Designing a Mexican Garden
Turn your backyard into a vacation destination by designing a Mexican garden. Traditional Mexican backyards emphasize lush plants, water features, cooking stoves and beautiful lighting to encourage people to linger, talk, eat and enjoy. Utilizing a Mexican theme isn't difficult, even for beginning gardeners, and the results can be worth the effort.
Mexican Plants
Good choices for Mexican-themed plants include succulents and cacti. These tall, shapely plants immediately bring warm southern climates to mind. Sprinkle in broad-leaf plants such as hosta or coconut palm. Plants that provide bright flowers in red or blue are also wonderful choices, especially when placed in hanging baskets. Ornamental grasses add motion and color to your Mexican theme. Consider sprinkling potted peppers throughout your garden. The peppers add spice to dishes, and wreaths made of dried peppers make appropriate decorations for your Mexican theme. For an added treat, plant herbs and vegetables in your garden that you can use in traditional Mexican recipes. Tomatoes, garlic and cilantro all look beautiful while they're growing and can help you add zing to Mexican dishes you serve your guests.
Mexican Garden Furniture
Those guests will require places to sit while eating. Most Mexican gardens include ample seating areas. If you already have an existing desk, consider painting it a bright color, such as blue or orange, and scatter Mexican rugs to add contrast. Or, build a separate, covered seating area and cover the floor with colorful Mexican tiles. Your seating area should include a water feature of some sort. If you have room, consider adding a terra cotta outdoor fireplace for added ambience. You can use this fireplace for outdoor cooking during parties, or just allow the flickering flame to bring light and color to the scene. Decorate your Mexican garden with stamped metal lamps. You can hang them from the rafters of your seating area, or hang them from hooks in your flowerbeds.
