When we first started gardening, we had every bed as rectangles or squares and did a lot of stopping and turning when we mowed. We learned that curves are easier to mow around and easier on the eye, too. When we lay out a new bed (something my husband anticipates with greatpleasure) we mow at a low setting in sweeping curves, which gives us the perameters of the bed. Mother Nature doesn't make straight lines, so we don't either! front yard flower bed ( photo / image / picture from marlingardener's Garden ) The above is a flower bed in the front yard which we can mow around on the riding mower. Young backyard bed ( photo / image / picture from marlingardener's Garden ) This is a backyard bed with brick border, but still curved. It's easy to expand an existing bed with straight lines into a curved edge bed--just dig!
Pretty gardens, and of course, you have the perfect composition in curvy lines. I need to work at finding ways to curve some of my garden bed's straight edges...little by little I am managing to bump them out into a curvier look.
I, too, try to stay away from straight lines. If everything is perfectly straight... then it really stands out when you goof up something! Love the curves!
Beautiful beds, what do you have planted in them? I can't draw a straight line with a ruler, so creating straight lines in my garden has never happened anyway. Square and rectangle beds are way too formal for my tastes, haphazzard is more my style and curves fit that perfectly.
Toni, what we have planted in them are a mix of the plants we like, and plants that wildlife like! We have wafer ash trees for butterfly caterpillars, roses for me and the bees, West Texas mallow for bees and butterflies, artemesia for me, salvia greggii and mealy blue sage for all of us. We tend to plant a lot of perennials rather than annuals, although I had some purslane come up volunteer and we left that in.
I like curves too. My husband likes straight. We struggle. He can make straight paths here and there in close proximity to the house, and I make curvy borders.
The only straight lines in my garden belong to the patio. I've never liked straight edged flower beds as, somehow, they just don't look right to me. Your garden is lovely and I like the fact that you plant for wildlife as well as yourself. I think we'd get on famously. :-D
I learned in my Landscaping classes about curves and how they look much more natural than straight edges, and I agree they look prettier I just dont like the look of formal (straight edged) gardens...
