Waterscape

A pond, stream and bridge are enhanced by annuals and perennials in this backyard design by RMSer Tdnuss.

On Vacation at Home

This backyard renovation included the installation of a 100-foot stream down one side of the property and landscaping meant to give the feeling of a woodland escape. Says RMSer lross7577, "We don't have to travel far from our suburban home outside the city of Minneapolis to get a wonderful cabin retreat experience. We just walk out our back door."

Brightening the Deck

High-contrast plantings, using opposites on the color wheel (yellow and purple), create a vibrant look and play off the neutral tones of the hardscaping and furniture.

Cool and Serene

This semi-shade garden features a range of green tones and leaf shapes, including wild ginger, rodgersia and sedge. The result is a soothing green palette, accented by the blue-gray hardscape.

Timeless Quality

Develop a long-range plan for your garden and include the height and year-round structure provided by conifers and trees. As they grow in stature (and often change hues throughout the seasons), you'll have a framework for your perennials, shrubs and bedding plants.

Dressed in White

White forget-me-nots, tulips, daisies and money plant combine with hostas and silvery astelia foliage in this spring garden.

Perfect Complement

The sculptured wall and strong lines of this design create the structure for this gorgeous cottage-style planting bed.

Wildlife Haven

Designed as a show garden for the Chelsea Flower Show in England, this sustainable garden by Stephen Hall includes a range of diverse habitats for wildlife and plants that attract beneficial insects. The building's green roof is planted with sedum.

Changing Palette

Early summer in this garden brings the pinks and mauves of roses, geraniums, delphiniums, clematis and centaureas. As fall approaches, the palette deepens to the cerise, deep blues and purples of asters, phlox, dahlias and aconites.

Hollyhocks add a vertical element to this beautiful garden spot, posted by RMSer horselady.

Garden Patio

Lush plantings turn this sitting area into a picture-perfect garden oasis. Posted by RMSer nwphillygardener.

Perennial Beauty

At RMSer chefboston's home, the garden overflows with Shasta daisies, daylilies and other perennials. (Next slide: another view of the front yard)

Front Yard Color

Rudbeckia and phlox join the daylilies and daisies to create a riot of color in RMSer chefboston's front yard.

Attention-Grabbing Shapes

A stark contrast with the wild abundance of the cottage-style garden, this topiary garden requires frequent trimming during the growing season.

Garden Path

A pergola helps frame the walkway through this garden. The easy-to-navigate brick path allows maximum appreciation of the surrounding garden. To slow down the transit through your garden, narrow the path a bit. For bike traffic, keep the walkway wide and the inclines gradual.

Source: www.hgtv.com

Landscaping Tips

Though your home is your castle, there is no necessity to surround it with a moat. Here are 5 tips that will help you to make your landscaping feel more warm, welcoming and cozy.

1. Put some flowers nearby your entrance. Flowers make any area look more welcoming and attractive, so greeting your guests with Petunia, Snapdragon, Lily-of-the-Nile or some other garden flowers is always a great thing to do. What is more, to add some space between your house and the entrance, you can consider adding a little white fence. It will create an illusion that your front yard is bigger than it actually is. What is more, adding fence will create a great space for planting flowers to add some color and coziness.

2. Add rambling vines to make your yard look absolutely lovely. You can not deny that rambling vines always create romantic and even magical atmosphere. So why not to use this tip while decorating your yard?

3. To hide the unattractive driveway, consider adding some color, texture, and height. You can easily do it by adding various sorts of flowers. To start, create an island of green lawn right in the hub of a drive. Then add a couple of low boxwood hedges with flowers toward the back of your island.

4. If you want your yard to blossom and flourish bust still do not have enough time to maintain it, consider planting low-fuss lilies. Such flowers look absolutely gorgeous and come in the variety of rainbow hues, so you can pick the one you love most. What is more, low-fuss lilies do not care about the sort of soil, they love the sun and welcome hot, they do not afraid of drought. In other words, Crinums is an ideal flower for all those who are looking for low-maintenance solutions.

5. The last tip also touches the low-maintenance aspect. To make your life easier, group plantings into beds and islands. This will help you to avoid mowing and trimming around each individual plant, save a lot of time and even money.