The garden has become an extension of the home, a haven from pressures and frustrations of the workday.

Americans are working harder and longer than ever before. The 10-hour work day, and the 50-hour work week is fairly common. So it is more important than ever that landscape design focus on creating garden retreats.

In recent years, perennial borders have become even more important in the home landscape for they can provide year-round interest by adding touches of color and movement to strategic areas. During the winter, hoary frost highlights the beauty of ornamental grasses, and they add a sense of movement as the wind rustles the plants.

Color has always been an important component of gardening, but now it is more important than ever. In the past, gardeners may have felt intimidated by color, so they often created monochromatic borders. Now, we see much more dramatic beds mixing and matching three or more colors. This concept works as well outdoors as it does in interior design. The crucial part of this process is to match the flowers and foliage to the exterior colors used on the house, shutters, and trim. The folks at Benjamin Moore and Goldsmith Seeds have simplified things for novice garden designers by creating an exterior color decorating package, which includes the recommended Goldsmith plant varieties for specific colors of Benjamin Moore paints.

If your garden needs some makeover magic, consider using dramatic plants, such as hardy bananas, for strategic areas like entryways.

Designs of old are giving way to multipurpose landscapes. Furthermore, with new higher fuel prices, we are all interested in reducing energy costs through proper landscape plantings. To be truly effective, shade trees and plants chosen for shelterbelts or windbreaks must be chosen and placed with care. Windbreaks can lower heating costs by as much as 25%.

Following practical garden design concepts, we can create comforting, shady garden retreats where harried family members can unwind.