Using decoupage to plan your garden - part 1

Using Decoupage to Plan Your Garden - Part 1

Find your source of inspiration in this lesson. Arthur walks you through his sources of inspiration and how to find your bliss.

Arthur's favourite colour palette is rich and eye-catching. He adores various shades of red, orange, purple, and green, with browns going into tangerine. The rule with white is that it can be used alone or with greys, powder blues, and pinks. Never try to combine whites with bright colour palettes. Films and tv shows influence my colour palette and television shows such as AbFab. He is also inspired by fashion events such as the Oscars and the Cannes Film Festival.

Quality Images of Plants and Flowers

Arthur is constantly saving plant catalogues to use later to create plant mixes. He finds it helpful to cut up plant catalogues. To ensure that the images look as they should, use catalogues where the photos aren't airbrushed or photoshopped.

Drawing Out Your Garden Plants

Draw a line down the middle of a large piece of paper. On each side, draw the same design, showing the location of each pot.

Planning Both Seasons

Planning is a great way to avoid wasting seeds, dahlia tubers, or autumn bulbs. The summer scheme begins in June and runs until the first frost in early November. The spring scheme runs from early November to the end of May.

The bankers bridge the gap between late May and early June because the garden should never appear empty.

Further Reading

Nature's Palettes

This great book by Patrick Baty is helpful in developing your gardening colour palettes. Beautiful botanical illustrations adorn this book. Gardeners of every level can find inspiration in this book with its thoughtful, well-explained colour palettes.

In A Year Full of Flowers: Gardening for all Seasons

Sarah Raven provides a wealth of useful information and numerous photographs depicting the various plants she recommends planting. This book is a valuable reference and would make an excellent coffee-table book.