The American House

  • Home
  • DIY
  • Garden
  • Tips & Tricks

6 Different Types of Gardens with The Right House Style

April 24, 2025 · Home
expensive garden

Each home style has a specific aesthetic that can be easily accentuated with the right landscaping choices. Some depend on color, sure, while others simply focus on a wide range of vegetation.

If you currently contemplate the types of plants and hardscape design worth installing in your yard, you should consider these recommendations from landscape experts as far as pairing garden styles with house styles go.

Whatever the style you choose to go with, you just note how much maintenance the chosen landscape design will require. Luckily, we managed to draw some parallels to use as a reference, so give it a try:

garden
Photo by Stuart Monk from Shutterstock

Colonial House style: formal landscaping

Defined by intricate, triangular roofs and rectangular or even square windows, colonial homes are somehow known to be uncomplicated designs. For this type of home, landscaping can bring simple elegance and classiness to the table, which is the best outcome, in all honesty. “You really don’t want your landscape to be too much, since it will take away from the simple beauty of colonial homes.

You also want to avoid a plain landscape, as it would make the already simple beauty seem more dull,” as Todd Hendricks from Louisville Landscape Pros in Louisville, Kentucky, explained. In fact, formal landscapes are the very best option when it comes to complementing the aesthetic of any colonial home.

They generally focus on predominantly greenery elements, first of all for simplicity, and second of all because they add a certain elegance with their neat, well-maintained shapes. Think hedges, manicured lawns, and even geometric planting beds with absolutely no loose growth.

Eduard Negodenko, a well-known landscape expert and gardener at Avanti Landscaping in Toronto, Canada, highly recommends boxwoods, holly, as well as azaleas to make wonderful edges and structures.

As far as hardscapes go, you should definitely opt for a straight pathway made entirely from pavers, brick, and gravel. Maybe they can also be accompanied by evenly spaced plantings, like roses and flowering perennials.

You also have to make sure everything is as neat and clean as possible, with no loose or wild elements. Doing so is probably the hardest part of any formal landscape; it’s normal. To keep up with the neat appearance you’re trying to catch, we advise you to trim vegetation often.

Adobe house style: modern southwestern landscape

Adobe homes, and their whimsical, earth tones, with flat roofs and rounded edges, are in dire need of a Southwestern garden. Clay Tully, a renowned landscape architect and contractor at Clay Tully Landscape Architecture in California, highly advises installing modern concrete pathways and concrete floating pads with gravel, stone, or even decomposed granite joints.

Steel planters and terraced retaining walls fit just as well, along with decorative rock and gravel mulch, and well-placed boulders”. For proper planting schematics, what you want is to keep it as simple and low maintenance as possible, using mass planting of hardy succulents and tough plants that could withstand neglect as well as harsh temperatures.

Moreover, Negodenko would advise incorporating xeriscaping with some drought-tolerant plants such as yucca and agave for adobe-style homes. He also mentioned that cactus is a wonderful desert plant, which “bears quite a striking architectural quality when added to the landscape.”

He also strives for a water conservation design for the garden, employing much-needed drip-line irrigation and grouping plants with similar watering requirements. An adobe garden doesn’t need much, just the smallest amount of maintenance, the occasional check on the irrigation system, and the occasional trimming of overgrown plants that would keep its pristine look.

Cape Cod House style: coastal landscaping

Cape Cod homes represent the classic North American house, with their petite size, simple design, and pitched roof; a central chimney where Santa can leave presents on Christmas, and a symmetrical facade on the front of the house.

For Cape Cod homes, particularly, Negodenko prefers using coastal plants such as hydrangea, roses, and lavender. “Not only do they put on a colorful and fragrant show, but they also grow very nicely in the temperate climate that New England has to offer.” Well, as a coastal landscaper, he mainly focuses on planting salt-tolerant plants that can flourish within a good drainage system. This way, the landscape isn’t waterlogged.

As far as maintenance goes, he suggested pruning on a regular basis, especially if there are hydrangeas and roses. This way, their shape is well-kept, and it prevents them from overgrowing. Moreover, the use of low-maintenance ground cover such as creeping thyme effectively reduces the upkeep needed while also providing a soft, natural look.

Log Cabin House Style: rustic landscaping

For log cabins, a natural rustic look works very well. Negodenko advises integrating the design of the garden with the wilderness surrounding it. The idea is to aim to find native wildflowers, conifers such as pines and firs, and hardy shrubs.

In fact, the rustic charms of a “cabin” garden also mean letting a few patches remain wild, while regular maintenance will keep the wild ones from taking complete control. Also, it’s worth mentioning that seasonal cleanup is probably one of the most important maintenance practices for the cabin garden. You should also strive to clear fallen leaves, cut back dead plants, and keep pathways free from plants and litter.

Modern farmhouse style: farmhouse landscaping

The landscaping revolving around farmhouse-style homes should definitely match their vision. Even if, so far, there isn’t an official term for this particular look, Hedrick strongly believes that landscapes refer to it as farmhouse landscaping. You can stick with rustic materials and elements, then keep everything plain and simple.

He also suggested incorporating an edible garden, since they fit quite well with the farm vibe. While Negodenko is a huge fan of incorporating raised garden beds on the property, filled with tomatoes, herbs, and lettuce, there is thing as too much, too soon.

Planting specific citrus and other types of fruit trees is a better addition, if you ask us. You can use flower beds to efficiently showcase clusters of flowering perennials and evergreen shrubs, as well as ornamental grasses.

As far as landscape elements go, Negodenko calls for emphasizing concrete and metal, like steel planters. The secret here is to keep things as simple as possible and try not to overdo it with the landscape layout.

When it comes to maintenance, focus on soil health and drainage through the amendment of the soil with some organic compost. This way, you allow the plants to spend the entire year thriving, rotation of crops becomes much easier, which also means that soil depletion is prevented.

Teal- the color of the year

According to Garden Media Group, teal is bound to be the color of the year. First, it’s quite bold, and it has a synthetic quality that effectively “bridges the realms of fantasy and reality,” evoking the deep, serene blues of Caribbean waters, as well as the expansiveness of skies.

It also aligns with ongoing wellness trends, since it offers a calming effect that’s both sophisticated and soothing. Ultimately, the color helps address a certain sense of tech nostalgia. There’s way more about this color than meets the eye, evoking a powerful nostalgia for the vibrant and carefree spirit of the 1990s and early 2000s.

If you found this article useful, we also recommend checking: Plants You Should Never Grow Together: 8 Terrible Combinations!

Share this article

Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Email

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Latest Posts

  • A stylized screenprint illustration of a cozy craftsman bungalow house nestled safely inside a giant pair of protective hands. The State-by-State Guide to Senior Property Tax Relief Programs Updated for 2026
  • A cozy living room corner featuring a rich sage green accent wall behind a cognac leather armchair and wooden side table. 10 Accent Colors That Will Still Look Right in a Decade
  • A sunlit living room corner featuring a dual-tone accent wall painted in sage green and terracotta peach behind a mid-century modern chair. 20 Color Combination That Works in North-Facing, East-Facing, and South-Facing Rooms
  • A close-up of bedroom bedding layers featuring terracotta linen, a green velvet throw, and a cream boucle pillow. 8 Bedroom Textile Combinations That's Been All Over Design Instagram This Year
  • The 7 Pantone 2027 ‘Sense-Abilities’ Palettes: Which One Belongs in Your Home? The 7 Pantone 2027 'Sense-Abilities' Palettes: Which One Belongs in Your Home?
  • A warm, sunlit living room featuring a matte dusty lilac wall that absorbs glare, styled with a cream boucle lounge chair. 7 Surprising Colors That Works in South-Facing Rooms When Nothing Else Does
  • A luxurious bathroom with glossy emerald green and midnight blue vertical tiles behind a warm oak wood vanity with brass fixtures. Bathroom Tiles in Deep Emerald and Midnight Blue: The Bathroom Trend of 2027
  • A luxurious modern living room featuring a dramatic floor-to-ceiling Calacatta marble fireplace accent wall with bold charcoal veining. 9 Statement Stone Feature Walls With Dramatic Veining Worth Copying
  • Ink and watercolor illustration of a cozy craftsman house protected by a warm glass dome, shielding it from cold autumn winds. The Little-Known Property Tax Freeze Programs available to Retirees
  • Low-angle shot of a living room with a pale blue-gray ceiling and low-profile furniture under bright natural light. 9 Ceiling Paint Colors That Make Rooms Feel Bigger

Related Articles

A senior man in a home workshop sanding a cedar birdhouse on a sunny afternoon.

8 Beginner Woodworking Projects Seniors Can Build Over a Weekend

Transforming raw lumber into a functional piece of art delivers immense satisfaction and sharpens your…

Read More →

The Most Stunning Desert Homes You’ll Want to Live In

When we imagine desert landscapes, our minds seem to conjure images of vast and empty…

Read More →
bathroom

12 Bathroom Paint Colors that Are Designer-Approved

Forget the usual spa outing! There’s really no better way to treat yourself than by…

Read More →
home odor

Curious About Weird Home Odors? Top 10 Reasons Explained

What are your thoughts on home odors? Have you ever noticed one? I remember that…

Read More →
Countertop, water

Countertop: 10 Things You Should Never Put on It

Do you use your kitchen counter as a catch-all for diverse bits and pieces, food…

Read More →
Edible Landscaping

Edible Landscaping: 12 Best Plants to Include in Your Garden

American House Presents: The most beautiful edible landscaping ideas to nourish your garden AND belly!…

Read More →
household items

5 Household Items You Need to Replace ASAP

Did you know that these household items need to be replaced more often? Taking care…

Read More →
brown furniture, deisgn

5 Colors That Go With Brown Furniture, According to Designers

Can we make brown furniture cool again? Do you want to decorate, or maybe redecorate,…

Read More →
An elegant mahogany craftsman-style front door with vertical glass panels, framed by warm afternoon sunlight and potted ferns on a brick por

10 Most Popular Front Door Styles Homeowners Are Choosing Today

Upgrading your entryway immediately boosts property value and transforms how visitors perceive your home before…

Read More →

The American House

Inedit Agency S.R.L.
Bucharest, Romania

contact@theamericanhouse.com

Trust & Legal

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Do not sell my personal information
  • Subscribe
  • Unsubscribe
  • Contact
  • Request to Know
  • Request to Delete
  • CA Private Policy

Categories

  • DIY
  • Expert Tips
  • Garden
  • Tips & Tricks

© 2026 The American House. All rights reserved.