Landscape Designs

Secret Garden, I loved that book when I was younger but today I just love gardens and wish I had a big one of my own where I could walk through in the mornings and enjoy all my beautiful flowers. Athough the Finnish climate would not be too ideal for having a all-year-round garden, like they have in central Eruope. I found this information from a luxury landcape design guide from this link

http://www.landscape-design-advisor.com

'Throughout time, gardening has been a vital part of existence. During the 17th century, gardens and cultivation evolved into much more than sources for foods and medicinal ingredients. Lush landscapes, full of colorful and fragrant blooms, surrounded most homes and cottages, providing a relaxing and beautiful outdoor extension to their living space.'

'European country gardens first appeared around charming English cottages during the Tudor period of the 1600s. Flourishing blooms brightened the pathways that wound through the aromatic beds of vegetables and herbs for the kitchen and romantic, flower draped arbors provided a relaxing place to enjoy the beauty of the fragrant and lush garden'

'French country landscape designs featured the same natural essence with bountiful herbs and vegetables among the overflowing beds of colorful flowers, but French gardens added a Mediterranean flair to the country landscape design.

Typical French gardens incorporate the romantic fragrance of lavender and lush, green Mediterranean foliage with the traditional soft curves and pastel flora of English gardens for an outdoor space that is simple and functional, yet refined and elegant.

For centuries, fountains were an essential element of the Provencal lifestyle. These charming monuments were the only water supply for small villages of the region and through the years, have come to represent the simple and soothing life of Provence.'

English Cottages: 'The garden design centered around the rustic cottage and featured a colorful array of practical, easy to grow flowers, shrubs, and trees.

During the 19th century, the romanticism and increasing wealth of the Victorian era heightened the love of gardening and the luxury of simply enjoying the beauty of the outdoors.

The quaint English cottage was not as common in the latter part of the Victorian era, but the cottage garden style was still evident throughout the grounds of the larger estate homes. Along with the traditional cottage garden plants, the gardens were also dotted with new, more luxurious plants, like fragrant rose bushes and elegant, climbing vines.'