'Joanna Gaines has struck a balance between functionality and approachable elegance': a tour of the designer's garden

Magnolia empire owner and HGTV designer Joanna Gaines is famed for her interior design flare –however, a recent look around her yard in Waco, TX, suggests she's a guru in the garden, too. 

'When we got back from our snow vacation, everything had bloomed in the garden. Crew could not contain his excitement about all our new flower friends,' Joanna says, alongside footage of her son exploring the spring garden (below). 

Joanna's expansive garden features hundreds of tulips, ranunculus, anemones, and perhaps the most famous spring flower of all: the daffodil. Naturally, Joanna's choice of plants is admired by those in the know – but they're not the only feature worth replicating.

'As with her interiors, Joanna has struck a balance between functionality and approachable elegance in her North-Central Texas ranch garden,' says horticulturist and botanical designer Nathan Heinrich. 'Joanna has reinterpreted the French and English-style kitchen gardens into her own signature modern-American version, and the result is both sophisticated and simple.'

Nathan Heinrich

Nathan Heinrich is an American-born writer, designer, and horticulturist residing in Italy. The son of a 5th generation walnut and almond farming family, Nathan managed one of California's largest wholesale nurseries before starting his own botanical design company, which he operated in California and New York for over a decade. He is currently renovating properties in both the Prosecco Valley of Northern Italy and Tennessee and hosts a top-5 travel podcast. 

Alongside her flowers, Nathan notes Joanna's use of geometric symmetry – seen through the clean lines of Joanna's raised bed garden ideas and her pea gravel walkway that offer the 'formality of an English garden without high-maintenance hedges and topiaries'.

'The white plank horse-fencing and green turf planted with flowering trees are an excellent backdrop to the gravel paths and weathered wooden raised beds bursting with spring color,' he adds. 

And Joanna, who is surely all too aware of the color-blocking interior design trend, has taken this aesthetic outside – ensuring each bed is almost as manicured as a room in a home.

'Notice how each flower bed is planted in a single variety and color of bulb or perennial,' he says. 'Rather than mixing everything for a confusing confetti look, the sold bands of color are able to be more fully appreciated.'

How to recreate Joanna Gaines' spring garden

We can't all experiment with a yard as expansive as Joanna's, but many of us have space for some spring bulbs – even when working with a more compact urban setting. But which of her flowers should we begin with? 

'While we can see a few slightly higher-maintenance elements in Joanna's garden, such as espaliered apples and tulips (which have to be planted in the fall and dug up after they start to die back after flowering in early summer) – most of her garden is packed full of fairly low maintenance perennials. They re-flower year after year,' Nathan says. 

'Daffodils are the perfect bulb to plant in nearly every growing zone – you plant once and enjoy them for a lifetime. They 'naturalize' very well, meaning once established, they multiply and come back stronger and happier each following year.'

Additionally, Nathan recommends planting anemones that – once established – will reflower every spring (as long as you mulch for frost protection in freezing climates).

'Keep them well-watered and fertilized for the best springtime flowers. Also, keep your pets with adventurous appetites away from anemones, as they are quite toxic if ingested.' 

Joanna's ranunculus is also worth replicating; however, the expert warns that you may need to step up your slug control methods, as they are a favorite for the garden pest. 

Beyond the garden, you can learn more from Joanna in her book (below), where she shares tips on the subject for which she is best known: interior design. 

Homebody: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave | $20.79 on Amazon

Joanna Gaines walks you through creating a home that reflects the personalities and stories of the people who live there. Using examples from her family farmhouse and a range of other homes, this comprehensive guide will help you embrace your authentic design style. 

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