Good design is a hallmark of every garden we publish at Southern Living. Such spaces provide year-round beauty, pay homage to their surroundings, solve common problems, reflect their owners' personalities, and make life easier and more rewarding. But understanding why one design succeeds while another fails is a difficult task for most folks. Knowing a few basic principles can make this process a whole lot easier. As you read on, we'll illustrate and explain some of these concepts that you can use to develop your own landscape.

A graceful arbor festooned with climbing roses provides a stunning backdrop for this casual Atlanta garden.

Selecting a Style
Choosing a look for your garden isn't quite as easy as picking out a tie. There are a number of questions to ask yourself first.

• Where do you live--in the city, the suburbs, or the country? Your garden should complement the environment or neighborhood.
• What is the style of your house? Is it formal or informal? Spanish Revival, Georgian, ranch, bungalow, or cottage?
• What are your needs? A lawn for the kids to play? A place to grow flowers? A place to swim? A place to entertain?
• What are the limitations of the site? Is it big enough for a pool? Is it too steep to mow safely? Are there unattractive views you'd like to screen?
• How much time can you devote to upkeep? Clipped hedges, large flowerbeds, and big lawns require considerable maintenance.

Once you've answered these questions, you're ready to choose a style. Here is a summary of the most common ones we see in the South. Select the one that's right for you.

Flowers and Freedom
The cottage garden style is all about individuality. Basically the only rule is to have lots of color. Blooming annuals, perennials, shrubs, and vines party together like revelers at Mardi Gras. Seedling flowers sprout where they wish. Curves replace straight lines. Mulch or gravel is used to form paths. Paint is allowed to peel. Whimsical art, such as gazing globes and pink flamingos, is often a part of the show.

Keep in mind, though, that in order to work, even a cottage garden needs some structure. This can be a picket fence that encloses the space or an evergreen hedge that serves as a backdrop. Structure gives a cottage garden form, which is especially important in winter when flowers are dormant.

What type of architecture complements this style? Definitely not anything formal, such as Georgian or French Colonial. A bungalow or unpainted saltbox is a better bet.

Not a leaf or a flower is out of place in this yard in Apex, North Carolina.

Everything Just-So
The formal garden style is everything that a cottage garden isn't. It's as neat and tidy as a Marine's bed just before inspection. Straight lines, right angles, squares, and circles abound. Clipped hedges form geometric patterns. Symmetry reigns supreme; if there is a boxwood on the left side of the door, there must be another of the same size on the right. Shrubs are pruned with a surgeon's precision. No weed is allowed to live. Paths are paved with stone or brick.

Formal, symmetrical gardens go best with the same type of houses. However, an informal home can still have a formal garden if the space the garden occupies isn't directly adjacent to the house. The formal style is often easier for beginners, because most people can relate better to hard lines and geometric shapes than wandering curves. But beware, all the clipping and weeding required to make things perfect takes time.

Each spring, thousands of coreopsis and other wildflowers decorate this naturalistic garden on the Texas prairie.

Don't Fool With Mother Nature
The natural landscape surrounding some houses is so spectacular or unique that it makes sense to capture in it the garden. This is called the naturalistic style. Such a garden reflects the authentic look of a region without strictly adhering to a palette of native plants. Nonnative plants can be included, as long as they blend in with the native flora and express seasonal colors and the casualness of the wild.

Naturalistic gardens can exist in the heart of the woods or the middle of a prairie. They emphasize the landscape, rather than the house, and generally lack foundation plantings. Maintenance is minimal because plants thrive on their own, and almost nothing is pruned or weeded. This kind of garden style looks good with vernacular architecture.

A rustic stick gate suits many garden styles.

Aged Charm
When you hear the term rustic style, you probably think of casual, rural gardens that feature unpainted wood, rusted iron, and salvaged brick. Such natural materials recall simpler times. But rustic elements also have their place in upscale, formal gardens. A rusted iron urn or a lichen-covered bench can easily become an elegant focal point.