How to Create an Americana Garden

Spring is here, which means that it is time to start thinking about your landscaping projects for the year. Ever wonder what it would be like to surround yourself with the Fourth of July everyday in your garden? Incorporate your patriotic spirit with these tips to create an Americana theme outdoors.

Give all of your outdoor furniture a coat of fresh white paint. This goes for tables, chairs and benches. Give any fencing around your yard a brush or two too.

Change all of your outdoor fabric to coordinate. If you want a fun look for your Americana garden, choose ones with stars and stripes. Otherwise, stick to solid blues and reds on cushions and awnings.

Pick out your red, white and blue flowers before you begin your patriotic landscaping plan. Read Patriotic Gardens: Red, White, and Blue (Part 1) and Patriotic Gardens: Red, White, and Blue (Part 2) for lists of great plant and flower choices in these hues.

Alternate the plants and flowers, (IE red, then white, then blue) around your yard or group them together in different areas (such as red roses in one corner, morning glories up a trellis that is kitty-corner and white lilies opposite of them)

Take out the paint again and add some splashes of red and blue around the other patriotic landscaping elements if you wish. Stencil on birdhouses and fountains to make it even more whimsical.

Add colored rocks to flower beds and water features. White stones will tie in any red or blue planting areas to the furniture around it and red and blue gems will add sparkle to every area.

Add other Americana garden statues and outdoor decorations to tie in with the theme. Small touches such as gnomes with white hair, blue shirts and red hats bring in a touch of classic gardening. Blue or red garden spheres (the glass balls) add more sparkle in areas that you can't plant anything else.

Proudly display your flag. No patriotic landscaping theme would be complete without Old Glory waving in the wind.

Creating your Americana garden is all about surrounding yourself with what makes your heart swell pride. No matter what your style is, you can find ways to incorporate the red, white and blue into your outdoor spaces.