Choosing The Right Garden For Your Lifestyle

We’re big believers that gardening is for everyone and anyone. Gardens help us get back to nature and create a space of peace and relaxation in our homes. We love gardens here at Diacos, and we know that you will fall in love with them too.

If you’ve been intimidated by the idea of growing a garden, don’t be! Gardens don’t have to be large and overwhelming to care for – even keeping just a few plants can help you enjoy the many benefits that come from gardening.

There’s a type of garden out there for every lifestyle, whether you’re a stressed-out busy bee or you have all the time in the world, but not much space to work with. 

What to consider when choosing a garden to suit your lifestyle

There are a few things to keep in mind when you’re choosing a garden that will suit your lifestyle well. You need to be honest with yourself about what’s going to work, and what might be a bit too hard. Here’s what you should consider before choosing a garden:

• Time might be the most important consideration when choosing a garden. A care-intensive garden isn’t going to suit someone who is never home. Meanwhile, a retiree or stay-at-home worker may get bored with just 1 or 2 pots on the go!
  
• Space & Sunlight is also very important. You need to be realistic about how many plants you can accommodate with the space that you have, and take into account which parts of your property get the right amount of sunlight to suit a plant.
  
• Your expectations are also important. What do you want from your garden? If it’s the calming ritual of caring for a plant, 1 or 2 pots may be enough. If you want a lush space that feels like a jungle, you may need to put in more time and effort.
  

There are no hard and fast rules on what’s going to work for you. At the end of the day, everyone is different and has a different tolerance for fitting gardening in with their lifestyle. But it can help to know what might work best.

Below, we’ll talk about some of our favourite gardens for different types of lifestyles.

For Apartment Dwellers: Container Gardens.

These days, many people live in apartments, townhouses or units that don’t have a lot of outside space. At best, you may have a balcony or deck, though some homes may only have enough space for a small windowsill garden.

Thankfully, that doesn’t mean you have to miss out! Lots of different plants can be healthily grown on a balcony in pots and containers, while many plants can be kept indoors as well. Popular indoor plants include ferns and other rainforest plants like Lady Palms. These plants evolved on the shady rainforest floor, so they’re well adapted to filtered indoor light.

You can even grow your own food! Many herbs – like Basil, Thyme and Chives – are happy in pots, as are some easy-to-grow veggies, like Lettuce, Broccoli or Tomatoes. Living in an apartment or somewhere without much outdoor space doesn’t have to be a barrier to gardening!

Keeping a container garden in your home can add a splash of colour to your apartment, making the vibes feel warmer and more natural. Just remember that plants in pots dry out a little bit faster than their ground-dwelling friends, so be sure to keep a watering can handy! Check out Our Guide to Inner City Gardens for more.

For Beginners and Low-Maintenance Gardeners: Succulents or Australian Native Gardens

If you would love to set up a garden but you’re busy and don’t have much time, don’t worry. There’s still a garden out there for you! There are plenty of low-maintenance garden plants available that only need a minimal amount of water and care. 

Perhaps the most popular type of low-maintenance garden is a succulent and cacti garden. These hardy desert plants rarely need watering.  You can read our Quick Guide to Succulents for more specific info about their needs.

If succulents and cacti just aren’t your thing, that’s okay too. Another great option for a low-maintenance garden is an Australian Native Garden. These plants have evolved for the Australian climate and so will tend to do well with very little oversight. Think hardy shrubs like Silver Banksia or Acacia Cognata.

This more minimalist, easy-going style of garden tends to look best when it’s supplemented with a bit of landscaping and furniture or an entertainment area. Check out our guide to Low Maintenance Modern Gardens for more info on how to make this style of garden really pop. 

For the practically minded: Veggie Gardens and Fruit Trees.

For some people, the idea of having a pretty garden doesn’t provide quite enough motivation to start planting. For those who need gardening to be a more ‘practical’ experience in order for it to be rewarding, we recommend Fruit and Vegetable Gardens.

Veggie gardens allow you to enjoy the fruits of your labour – literally. Even if you just can’t seem to care about growing flowers or decorative shrubs, growing fruit and veggies in the garden can be a deeply satisfying pastime. It allows you to reconnect with where your food comes from, and it usually tastes quite a bit better than store-bought vegetables!

Finally, a veggie garden can start to save you a lot of money over time. The more you grow, the less you will have to buy, and you may find yourself starting to really enjoy the act of caring for a veggie garden.

Most people start out with just one or two plants, but many people eventually get so into it that they are practically self-sustainable a year or two later! We recommend veggie gardens to everyone, but especially practical types. You can read more about Growing a Veggie Garden and our Top Tips for Growing Vegetables on our blog.

For those with high stress levels: Asian Zen Gardens

As in the west, gardens in Asian cultures have long been cherished as sacred spaces where people can relax, unwind, and feel connected with the rhythms of nature. So it’s not surprising that over the centuries, Asian countries (and especially Japan) have perfected the art of the Zen Garden. 

If you lead a busy, high-stress lifestyle, having a relaxing space is extra important. Stress can worsen our lives and even shorten them, so it’s incredibly important to stay on top of your anxiety and stress, and to create moments of calm in your day.

We’d recommend Asian Gardens to people with these high-energy lifestyles. These gardens have been deliberately designed to be calming spaces. Generally, Zen Gardens are incredibly easy to care for once they have been installed, so it won’t become just another source of stress.

Most Asian Gardens have a small number of carefully chosen plants, with red and purples typically set against dark green foliage. There’s also a heavy reliance on water features, rock placement and raked gravel or pebbles. The simple act of raking the gravel of your Zen Garden can do wonders for anxiety. You can read more about Asian Gardens here. 

For those who like to go all out: Tropical Rainforest Gardens

For some, it’s all about being as extra as can be, all the time. If you’re the type who isn’t satisfied unless you can really let loose, a lush tropical rainforest garden may be the most satisfying garden for you. 

These gardens combine rainforest plants like lush green ferns, brightly coloured flowers and exotic trees like Bangalow Palms. There’s often a level of verticality going on in tropical gardens, with plants of different heights all combining to give your garden the look of a dense, natural forest. These gardens look particularly great set near a water feature or pool. 

Tropical gardens do need a lot of water over their lives, so if you’re planting one of these then you’ll need to have the time to care for it regularly. The good news is that there are plenty of tropical plants for any space.

Melbourne is overcast and wet for much of the year, meaning these plants will do well here in the Australian climate as long as they are not getting too much full sun in summer. We recommend not overplanning your tropical garden too much either. Letting it run a little bit wild helps it to give that ‘authentic’ jungle feel. You can read more about our tips for a Tropical Rainforest Garden here. 

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These different garden options show that there’s a different garden for every lifestyle. And these are just some of the most popular options. If we had to cover every type of garden out there, we’d be here chatting to you all day!

One beautiful thing about gardening is that it teaches us to go with the flow. Finding a garden that you can live in harmony with is the secret to growing a fulfilling garden. Get your garden journey started today at one of our Diaco’s Garden Centres or our Online Garden Store.