Gardening is becoming more and more popular - you just need to check out the number of gardening programmes on the TV and the number of gardening magazines on sale.  Being out in your garden on a fine day, viewing the fruits of your labour  and examining your landscaped garden and perfect lawn and flower beds is a just reward for all the hours you spent gardening, implementing all the gardening tips that you picked up from the many gardening programmes on the TV, so that your garden can look wonderful. 
 
While once upon a time people were satisfied with a lawn and one or two flower borders we now expect a beautifully landscaped garden as seen on the latest TV gardening programme that give us many gardening tips. The selling of plants and gardening equipment has become big business - just check out the crowds at any given garden centre at a weekend or a public holiday.
 
While most of us cannot afford to employ a professional landscape gardener there are now many magazines and books on the market that will teach us how to do it ourselves. Weekly TV programmes show us step by step how to achieve the perfect garden without spending thousands. We learn how to enhance our environment and while doing so we also add value to our houses.
 
Gardening is good for you - you spend the day in the fresh air and get some exercise into the bargain. The children are dragged away from the TV or computer and learn to grow their own food and flowers and so they are well on the way of becoming the passionate gardeners of the future.
 
Anyone can grow plants - it is not difficult, and early success then encourages us to move on and tackle the slightly more difficult plants or shrubs. In modern gardening we are including a lot more hard landscaping, such as walls, screens and pergolas which enables us to grow climbers and therfore take our gardens upwards. This is particularly useful as a lot of modern gardens are quite small and by taking the garden upwards we can include a lot more plants than would otherwise be the case.
 
A lot of modern gardens also include decked areas for sitting as well as paved patios and summer houses are also becoming popular. These provide another backdrop for planting and a lot of people combine their decked areas with a garden pond. Others go for the minimalist look of a japanese garden just with decking, water and a frew bamboos.
 
Conservatories are springing up everywhere - these are almost a halfway house between the indoors and the outdoors and as most conservatories are heated you get the feel that you are sitting in the garden in the middle of winter and is a wonderful effect.
 
Whatever your particular taste there are such a variety of garden styles and planting that there really is something for everyone. The following pages explore some of the varieties and styles and are hopefully of help when it comes to choosing style and planting.