Tuscan Garden Guide: 5 Tips for Designing a Tuscan Garden

A Tuscan garden is a Mediterranean-style landscape that incorporates nature-centered planting, warm earth tones, and bold stonework to evoke the Mediterranean countryside in Italy, Spain, southern France, and Greece.

Traditional Tuscan garden plants are native to the Mediterranean area, though most plants are suitable for a general Tuscan style:

1. 1. Bold-colored flowers: Bright, warm colors are a staple of Tuscan garden design, along with sunflowers (both annual and perennial varieties), roses, and California poppies in warm earth tones.
2. 2. Herbs: Tuscany is famous for its culinary focus, which means that Tuscan gardens often incorporate edible herbs into the landscaping. Plant Italian herbs like sage, lavender, rosemary (especially Salvia rosmarinus ‘Tuscan Blue’), or oregano for an especially Tuscan feel.
3. 3. Ornamental grasses: Ornamental grasses add textural variety to a landscape—Tuscan varieties include muhly grass and deer grass.
4. 4. Trees: Trees add visual interest and height to any landscape, whether as a natural privacy fence or a central focal point. Mediterranean plants include olive trees, bay trees, and Italian cypress.
5. 5. Vines: Vining plants are especially common in Tuscan gardens, whether climbing up fences or draped over pagodas. Grapevines are the quintessential Tuscan vine.

Hardscaping plays several key roles in Tuscan landscape design, including:

• Providing a walkway: A staple of Tuscan gardens is the promenade or raised stone walkway that allows homeowners and visitors to tour the garden and see the plants from several angles. Promenades can be prominent features of either a front yard or backyard garden.
• Creating an outdoor living space: The classic Tuscan garden is a place for friends and families to gather for food and good company, so Tuscan designers often use backyard hardscape areas for outdoor furniture, fire pits, or pergolas.
• Enforcing the color scheme: Tuscan design is all about warm browns and oranges, so designers use warm-toned hardscaping (like paths and planters) to repeat the color scheme and create a cohesive feeling.
• Adding visual variety to garden plants: Great designs often rely on contrast to create visual interest, so Tuscan designers can use hardscape—whether heavy stone urns, low stone walls, or delicate statues—to contrast with the lush, organic look of the garden plants.

If you’re interested in designing your own Tuscan or Mediterranean garden, here are a few pointers and design ideas:

1. 1. Opt for warm-colored hardscape: To create a cohesive Tuscan color scheme, choose hardscaping materials that are warm and earth-toned. Terracotta, brownstone, natural flagstone, or tan tile pavers all work well—avoid gray gravel or concrete planters.
2. 2. Experiment with intricate stonework: To bring an antique Tuscan feel, experiment with a small statuary, large ornamental stone planters, arbors, or a water feature, which can make your space feel like an old Italian cafe.
3. 3. Limit succulents: Most plants are suitable in a Tuscan-designed garden, but succulents don’t work as well because they struggle to evoke the bushy, rolling hills of Tuscany in Italy.
4. 4. Include patio seating or dining areas: The classic Tuscan garden is a place for friends and families to gather for food and good company—consider patio areas, an outdoor kitchen or pizza oven, or a pergola area overgrown with grapevines.
5. 5. Choose hardy plants: Since a Tuscan garden is often dense with vegetation, choose hardy plants to reduce maintenance and reinforce sustainability. Research your local climate and look for weather-tolerant or drought-tolerant plants for your area.

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