The concept of minimalism takes all the frills away to highlight the beauty of a simple, stripped-down design. In gardening, a minimalist garden imparts a deep sense of calm and peace because of the simple design, while regular maintenance takes a back seat. Gardening becomes more manageable when you take away all the frills.

Dreaming of a serene, minimalist garden to elevate the look of your outdoor space? In this guide, we’re outlining tips that will help you create a simple and beautiful minimalist garden that you will love to show off and enjoy for years to come:

Steps for Creating a Relaxing Minimalist Garden

The most important thing to consider when designing a minimalist garden is creating strong lines and having a defined purpose for the space. Once you get these right, it’s just a matter of setting all the details into place. Here are the steps for creating a minimalist garden:

Check for Inspiration: Minimalism remains one of the most popular design concepts, and you will find plenty of resources online and offline. Go out there and check for inspiration. You can leaf through magazines or check online for designs that suit your outdoor space. You can also create a mood board to define the setup of your minimalist garden.

Define the space: Once you have a design in mind, start defining the area you want to transform into a minimalist garden. Minimalism is about defining strong lines, so the design must have restrictions. That means adding fencing, walls, or hedges to achieve the look that you are going for.

Use understated design elements: Minimalist gardens feature understated design elements such as a neutral palette, a mix of textures, and the play of light and shadows. All these design elements create a calming ambiance. Choose unpainted or corrugated metal panels as accents and group different-sized plants with large or small foliage to add texture to the space. To achieve a strong line, the walls and hedges should be trimmed with a sharp pruner. The pots and planters should come in neutral colors to blend with the surroundings.

Limit the materials: Minimalism presents a clean, simple aesthetic. You want a clean, uncluttered, and organized look, so hardscaping materials should be kept at the bare minimum. If the area needs to be paved, have it done carefully to achieve the perfect finish. Grass is a terrific material for a minimalist garden, but this has to be grown in specific areas of the space to make the design look intentional. Also, the grass must be leveled to look like a carpet. Hardscaping materials like deep gray to light gray will complement wooden windows, seating, and planters well. Add contrast by incorporating white, beige, and light gray to black to the space.

Minimal plant palette: Always be mindful of the color scheme to achieve a harmonious design. Because a minimalist garden has a limited color scheme, the plant palette is minimal too. It’s all about the play of height and textures instead of a riot of colors in a minimalist garden. In place of colorful flowering plants are evergreens in year-round, monochromatic colors. Go for plants with strong, crisp shapes and in various shades of green to create harmony and unity. Neutral grays and black color schemes go well with emerald to moss green + soft neutral shades like beige, white, and light grays. Plants that would look beautiful in a minimalist garden include:

• Dark colors: Phormium “Platt’s Black,” Phyllostachys nigra, Ophiopogon planiscapus “Nigrescens”
• Light color: Perovskia “Blue Spire,” Artemisia “Powis Castle” and Santolina chamaecyparissus
• Green: Euphorbia schillingii, Euphorbia polychroma, Alchemilla mollis

Simple garden decors: Use simple planters and raised bed designs to go with the color scheme. Choose a clean, contemporary finish to complement the neutral setting and defined lines. A raised bed in a classic design may be used as a focal point in the space. This is a great idea when you’re working in a limited space. You can also add simple water features because running water sounds very calming, which fits the design. If the space allows for it, you can also add a seating area as long as the pieces of furniture complement the minimalist setting.

Benefits of a Minimalist Garden

Turn Plants into a Focal Point

If you want to draw the eye to your prized plants, you will love a minimalist garden design. The design takes away the frills, leaving the eyes to focus on a focal point – perhaps, a large tree, a couple of lowering shrubs, or a large pot of succulents. You can give each plant its own growing space with a simple garden design.

Low Maintenance

Keeping things simple is definitely easier on the back. Gardening is infinitely easier when you’re only working on a space with only a small collection of plants. Weeds won’t take over the yard, so you’ll spend less time weeding and more time enjoying the space you created for yourself and your family. The same thing goes for watering, pruning, and general cleanup – all these will only take a few minutes of your time because the space isn’t densely packed with plants. And because you’re only maintaining fewer plants, you’ll know immediately if a plant needs tending, like if a bush needs more trimming or a plant needs repotting.

Enjoyable Space

A minimalist garden enables you to enjoy your space more because of the organized design and open spaces. You can spend time with your family in the garden, read a book, lounge, enjoy quiet times outdoors, or entertain friends because the space is peaceful, relaxing, and inviting. Also, keeping the pots and ornament at a bare minimum lets you make the most of the space while preventing accidents.

Save More

A minimalist garden design is one of the most economical to maintain because the simple design is less costly to maintain. You’re not spending a small fortune on tools to keep the space tidy. You are also spending less time with the maintenance, so you have more opportunities to enjoy your space and share it with friends and loved ones.

Creating More with Less

Excess ornaments, bulky patio furniture, and unnecessary garden decors eat a massive chunk of space. Simplifying the garden design makes every square inch of space work harder while giving the space a timeless design everyone can admire and enjoy.

Minimalism is all about structure and symmetry, so defining the zones and paths as well as establishing clear boundaries gives the garden a clean and organized design. Use hedges to create a natural wall or, as an alternative, potted plants. These will work nicely as a natural backdrop for your space.

Regular Pruning For Your Minimalist Garden

Minimalist gardens need regular pruning to keep the plants neat. Regular pruning also enhances the clean lines of the space. Invest in high-quality garden shears, hand pruners, or telescopic pruners to preserve the shape of your plants, mainly the shrubs.

Sticking to a simple color scheme also adds order and emphasizes symmetry to the space. Avoid distracting colors, so the eyes are naturally drawn to the greenery. A light or neutral palette works great for a minimalist garden because it’s fresh, stylish, and timeless. Muted shades are also a must for pots and planters – these should never compete with the greenery.

If the space allows for some patio furniture, choose simple designs with clean lines. Limit the pieces of furniture to a chosen few, just enough to entertain some guests or keep the entire family comfortable while outdoors. Be sure that the pieces of furniture match the color scheme for balance and symmetry. The space should be functional but never cluttered.

Never fill the entire space with plants – these should be strategically distributed throughout the space. Instead of seasonal plants, choose evergreens to give your garden color all year round.

A minimalist garden is beautiful, easy to maintain, and less expensive to keep. It will complement any space because the design is versatile. The right gardening tools are key to keeping your minimalist garden tidy and neat!