This is the year of the “bed head” garden.
The name comes from what your hair looks like when you first awake in the morning and haven’t had a chance to go after it with a brush and styling gel – a bit ruffled, a little messy, not shaped and sculpted.
The image is apt – bed head gardens tend to look imprecise, a bit overgrown (although not neglected) and apt to randomness.
And this messy look is very hot right now, according to Garden Media Group, which tracks gardening trends and issues an annual report.
Why? Bed head is popular both for its more casual feel and the ecological principles behind it.
Bed head gardens emphasize an attitude of “anything goes,” and give the expression of effortlessness, as opposed to the obvious intensive labor of a more formal garden. Gardeners work within the existing landscaping, instead of imposing a style onto it.
The practice lets the inherent beauty of plants shine through as they grow as they would in nature, with a minimum of pruning, staging or man-made order.
That’s not to say no labor is involved. Although many plants are low-maintenance, bed head gardens still need to be weeded and cared for.
The trick, Warner’s experts say, is to have the garden look loose and not fussy, but still be somewhat planned. For example, you can have a hard edge to border your garden (like a patio or pathway) but then have low ornamental grasses or lavender grow over the edge and soften it.
The other attraction to bed head gardening is its environmental angle. With the stress on using native plants, these gardens require less water and fertilizer because the plants and flowers used are well-adapted to the local climate.
Here in the high country, there are wonderful options in native plants, perennials and grasses that are sustainable and will give your garden that purposely unstyled look. Among them are: Blue Oat Grass, Karl Foerster Grass, Little Bunny Grass, Maiden grass, Mums, Asters, Yarrow, Shasta Daisy, Catmint, Lavender, Rudbeckia, Salvia and Echinacea
But as you know, Northern Arizona has many “micro climates,” so the best way to find the right plants for your garden is to ask our experts at Warner’s. They are well-versed in the native plants that won’t overtax our water supplies but still make your outdoor living spaces look lush, beautiful – and a little “bed-heady!”
Happy Gardening! FBN
By Misti Warner of Warner’s Nursery