Why does your garden look the way it does?

My garden probably does reflect my personality and the fact that I flit from one obsession to another! I've been with this garden for not far off half a century, it's been affected my how I've taken it over as I grew up, transformed when I started to earn money to buy plants. Since then there have been many changes as I've got interested in lots of different types of plants, and now I'm getting a little older, I'm tending to choose plants which don't require quite so much work! I too plan for a winter garden as well as a summer one. It's too much a part of my life to be only interesting for half a year.

I like to change the borders every year, and pondering your question made me think this could be because I have always got bored very easily. Hadn't really thought about this before so it was good to reflect. I also like lots of colour in the garden.

My garden is in a mess - the same as me - disorganised and with things lying about everywhere. That's because I never finish one job before starting another (scatter brained !)
There is no design as such. I just cram plants in all over the place everywhere, although I do try to put shade loving ones in shady areas etc. (organised chaos you could call it !)
I often move plants around, because I get fed up with seeing the same things in the same place (I also do it to the furniture in the house !) and maybe that's because I am never satisfied (a perfectionist ?), and always try to make it look and feel better (but never succeed)
My pet hate is a lawn :o( I haven't got any lawns. I think they are boring and a waste of space, which could be filled with interesting plants ...
and you have to keep mowing them :o(
My favourite plants (which you might come to learn) are cacti :o))) I LOVE them and have been collecting them since I was a teenager (many many years ago) They have such fascinating shapes and such beautiful flowers !
And I have quite a nice collection of Fuchsias ...
Well that's enough lol ...

I guess my garden definitely reflects me and the way I live my life, I don't like change and do not believe in throwing anything away unless it has died completely which is why my garden is overcrowded at times, I also accept that nature is not pristine and therefore a bit of untidiness and the odd weed is allowed, shrubs and flowers to me should not look as though they are on parade but I happily accept that others prefer this look, I like my own company and space, so over the years here have created areas to hide away in sometimes and that cannot be overlooked.....
I am like this indoors as well, too many knickknacks collected over a lifetime that I just can't bear to throw away, clothing in the cupboards that hasn't been worn for ages but still fits, could not be pristine even if I wanted to as I share with hubby who likes his comforts and treasures and is an avid collector as well, also cats and dogs that refuse to stay off the furnishings, why should they really as its their home as well, lol....

ooooooh this is lovely. I feel I am really getting to know a bit about you all.

I'm like Lincslass - can't throw anything in the garden out unless its dead and nothing in the house unless its broken, and OH is the same, so this year it was a great triumph when I actually dug out a Carex pendula which everybody warned me not to have. They were right and I actually had to ask OH to do it as it was too big for me.
I am no good at imagining so have to plant something and wait a season to see if its in the right place, so my garden is very random and not well planned at all. I tend to buy plants because I like them and then can't think where to put them and sometimes I have left them in their pots too long and they have died. Then I find myself apologising to them and feeling really guilty.
I often know just what I ought to be doing in the garden but often don't actually do it, except for caring from my fruit bushes - being a fruit lover the gooseberries and currents awlays get pruned and fed on time. I don't know what this says about my character but I don't think its very flattering.

I can identify with so many of these comments. Especially buying things with nowhere to put them,

I once ordered 10 pyracanatha, planted them against a fence then everything grew up in front of them, I forgot to water them and all but one died.

That's a shame about the pyracantha, but I too have bought things, not had the space to put them somewhere suitable and forgotten about them, only to rediscover them when it's too late to save them!

I don't feel so bad now - thank you Nanniji and Louisa!

Over the years my garden reflected the amount of time I could spend in it, so when the children were small it was swings and climbing frames and lots of fruit and veg. When I went back to work full time it was mostly trees shrubs and grass. Since I retired the lawns have got much smaller and the herbaceous perennials are now plentiful as are the hundreds of bulbs I have had time to plant.
I am not one to keep things when no longer needed as I like to recycle and this can be seen in my garden which is always quite free of clutter. While I like to think it reflects my love of wildlife it is also a place I trust to keep me grounded and appreciate what really matters.

Don't you find after you've got rid of something that in a year or two you go looking for it as you then want it for something else? If anybody needs any clutter we have enough to share round.

I'm not sure my garden reflects my personality entirely - I'm very impatient and since starting on my gardening journey, I'm having to be patient whether I like it or not! So on that count, I'm the one having to adjust.
I don't suffer fools gladly either and in that respect I'm all to ready to get rid of plants that don't perform. So it's a bit of 50/50.
I've no young children using the garden now - therefore I am able to concentrate my efforts on transforming it into a space just for me and the wildlife. I long for the day the plants are mature to provide the privacy I want.
I used to be quite an impulse buyer but not so much now - I've learnt a little restraint - not much but some, it's always a start, isn't it.
I owe so much to GOY and it's members - my gardening ability has come on leaps and bounds since I joined. I used to choose plants I liked but now I choose plants for the position and situation they are to grow in and now appreciate a healthy, thriving plant rather than a struggling piddling effort ready to give up the ghost!

My garden is very green i have no imagination! so yes i would say it reflects me :-)

Well, personally, I think that my garden really reflects myself. It is like having a twin, when I feel good it feels good and when I feel bad, it also feels bad. It evolved at the same time as me. It is like having a book of memories, everything in the garden reminds me of something. Sometimes I have the urge to change something as I feel a change within me. It is very difficult for me to explain my feelings, but I am sure many of you will recognise these feelings.