12 Tips for Creating the Maximalist Garden of Your Dreams

Plan Your Layout

Creating a garden that's lush and full requires careful planning. "Pack your garden full but keep it purposeful," says Kelly Funk, president and CEO of Jackson & Perkins. "Plant taller plants in the back and let cascading vines spill forward for a dynamic look; group plants in clusters of contrasting shapes and textures to create a lush look while avoiding a chaotic feel."

Aim for Balance

A maximalist gardener should work toward a design that's balanced—not symmetrical. Balance the color layout, the masses of shrubs, and the height without focusing on making everything identical. Also, consider how your garden will look from a distance—like while looking out your kitchen window—as well as up close. Plants might read kind of the same from a distance, but when you're up next to them, you see all their dazzling differences, says Sean Hogan, founder of Cistus.

Plant Various Species Close Together

A mix of colors, shapes, and patterns is what makes a maximalist garden so impactful. "Weaving a tapestry of color and texture into your garden by planting various intriguing species close together looks stunning while also controlling weeds," says Linda Vater, plant expert for Southern Living Plant Collection.

That said, be careful not to grow plants too close together. "Be mindful of spacing to achieve a clean and balanced look," says Funk. "While a dense, layered garden is the goal, it is vital to ensure the plants have enough room to grow to prevent overcrowding and disease."

Think Tall—and Short

A maximalist garden requires plants of every height—from low ground cover to climbing vines—to create visual interest at a variety of levels. Vater suggests low-growing carex and fescue alongside towering Golden Oakland holly; Funk recommends lofty sunflowers, delphiniums, and climbing roses with smaller lavender, salvia, peonies, creeping thyme, and hostas.

Add Year-Round Color

Keep your garden vibrant in every season by incorporating plants that retain—or change—their hues throughout the year. "Evergreens are the key here, but don’t let the 'green' in evergreen fool you," says Vater. "There are plenty of unique, exciting shrubs that keep their foliage year-round, and they come in a variety of different hues to suit your maximalist palette."

She recommends Purple Diamond loropetalum, which provides deep purple hues against other green foliage and grasses in the landscape. Another favorite is Fire Chief arborvitae. "[It] stands out with its striking color shift throughout the course of the year—vibrant golden foliage illuminates in spring and softens to a gentle orange in summer before deepening to a rich red in fall," she says.

Keep It Tidy

Pruning and shaping are the key to keeping your garden looking intentionally full—not overgrown. "Remove spent blooms to keep things tidy and encourage continued flowering while pruning as desired to maintain a sense of scale," says Vater. "Your garden is a living, evolving space, so it's okay to let it grow and change over the seasons, editing as needed."

Incorporate Repetition

A garden plan that includes repeating elements—whether texture, color, or shape—can create visual order within a maximalist environment. "Our eyes are always on the lookout for patterns; playing with repetition creates a pleasing visual aesthetic and gives a sense of harmony to any space," says Vater. For example, infusing white blooms across multiple levels of height with a tall, columnar flowering shrub will provide a spectacular fusion of blooms from summer through fall, she says.

Choose a Mix of Textures

From the soft petals of delicate flowers to the small and sturdy leaves of hedges, maximalist gardens require a variety of textures for effective impact. "Maximalist gardens are texture-rich, leveraging a variety of foliage shapes and lengths to provide a sense of movement and visual richness," says Vater. "Combine the short, dense emerald foliage of a boxwood with the elegantly flowing grass-like foliage of lomandra; the boxwood will provide structure, while the lomandra will flow with the breeze, giving your garden a sense of movement."

Create a Visual Framework

Whether you choose a neatly trimmed boxwood, a wooden fence, a stone wall, or a line of wispy lavender, adding a visual framework to the outer edge and inner sections of your garden ups the drama factor of your space. "Part of the rich tapestry of a garden is you have things spilling forward—part of the beauty of a frame is that things are trying to elbow their way out of it," says Hogan.

Add a Mix of Accessories

Finish a maximalist outdoor landscape with accessories and décor to incorporate more color, texture, and structure. Arrange vibrant or textured pillows on outdoor furniture, use bright pots and textured vases to display flowers and plants, add a bird bath to increase wildlife, and dress up a pergola or gazebo with string lights.

Consider Each Plant's Needs

Think carefully about each plant's water, sun, temperature, and soil requirements when growing a maximalist garden. "It's about what parts of the garden are you watering a lot, and what parts aren't you," says Hogan. "We have vastly different palates of plants which are equally marvelous, but they should not be mingled."

Play With Scale

You don't need an estate-sized garden or a massive courtyard to embrace maximalist gardening, says Hogan. Bountiful plantings, oversized trees, and big-leafed foliage can make a small yard (or even a balcony lined with containers) look intentional and spacious. "You're concentrating on the contents of the space rather than the edges of it," he says. But no matter what you choose to do in your space, remember your goal: "The term maximalist means getting as much as you possibly can out of whatever space it is," he says. "It's supposed to be fun!"