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Beautiful Garden Tour with Ideas for Every Budget!

If you are looking for some creative ideas to upgrade your outdoor areas to the next level, you might want to attend a beautiful garden tour for inspiration!

Yesterday, a few of us headed to the charming seaside town of Spring Lake, New Jersey for their annual Garden Club of Spring Lake – Seaside Garden Tour!

Beautiful home gardens with hydrangeas

The weather couldn’t have been more perfect with plenty of sunshine and a nice breeze!  On the tour, there were eight beautiful home gardens for us to visit.  Since the homes were clustered in two sections of town, it was easy to just park twice and walk around.

Colorful hydrangea bushes

Beautiful Garden Tour Inspiration:

Each garden was loaded with gorgeous inspiration.  Although some of the ideas are dreams for most of us, I found plenty of ideas that could work for most budgets!

Home Garden Tour in Spring Lake New Jersey

Layers of colorful hydrangeas and flowing grasses were a popular look.

Garden Tour Seating Ideas:

Many of the homes had cozy outdoor seating areas tucked in their backyards…

Outdoor seating area

This table opened up to a fire pit.  While, I was admiring how well kept the outdoor cushions appeared, the tour volunteer informed me that the owner has a cover for the them.  Good to know, since I always wonder if people actually cover them in the real world.  Recently, I bought a cover for mine so I don’t have to lug those things in and out all the time!

Outdoor seating around fire pit

Another cozy fire pit seating area.  Surely, my kids would love to roast marshmallows out there.  Although this one is built in, I have heard the little metal portable ones work just fine.  Maybe we will pick one up this summer!

There were plenty of other great seating ideas…

Patio with wood furniture and umbrellas

I loved the furniture in this outdoor kitchen and patio.  The blue cushions really pop against the more neutral background.

Garden bench in a beautiful home garden

How cute is this garden bench nestled in the flower garden?!  The straw hat was a nice touch too.  If you are looking to add some seating without blowing your budget, this would be a relatively easy solution.  More money for flowers!  (or wine!)…

Garden bench in backyard of home garden tour

In a shaded area of one of the properties, sat this adorable garden bench.  The weathered look of the wood really complements the stone.

Speaking of stone:

Stone bench and ferns

Another pretty option is a stone bench.  As you can see, this one is surrounded by cinnamon ferns and petunias.

Ribbon driveway with pavers

Lately, I have been obsessed by driveways that have grass running up the middle!  Apparently, these are called, “ribbon driveways”.  So pretty, don’t you think?  For some reason, I wanted to take off my shoes and walk down the center!  Obviously, you would have to make sure the grass is always neatly mowed but if you have a driveway like this, you most likely would have a lawn service!

Classic ribbon driveway

Here is another one and I don’t even think this property was on the tour!  When I walked by, I had to take a picture!

Beautiful Garden Tour – Swimming Pools:

Then there were the pools…

Freeform swimming pool in backyard

This beauty felt so private in the back corner of the property.

Classic rectangle swimming pool in backyard

This one had full all-day sun with a huge umbrella for shade.  Although I have seen these cantilever umbrellas at many different price points, we just picked one up for our deck from Home Depot for around $300.  Definitely do-able if you like that look!

Swimming pool and tall grasses on garden tour

Surrounded by grasses, this pool really had that beachy feel.  After all, the ocean was only a block away.

Classic swimming pool with pavers

Another lovely pool with stone walls and plenty of pretty foliage!

Pool house and rectangular swimming pool

We were all obsessed with this pool!  Apparently, the owners bought the lot behind their house to build this amazing oasis.  Would you believe that building is the POOL HOUSE?!!  Like I said, I am sharing ideas for every budget!  Needless to say, this is not in my budget!

Garden Tour – Unique Ideas:

Pergola with custom awning

Here is another great idea which wouldn’t be too expensive if you already have a pergola.  How nice to have a pergola canopy to shade you from the midday sun!

Custom canopy on pergola - ideas from garden tour

If you look closely, you can see that the canopy hangs on a track to make it easy to open and close.  I just love this idea!

If you are a sports loving family, this is a fun idea…

sports area in backyard

Although, this sports/basketball court looks like it’s permanent, if you take a closer look, you can see that it’s made up of squares linked together.  The “court” just floats above the driveway and could be removed as needed.  Just to be sure, we lifted it up.  I have never seen anything like it before!

garden planter ideas from Spring Lake Garden Tour

My friend is going to use this photo for inspiration in her own garden.  Not only does the urn hold flowers but it sits among the flowers in the bed.  Great look!

Garden Tour – Flowers Everywhere!

Hydrangeas seen on beautiful home garden tour

More hydrangeas…they were everywhere!

Window boxes with bright pink flowers

Flower boxes are a pretty way to add another layer of flowers to your house without spending too much.

garden tour plantings

In additional to touring some fabulous garden tours, we got to relax on this spectacular porch for refreshments!

Classic white coastal home on garden tour

I could only dream of what the inside of this beauty looked like!

Coastal home and side lawn on garden tour

First, we approached the house from this angle with a view of this huge American flag to greet us!  Definitely, a nice welcome!

side patio with lounge areas

During the tour, the refreshments were served outside.  They gave us the option of sitting on this gorgeous patio but most of us stayed on the shaded porch.  Imagine inviting guests for cocktails out here…we could play croquet on that lawn…ahh to dream!

And speaking of dreaming…

House Exteriors:

Classic coastal home with awnings

We even took a few photos of houses that weren’t on the tour because the town of Spring Lake is just too pretty not to share!

Beautiful blue and white coastal home

Such a stunner – I can never get enough blue and white!

Classic white coastal home at the Jersey Shore

Or just white…I definitely have a thing for white houses!

white daisies on garden tour

And white flowers!  Love these mini daisies!

manicured flower beds in backyard

Spring Lake bridge in summer

It was a lovely day spent in Spring Lake!  If you have a chance to attend a garden tour in your area, I recommend you go.  I hope I gave you some ideas to incorporate into your own gardens!  If you would like to see some ways I was inspired by this tour, visit my post, 7 Ways to Update Your Deck for Entertaining.  Although, I never claimed to have a green thumb, I have been successful in the past with flowers around my yard.

For even more garden ideas, check out these summer flower gardens!

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your weekend!

Which feature was your favorite from the garden tour?

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Beautiful Garden Tour and Ideas for Every Budget

 

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19 Comments

  1. I love going on garden tours and this one was fabulous! When you got to the pools I was drooling…and then the house with the wrap-around-porch? Oh my! I can only imagine how pleasant it would be to have a space like that for entertaining.I thoroughly enjoyed the tour. Patti

  2. I love garden tours almost as much as I do home tours! So much inspiration!!!Thanks so much for sharing at AMAZE ME MONDAY!Blessings,Cindy

  3. Wow, what a beautiful township! Those hydrangeas, so beautiful! I am visiting you from Amaze Me Monday.

  4. What amazing homes!! Garden goals except that I do not have the patience to keep everything weed free.

  5. Beautiful home gardens. Your pics of them are so inspiring. I am trying to establish a perennial bed in my backyard with mixed results. Thanks for sharing all your tour with our Share Your Style Party.

  6. Totally gorgeous pools! I love a driveway with grass down the middle but would not love to maintain it!

  7. Wow Shelley, some great garden inspiration! I love attending garden tours. I have been fortunate to have my garden, from our previous home included in two garden tours over the years. I wish we could grow those gorgeous Hydrangeas! I settle for the Limelight and Annabelle. 🙂 A couple years ago my sister in law and I attended a garden tour in Charleston. My, was that ever fun! Thanks for sharing with the garden link party.hugs,Jann

  8. I'll never have a house on tour but my golly it's fabulous to see these! Seriously stunning. They make it look effortless.

  9. Shelley, I love a garden tour! These are some beautiful outdoor spaces! It is fun to nose around other people’s gardens! Thanks for the tour!

  10. Shelley, I love a good garden tour. Thanks for taking us along. You shared some beutiful spaces and gorgeous blooms. Happy gardening to you!~

  11. What a lovely tour! I enjoyed seeing all the pretty homes and gardens. I love how the pink and blue hydrangeas are side by side because mine seem to change colors, but they are consistently the same.BTW our youngest daughter is named Shelley, my very favorite girl's name!I'm linking from Poofing the pillows.xo,Ricki Jill

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