Mick709 wrote:

Howdy all!

I am hoping someone out there can help me - -I get all sorts of gardening
magazines and love the look of many of the gardens and would love to do
something that looks a bit more 'professional' than my garden does now. I have
a plot that I am turning into more garden in the spring and would like
something thats a little snappier than the other parts of the yard. It doesnt
have to look like a page from "Home and Garden" but close to that would be
nice! grin So, any suggestions on websites etc with (hopefully!) free plans
for gardens WITH actual photographs of what they look like in bloom? Looking at
a planting plan is one thing but actually seeing what it should look like would
be a great help to see if its something that would work in my yard.

Wouldn't that be great? Then everyone would be a garden designer and I'd be out of
a job!! Seriously, I know of no single website that offers what you need. OTOH, I
agree with Karen that you can find a lot of what you are looking for in books.
There are scores of pretty decent home landscape design books out there, many with
photos AND detailed diagrams of planting plans. I recall a couple of the Reader's
Digest series do this and look for John Brooks, "The Book of Garden Design". They
will be able to give you a few other design pointers, too, like developing focal
points and balance and adding structure, etc. Libraries and bookstores are
wonderful things.

pam - gardengal