Easy tips for creating a garden retreat

Carolyn Starner, author of “Emerald Journey: A Walk Through Northwest Gardens,” offers these tips for creating your own retreat:

1 Have a balanced plant composition of 1/3 deciduous trees and shrubs, 1/3 evergreen and 1/3 perennial bulbs. This composition gives year-round interest.

2 For lower maintenance don’t plant anything you have to dig up and store over the winter.

3 Use UV filters in ponds to keep algae from growing.

4 Pull weeds before they go to seed because those seeds make hundreds of new weeds.

5 Make a plan before you start planting so you won’t have to do it over.

6 Color is important but over time Starner says she learned to pay attention to shapes, patterns and size and to use them in pleasing combinations.

7 Plan for several seating areas throughout so you can always find a shady place to relax and

enjoy different views of your garden.