Do you often find yourself daydreaming of your very own Boho style garden? With their relaxed, nature-loving vibe and anything-goes eclectic mix of elements, Boho gardens present the perfect opportunity to showcase your creativity and personality.
Read on for plenty of design ideas and inspiration to craft your own magical Boho inspired retreat.
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1. Vintage Finds
A brilliant way to bring instant character to your boho style garden is to creatively use vintage and reclaimed items. Upcycled furniture like painted rocking chairs and antique benches blend seamlessly with the laidback vibe. Adding salvaged materials like bricks and rustic timber further add interest and charm to your slice of boho heaven. Look out for vintage gardening tools and equipment such as watering cans, spades and pots to add some extra personality to your space.
2. Macramé and Woven Accents
The resurgence of macramé and woven décor echoes the relaxed bohemian style, lending an earthy vibe to your garden design. Check out Macramé hanging chairs, hammocks, and swing seats to create cosy relaxation areas. Use wall hangings to soften bare fences and garden structures. You can also showcase your trailing plants with these beautiful macramé plant hangers.
3. Relaxed Seating Areas
When designing a boho style garden, remember to prioritise comfort to help create the perfect laidback vibe. To fully embrace the relaxed ambiance of your space, create private seating areas complemented by brightly coloured, bold fabrics for an authentic bohemian aesthetic.
You could introduce weatherproof outdoor rugs and poufs to style outdoor lounging areas, and consider hanging chairs or suspended swinging benches for added relaxation and charm. Creatively arrange mismatched furniture around a central feature such as a warm, cosy fire pit or chimenea.
4. Garden Sculptures and Art
Sculptures, hanging mobiles, and art features can showcase your personality, whilst also adding a whimsical feel to your boho garden. Repurposed items like antique kitchen utensils or colourful bottles can provide intriguing sculptural elements, while wind chimes crafted from shells or discarded metal objects can bring soothing sounds for your soul.
Painting your own abstract artwork on garden stones adds a personalised touch, and strategically placing these creations can surprise and delight your guests.
An easy way to add a splash of colour to your bohemian garden is to hang colourful wind spinners from your garden structures.
5. Water Features
Water elements in boho gardens will not only attract birds and wildlife, but can also help to foster a deeper connection with nature. You could opt for a tiered cascading water feature or perhaps keep it simple, with a naturalistic balanced pebble design like above.
Alternatively, a small pond adorned with water lilies and floating candles can really help create the perfect tranquil atmosphere. It’s crucial to ensure proper installation and maintenance for water features; alternatively, options like these simple solar-powered fountains create ambiance with minimal cost and upkeep.
6. Organic Shapes and Textures
Textures play a pivotal role in creating inviting outdoor spaces. For a relaxed boho style garden, avoid rigid symmetry and straight lines. Infusing organic shapes and textures can be achieved through curved flagstone or pebble pathways, irregularly shaped flower and vegetable beds edged with stone or logs, and a selection of plants prized for their varied forms and foliage.
Incorporating natural materials such as weathered boulders, seashells, pinecones, and acorns can provide decorative charm. Handcrafted elements like macramé, mosaic tiles, or roughly woven baskets further contribute to the garden’s tactile appeal. By allowing textures, shapes, and plantings to intermingle, a purposefully wild yet harmonious garden ambiance can be achieved.
7. Winding Paths
Gentle curved paths can help soften your gardens aesthetic whilst inviting curiosity for what lies ahead. Materials such as gravel, wood chips, sea glass, or pebbles can help to create a surface that twists and turns around existing features. The edges can be formed using reclaimed bricks, or specialist garden edging strips. If your budget allows, its worth checking out CORE EDGE outdoor metal edging strips, as these will help you to create perfect and long lasting curves.
8. Rustic Charm
A bohemian garden thrives on imperfections, celebrating weathered elements that reflect natural aging and embracing a soft touch of rustic, reclaimed charm for added cosiness and character. Rustic charm can be achieved through the use of salvaged materials like old barn wood or galvanized metal for your fences, raised beds, and furniture. While distressed paint finishes can enhance the timeworn aesthetic.
Allowing climbing vines and moss to grow on hardscaping features further contributes to the rustic ambiance, highlighting the beauty found in imperfection and lending the garden a sense of character and soul.
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9. Natural Tones
Incorporating earthy tones such as beige, browns, greens and blues fosters cohesion in the boho garden. This can then be complemented by pops of accent colours for added interest. Native plants like prairie grasses, sedums, and hydrangeas, along with organic materials such as stone, gravel, timber, and ceramics, contribute to this harmonious palette. Furnishings and textiles featuring natural fibres in muted colours, along with structures painted in creamy taupes, sky blues, sage greens, and warm terracotta, further enhance the cohesive atmosphere.
Darker browns can be introduced through decorative elements like wrought iron fixtures and antique garden tools. By keeping the overall palette grounded and highlighting focal points with playful accents in florals, jewel tones, or terracottas, a balanced and visually appealing garden design is achieved.
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10. Soft Planting
Consider ornamental grasses like pampas, Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’, and stipa tenuissima to help soften your planting. Cascading plants like ivy, jasmine can also be used to drape walls and pergolas. Blowsy perennials like Russian sage, lavender, yarrow, verbena, and astilbe offer additional softness.
Visit your local nursery to select plants suited for your regional climate and light conditions, and watch as they transform your space into a soft boho style oasis.
11. Ambient Lighting
As evening descends, ambient lighting works its magic, transforming Boho gardens into enchanting wonderlands perfect for relaxing outdoors. Strings of twinkling bulbs, flickering candles, and subtle up lighting combine to create a captivating and inviting atmosphere, ideal for extended evenings spent lounging.
Lighting options range from draping garden structures with strands of Edison bulbs or paper lanterns for soft illumination to strategically placing citronella candles, lanterns, and fire pits around seating areas to define spaces after dark. Winding paths can be marked with small solar stakes or votives nestled into the ground, while trees and architectural features can be highlighted with concealed ground spotlights, preferably using LED or solar options.
With ambient lighting, your Boho garden becomes a haven for entertaining, unwinding, and savouring the romance of summer nights long into the evening.
12. Relaxed Maintenance Style
Incorporating a “natural” style into your Boho garden involves embracing a more relaxed approach to maintenance, allowing the space to evolve and flourish with minimal intervention. It helps to opt for plants that thrive in their natural state, with less need for pruning or shaping. Selecting native plants suited to your local climate encourages biodiversity and reduces the need for excessive watering or chemical interventions.
Rather than striving for perfection, embrace the beauty of imperfection by allowing plants to grow freely and develop their unique shapes and textures. Incorporating elements like meandering pathways and rustic seating areas adds to the organic feel, creating a space that feels harmonious with nature rather than overly manicured. By striking a balance between design and allowing the garden to follow its natural course, you can cultivate a Boho oasis that exudes charm and tranquillity with minimal upkeep.
Final thoughts
Creating a Boho-inspired garden is the perfect way to craft an outdoor paradise that fully expresses your creative spirit. Textural elements, vintage finds, and artistic touches blended in harmony result in a welcoming space for relaxation, entertaining, and reconnecting with nature.
Embrace texture, curate treasured accents, and make comfort a priority as you plan your own bohemian escape. Don’t be afraid to break conventions and freely blend colours, shapes and materials until your garden feels distinctly you.
The boho approach champions individuality, ingenuity and appreciating simple pleasures. May your unique garden oasis bring you joy, serenity and celebration of the little things in life.
For more inspiration, examples and expert tips on designing your ideal Boho garden, explore the resources available on our website. We offer further reading on all aspects of garden planning to help you create your perfect outdoor haven.
FAQs – Boho Style Garden Ideas
Q. What is the difference between Boho and Bohemian garden design?
While the terms are often used interchangeably, Bohemian gardens may draw more on traditional influences from European Romany culture, with darker exotic colors and ornate patterns. Boho gardens encompass a more modern interpretation, freely blending global elements into a relaxed, eclectic style.
Q. Is Boho style garden design high maintenance?
Boho gardens can be relatively low maintenance if you focus on hardy plants, durable furnishings and simple water features. However, keeping keeping vintage finds in good condition or maintaining extensive soft planting can require more upkeep. Opt for easily cared for elements to design a low-maintenance boho sanctuary.
Q. How can I create a Boho garden on a budget?
- Upcycling old furniture using paint and cushions from thrift stores
- Propagating your own plants from cuttings to fill space
- Creating DIY macramé and woven accents using natural fibers
- Shopping at flea markets, garage sales and online swap sites for unique secondhand finds
- Using inexpensive materials like gravel and flagstone to make meandering paths
With creativity and resourcefulness, you can achieve the Boho look without spending a fortune.
Q. What are some good plants for a Boho garden?
- Ornamental grasses and airy perennials like lavender, salvia and yarrow
- Trailing vines such as jasmine, passionflower and morning glory
- Ferns, mosses and ivy for lush, cascading greenery
Choose easy care plants suited to your climate that enhance the free-spirited style.
Q. Where can I find more inspiration for Boho Style garden Ideas?
Great sources of ideas and examples include:
