Here’s a trend that makes complete sense – building forever gardens, ie. gardens that are long-lasting. Landscapes with quality features (paving, decks, fences, etc), and plantings that keep looking good, year after year. Why? Because a garden like this costs the owner and our planet less in the long run given they’re built and planted once. And don’t just assume this type of garden must be planted with boring, dependable, evergreen foliage plants. Not at all, because you can just as easily create a gorgeous flower-filled garden with flowering plants that can be counted upon to perform just as dependably. Here’s 4 steps to create a lasting garden …

step one – do a little planning: whether you’re tackling your garden from scratch or doing a garden refresh, take stock of where things could go. It’s easily done and surprisingly helpful to make a basic plan of your place then lay tracing paper over the top. Sketch ideas in pencil starting with the functional stuff like paths, patios, deck and driveways. When that’s all blocked in, start on the garden beds. Think about where you’d get the best views of your flowery garden – looking out from your living areas or walking up to your front door.

step two – get the hard stuff sorted: list the hard landscaping that needs doing (paving, decking, fencing) and either do it yourself (if you like a project) or find a good contractor. Wait till everything’s finished before you bring in the living part of the landscape – the plants.

step three – pick your favourites: there are loads of lovely flowering plants that are dependable garden additions but it’s smart to do a little research and stick to proven performers so that what you do end up planting will keep on giving you joy year after year without being demanding. It’s also a good idea to use plants that flower for weeks and weeks on end so that the garden is looking special through spring, summer and into fall. If you’re nervous about how to make it look good, use the ‘white-to-make-it-right’ trick: either plant only white flowering plants or add white flowering plants in with whatever else you’ve thrown together.

step four – take a look at these: to start you off on the right track, here are a few gorgeous, long-lived and easy to grow things to help you fill your forever flower garden. Firstly you’ll want roses. Flower Carpet® roses are a great choice because they’re virtually evergreen, they’re as easy to look after as a daisy bush, they cover themselves in masses of blooms and there are loads of colour options. Next are the salvias. These are super easy to grow and they throw up spires of flowers all summer-long, sitting well in any mix of plants. Then you have African daisies (Osteospermum). They’re a brilliant punchy classic daisy accent and they offer a blanket of different colored daisy flowers for weeks. Another trick to use is to vary what’s know as the texture of the planting by adding strappy foliage into the mix, and to do this, Storm™ Agapanthus are perfect. Their leaves are more refined than traditional agapanthus, and they will grow into sizeable clumps with bucket-loads of flowers held high for many, many weeks over summer. Another gorgeous addition is the rock rose or Cistus, with its soft green foliage and poppy-like flowers covering nicely mounded bushes. Then there are the brilliant sedums – a bullet-proof way to drop pops of colour through the garden bed, (no wonder they’re called Sedumspectabile). And just to throw in a wild card, there’s a brilliant candidate for the back of the flowery garden bed because it grows tall and proud, with both flowers and very special foliage. Tropicanna® canna’s bright tangerine flowers float for months over a riot of carnival striped broad leaves. When the sun shines through, it’s breathtaking.