Creating a new garden from scratch or even changing an existing landscape can be a challenge especially for a beginner. Naturally you need to start with a plan, but without some guidelines to help it is all too easy to end up with an unsatisfactory result. These eight landscape design tips for creating an enticing garden come from an article by Jan Johnsen which I found on the Garden Design Magazine website.

Whether you?re new to gardening, or you?ve been honing your skills for years, the following design secrets will help you create a more effective and enticing garden.

1. The Graceful Sweep of a Curve

The sweep of a curve lends a gracious air to a landscape. Your eye cannot help but follow it around. By laying out a plant bed or even a walkway in a strong, playful line you invite people to explore. And a curved flower bed combines color and shape to make a garden more enticing.

A curved plant bed of annual flowers such as red salvia and white impatiens combines the elegance of a gracious line with the vibrancy of color. Photo by: Jan Johnsen.

My favorite way to lay out a curve in a garden is to use a 100 foot tape measure as a compass of sorts. I lay out a uniformly shaped curve from a central radius point. Then, using ?marking? paint (not spray paint!) or a line of powdered limestone, I mark the ground as I pivot around. The resulting gentle curve creates an even ?disposition? to a landscape scene.

Go to the next page to see more great landscape design tips.
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