Creating a Vision Board
When we were first learning about the joys of gardening we encountered what felt like an endless amount of hurdles. From sifting through methodologies to sourcing materials and quality seeds, we struggled with indecision and analysis paralysis. But there was one thing that made us the most reluctant to go for what we wanted in a garden.
When you are first designing a garden you have to dream big. Dreaming about your garden space is essential to the final design. We often put ourselves in boxes and confine ourselves to small parameters that can bring us a finished product we don’t want.
For example, all your neighbors have lawns, you’ve always had a lawn, you grew up with your dad mowing the lawn – you could easily assume and put yourself in a box of I must have a lawn. However, the reality is you don’t like the lawn. You don’t like to mow and it feels like you’re fighting for your life to keep it alive in the summer heat.
Another example might be: In my vegetable patch, I need to grow pumpkins because even though I never eat pumpkin, I’ve always pictured a pumpkin as a staple in a vegetable garden. We’re not suggesting you don’t try growing new plants! Instead, you might find you have no use for some plants and plenty of use for others.
This brings us to…
Step #1 – Identify Assumptions
A crucial first step is to make a list of assumptions you are currently operating under. Here were some of our assumptions: front yards must be lawns; our neighbors will be annoyed if my yard doesn’t look the same as the neighborhood houses; growing plants requires more work than a lawn; we can’t do a lot because we don’t have a lot of money.
You need to acknowledge and address your assumptions. Once you’ve said them out loud or written them down, it will seem less daunting to go in a different direction. There is a lot of power in acknowledging what is holding you back and naming it!
Once you have all the assumptions you can think of written out, let’s go to the next step.
Step #2 – Find Inspiration
I (Cassidy) recently went to the library and picked up some free magazines. I grabbed some that sounded interesting and fit our theme – Nature Conservancy, Better Home and Gardens, Southern Lady, Hobby Farm, Outdoor Style, Garden Gate, Live Naturally, and Lawn and Garden Retailer.
This was a very small selection–just what the library had at the moment–and we didn’t want to spend any more money on this project. We also ordered all the free seed and plant catalogs we could find. A lot of them only have online versions of their catalog so you have to do a little bit of digging. The ones we ordered were:
- Gilbert H. Wild & Son
- Park Seed
- Pinetree Garden Seeds
- Seed Savers Exchange
- Burpee
- Johnny’s Selected Seeds
- White Flower Farm
- High Mowing Organic Seeds
- Select Seeds
The tenth catalog we ordered we did have to purchase, but, for good reason. The Whole Seed catalog is the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog. It cost us $5 and is over 500 pages of gorgeous pictures. This catalog is so beautiful that we used some of the pictures for wall decor. (Pro tip on how to find cheap prints to frame and hang on your walls – buy beautiful magazines).
The last thing I will mention for finding inspiration is Pinterest. You could build your entire vision board there. The only downside to Pinterest is that you can’t really see it all at once and get a good feel for the major themes and main qualities that are inspiring you.
Step #3 – Building your vision board
Materials
- Cardstock
- Magazines (decorating, gardening, anything with inspiring pictures that goes with my theme)
- Seed & Plant Catalogs
- Scissors
- Glue Stick
This is the best part. As you flip through the pages, tear out the pictures that are inspiring to you. Don’t put limits on yourself right now. This is not the practical idea stage – this is the dreaming stage.
Another thing to look out for is words and phrases that stand out to you. These will guide you in a certain direction so don’t leave them out.
Now that you’ve gathered all the inspiring pictures and words you can find from your free magazines you’re ready to put it together.
This is what Cassidy came up with!
Now it’s your turn to dream about your garden!