This garden design instantly creates a refined atmosphere

If we had to define the style of this idyllic garden, I think it would be the closest to the English natural garden that all gardeners aspire to. It perfectly embodies the principles of the English natural garden: a naturalistic, sustainable landscape garden primarily composed of cold-hardy and native plants.

We have always emphasized the importance of the garden's framework. Every garden must first have a basic structure, which is the garden's skeleton. This is generally composed of hardscaping, large trees, shrubs, and hedges. This means that even in the harsh winter, after the garden's planar effect disappears, the remaining outlines and structures serve as the seeds of beauty for the following year.

The rose garden at Tianyuan Muguo uses tall fruit trees (jujube, crabapple, peach, cherry, hawthorn, etc.) and some ornamental trees as the main framework to create height in the garden. Roses are used as hedges to define the garden's boundaries, and a Chinese-style covered walkway, pavilion, and flowing water feature serve as the main garden structures. This establishes the entire basic structure of the garden. Even in Liaoning's coldest temperatures of -28 degrees Celsius, this courtyard stands proudly against the wind and snow. The gardener brews tea and enjoys the snow in the pavilion, watching the bright red flamingos stroll through the snow, anticipating a garden full of color in the coming year.

Although many gardeners cannot have a purely authentic English natural garden due to climate reasons, horticulture is not a fixed formula. The English mixed border is a great direction for all gardeners.

What constitutes an English mixed border? "The View from Paradise" describes it as follows: The essence of the colorful and magnificent English garden lies in its rich variety of plants—flowering shrubs, perennial herbs, herbaceous plants, annuals, bulbs, wildflowers, and ground cover plants.

The variety of plants in the Tianyuan Muguo garden far exceeds many gardeners' knowledge of plants. This is a rose garden, and the main plant is, of course, the number one plant in English gardens—the rose. Roses in the north bloom later, gradually opening in May each year, about a month later than in southern cities. According to a rough estimate by Tianyuan Muguo, this rose garden has approximately 100 varieties of roses, including a rich variety of climbing and shrub roses, as well as potted miniature roses.

How to overwinter roses is always the most concerning issue for rose enthusiasts in northern China. Previously, natural roses in Dalian could survive unprotected in temperatures as low as -20 degrees Celsius, simply by being planted in a sheltered, sunny location. However, Tianyuan Muguo says that in his garden, ground-planted roses are still covered with straw mats for winter protection, mainly to prevent the cold wind from drying out the branches. As for the more than 40 potted roses, they are moved to a house without heating, where the temperature is around 7-9 degrees Celsius.

For roses in the summer, the most challenging problem for gardeners is various bacterial infections. Tianyuan Muguo shared some of his experience in managing roses during the summer. First, in winter, the garden should be thoroughly cleaned at least three times, especially in the corners and edges, ensuring that all areas are sprayed with a solution diluted to a concentration of 50-100 times. This can effectively reduce many bacteria in the garden. Second, during daily summer maintenance, it's best to water in the morning, and be careful not to spray the leaves, because watering at night and spraying the leaves prevents transpiration, leading to black spots and leaf drop after repeated occurrences. Third, during daily maintenance, you can use Mancozeb for prevention, spraying every ten days, and also after rain. Healthy leaves will make the roses grow more vigorously.

The recommended base fertilizer for roses is mainly organic fertilizer or organic compound fertilizer. Because organic fertilizer contains abundant minerals, it can make the plant's root system healthier. Although the black soil in northern China is already very fertile, to achieve abundant blooms, a large amount of organic sheep manure is still used. At the end of October each year, when the temperature is already very cold, a large amount of fully fermented sheep manure is buried as base fertilizer, watered thoroughly, and then protected for the winter. After removing the protection in the spring, a layer of organic compound fertilizer (especially organic compound fertilizer with added polyamine peptides, which can improve soil quality) is sprinkled on the topsoil around the plant roots, and abundant blooms are expected soon. The reason for using organic compound fertilizer is that the nutrients needed for abundant rose blooms cannot be met by sheep manure, general fertilizers, or slow-release fertilizers alone. Besides the coniferous trees and shrubs that are very suitable for northern climates, there is no foliage plant more suitable for the north than the hosta. Although coral bells are already very cold-hardy, they still risk freezing to death in a gardener's garden. But hostas don't; they only multiply, and in just a few years, the Pastoral Idyll's backyard already has over 1200 hosta plants.

Of course, for a northern garden with only a short growing season, this is far from enough. More diverse plants are needed to make the short spring and summer months more vibrant and colorful. Therefore, the Pastoral Idyll's garden is a perfect example of a plant showcase.

Perennial bulbous plants: Daylilies, irises, lilies, astilbe, ferns, hostas, etc. These plants disappear in winter, but once the winter snow melts, they reappear from the soil, and in ever-increasing numbers.

Annual herbaceous plants: Petunias, pansies, bleeding hearts, violets, marguerites, etc.; there's no need to worry about these plants dying, as new seedlings can be purchased every May. Their vibrant and beautiful flowers are the most beautiful skin of the garden, and although they are seasonal, at least there's no need to worry about the summer heat issues like in southern gardens.

Perennial herbaceous plants: Coneflowers, rudbeckia, perennial phlox, carnations, columbine, veronica, asters (Dutch asters), violets, blue fescue (hardy to -25 degrees Celsius), bugleweed, ferns, variegated oat grass, canna lilies, etc.; these perennials are great for saving money, as they return every year, making them well worth buying!

The Pastoral Idyll's garden not only uses lush planting methods and complex layered planting, but also makes full use of climbing plants and container gardening. The wide variety of flowering plants allows a northern garden to bloom with astonishing brilliance during the short warm days.