Except the problem is that I can’t seem to make flower arrangements that look good. If you’re like me, then you probably could benefit from checking out some of these ideas for custom gardens (with flowers or otherwise!) If your green thumb needs some inspiration, these player-made gardens in New Horizons are sure to offer some fun ideas to re-create.
40. Simple Greenhouse
In some cases, simpler is better. There’s nothing overly outlandish about this design – which is what I think gives it some charm. You can make a similar small greenhouse out of some simple panels and stalls that have been customized to show off glass windows. Inside the greenhouse, place some plants like terrariums, mini cactus sets, anthurium plants, and floating biotope planters. I love the color-coded flower beds this player set up. It’ll take some time to breed the flowers, but it’s worth it for the beauty.
39. Golden Rose Garden
Whose absurd idea was it to put golden roses in this game? Nevertheless, actually making golden roses takes a bit of work. You’ll need to craft a golden watering can and water some black roses to breed them. Once you have your roses, then decorate the rest of your garden with your favorite gold items. The celebration arch, Aries rocking chair, and mush parasol are just some items you can use in this golden garden of glory!
38. Garden Standees
ACNH’s new custom standees are a rather versatile item that can be used in some incredibly creative ways. And here’s one such idea worth trying out! Once you create your custom standees, select a beautiful wooded area to set up your garden terrace. If cherry blossom trees are in season, make great use of their beauty while they last. You can even setup a small picnic area with a custom picnic blanket, some cushions, and even a relaxing book.
37. Mini Melon Patch
If you want to mix up what kinds of plants are growing in your garden, then perhaps melons are worth checking out. The melons here are actually beach balls that you can purchase, but they’re one of my favorite items. To make this design, lay down some custom designed paths to act as rows of crops. And you also want some custom standees for a vineyard backdrop. Then, carefully place your melons and whatever other crops you desire. Pumpkins would look great in this design. And you can even plant some of your favorite flowers!
36. Magical Mushroom Garden
If you’re into the fairycore aesthetic, then you may want to try creating an enchanted mushroom garden like this design. To start, select a small wooded area and lay down a mixture of custom paths to look like stones, flowers, shrooms, and petals. Craft plenty of mush lamps and customize them to all sorts of vibrant colors. You can also craft mush stools and tables for a nice hang out spot. Then, scatter a bunch of flowers for your fairy garden. I personally think hyacinths go well with the mushrooms, so I would recommend using them in as many colors as possible.
35. Flower Breeding Center
I do not have much patience for breeding to make hybrid flowers. But maybe I never had a good setup like this one. While not necessary for breeding flowers, the heart shaped plots definitely give this place some character. Once you make your plots to match this idea, add some stone paths inbetween the plots so you have room to navigate the area. Then carefully plant flowers of various breeds and colors, leaving enough room for those rare hybrids to bloom!
34. Tropical Backyard Garden
With so many vibrantly colored flowers at your disposal, they can make for a beautiful tropical paradise (when used correctly). I would start out here by setting up the custom dirt and log plank pathways. I love the log plank design, since it works well with the tropical setting. Next plant plenty of palm trees – an essential for any tropical scene. You’ll also want to plant plenty of flowers in the scene around the trees. Yellow, white, and greens help to highlight the tropical setting with a warm color scheme. Once you mark off the area with some iron barbed fencing, your tropical garden can flourish.
33. Bunny Day Garden Square
Bunny Day only comes once a year. But if you saved some of your decorations, they do make for a wonderful garden area. I would create this spot from the center outward, so start by crafting a fountain and placing it in an open field. Once you’ve done that, setup some Bunny Day topiaries and egg planters around the fountain. Then surround the fountain and decorations with hedge fencing, and then place some Cinnamoroll couches for outdoor seating. If you don’t have Cinnamoroll couches from the Sanrio additions, then I recommend garden benches instead. Then setup some stalls and display your Bunny Day candy sets and baskets on the counters. Oh, and you can’t have a Bunny Day party without some festive balloons!
32. Beautiful Blue Garden
Sometimes it helps to make a monochromatic garden design, just for simplicity’s sake. As for what color to go with, that’s purely your decision. And if you like blue, then definitely dive into this idea! Maybe take the time to breed plenty of blue hyacinths, roses, windflowers, and pansies. Or just stick to one breed. Either way, once you have all your flowers, set them up in rows surrounded by some picket fencing. Then don your favorite blue outfit and turn on a blue rocket lamp for some flowery fun.
31. Island Garden Park
The location of your garden can make all the difference. You can setup your island garden like this by doing some careful waterscaping to create an island with a small inlet that you’ll need to reach it. I love terra cotta tiles here, so I highly recommend them for pathways. Next, craft a fountain and some garden benches. Setup the fountain in the center with garden benches on the outside facing inward. After that, you just need to add in your flowers. I recommend using multiple colors of one type to give your garden more flare, while still looking cohesive.
30. Secret Tea Garden
Shhh… this idea is a secret! If you want to make a secret waterfall garden like this design, start out by setting up multiple levels of elevation, with a small cove carved out of the cliffs. There are two levels pictured, so you’ll have your work cut out for you and it may take some time. But don’t forget to do some waterscaping and make some waterfalls. Then craft plenty of cherry blossom branches to decorate the area. Once you setup some iron garden tables and chairs with a tea set and teacup, then you can enjoy your peaceful afternoon tea among the falls.
29. Japanese Rock Garden
A garden should be a place to enjoy some peace. And nothing says peace more than the traditional Japanese art of Zen. To create this zen rock garden on your island, you’ll first need some custom designs that resemble rows and circles in the sand. You can make these yourself, or snag some ideas online. Then in the center of your sand circles you’ll want to add all sorts of stones. Craft stone stools and garden rocks to fill in these areas. You’ll also want to craft an outdoor bath for a nice relaxing hot spring. Once you plant some mambo trees and craft some bamboo fencing, your place of piece is ready for you.
28. Garden Spa Café
Here’s another idea you can use to incorporate a botanical theme into a café and spa resort area. Start by crafting some stalls and customizing them to have a natural, flowery pattern. At each stall, setup wooden stools and chairs for seating, as well as some simple tea kettles and tea sets for your guests’ enjoyment. Also, be sure to purchase a cypress bathtub and some simple panels to set up the spa area. Then plants some of your favorite flowers. Yellows and greens help to give the place a mellow feeling, which is perfect for a spa resort.
27. Simple Butterfly Garden
Now here’s another example of how simple can be better. Start this small butterfly garden by selecting your favorite tree as a centerpiece for the area. Around the tree, setup some log stools. On the log stools you’ll want to place models of your favorite butterflies that you’ve obtained from Flick. Then, setup some garden benches facing the tree and some scattered stone pathways. Once you surround the area with hedges, you’re free to fly to heart’s content.
26. Moonlit Garden Square
The moon is one of my favorite items, and it can instantly turn any scene into a starlight wonder. (Alas, I still have yet to get the recipe from Celeste) If you do have the recipe for crafting a moon, then you’ll want to set it up as the centerpiece for your garden. Add in some iron garden benches and cypress plants around the moon to form a small sitting area. Also, including some shrubs like white and pink azaleas can help to elevate the design further. Then around your sitting area, place some hedge fencing with a couple smaller enclosed areas to display your favorite statues. Athletic statues, valiant statues, and my favorite, the beautiful statue, are all good choices for a moonlit garden.
25. Garden Maze
I used to love doing mazes as a kid. And this is probably the third time I’ve shared a maze idea in an article. But that’s because they’re just so fun! Clearly, you’ll need a lot of hedges here. So stock up on weeds, branches, and stones. You can set up a fountain as kind of a center to the maze, and include iron garden benches to sit around. Then, setup your hedges in winding paths around your centerpiece with stone pathways running through the aisles to create some contrast. What’s really a nice touch here is all the flowers that replace hedge sections sporadically throughout the maze. That makes this feel truly like a garden setting.
24. Pretty Pink Paradise
While cherry blossoms are in bloom, you may want to take advantage of them and create this pretty pink paradise. This player setup the area around Chrissy’s house to look like this, but any pink villager house will do this justice. Lay down a custom pink boardwalk path in front of the house, and even add some additional pink custom designs like heart patterns. Then setup some cute chairs, a cinnamoroll table, and a cinamoroll tray for some outdoor tea. All that remains is decorating the area with pink flowers. My favorites are pink windflowers. This player used roses. But it’s really up to you on these details!
23. Small Flower Shop
Perhaps you’re less of a grower, and more of a seller. Well you can still use flowers and plants to setup this adorable flower shop. Create this shop by crafting and placing some stalls perpendicular to one another. Then, plants. This can include various house plants, garden wagons, or your favorite flowers. More specifically, this player primarily went with house plants like a monsters, anthurium plant, and mini cactus set. If you’d rather sell flowers, then I recommend also crafting a garden wagon for another grand display.
22. Violet Garden Fountain
Sometimes, the struggle for setting up flower beds can be planting flowers that go well together. And I really like the deep midnight color of this player’s flower choices: black, purple, and blue flowers of various styles. You can start this idea by laying down some pathways. I do really like this design, but if you have a stone or brick path you prefer, then by all means go for it. Then setup a standard garden sitting area with a fountain and some garden benches. What I want to point out is how carefully this player placed each and every flower. Some are horizontal, vertical, or even diagonal. However, they’re all in neat and tidy rows. Which help to increase this garden’s wonderful appeal.
21. Statue Garden Walkway
If you wish to create a gorgeous blooming scene as an entrance for your island, then here’s an idea you could try. While your custom pathway doesn’t have to be this ornate, it does help make it look fancy. Once your path is setup, place some hedge fencing along the sides to mark off your vast flower beds. Inside the flower beds, be sure to plant shrubs and flowers that complement one another – like this player’s utilization of white and pink. Then decorate the area with some of your favorite statues like the valiant, beautiful, and athletic statues. Whatever you like.
20. Julian’s Shiny Moon Garden
Julian is quite a magical villager to have on your island. So if he’s one of your neighbors, then he deserves a magical moon garden! And if he’s not on your island, you can still try this idea anyway! But this area is not particularly organized, which I think fits Julian very well. There’s just a bunch of items like a crescent moon chair, beautiful statue, valiant statue, iron garden bench, and shell fountain scattered about the yard. Pay close attention to this player’s use of blue and white roses to match Julian’s color scheme. If you make this design for another villager, I recommend altering the colors to fit them as well.
19. Community Herb Garden
Maybe growing herbs is more your speed? Well you can design an herb garden like this, ready to be enjoyed by all. Start by setting up some custom simple panels that display rows of various plants for sale. Craft some iron shelves for further inventory, and some prison bars to act as your shop doors. I like how this player planted rows of saplings right next to each other. The trees can’t grow this close, so it makes them look just like small plants. Finish this off with a wooden shop sign to advertise your herbs to the whole island.
18. Fruit and Vegetable Garden
So I still don’t have access to every fruit, which deeply bums me out. If you do have access to all the fruits, then by all means, include them as part of your garden! Plant all your fruit trees in a small area and lay down some dirt in rows for planting your other crops. I like the wooden planks running between the dirt patches here, as it gives the area more room to breathe. Then, setup your crops. This can be done by planting actual plants, or using certain items that look like plants as stand-ins. Grape hats, cacao trees, watermelon beach balls, peach hats, cypress plants, and anthurium plants are just some of the items you can purchase and “grow”.
17. Red Mushroom Rest Spot
Here’s another very simple design that uses one color to ooze some garden charm. This player carefully placed their island’s material rocks in a perfect circle, and then they decorated this spot with tons of red foliage! In the middle, you’ll be able to drop a red mushroom parasol. The surround it with red flowers of all varieties, carefully placed to create such beautiful symmetry. In between the rocks, plant your favorite red shrubs like hibiscus or camelias. Then simply craft a log bench to place in front so you have somewhere to relax.
16. Rainbow Moon Island
Combining a few previously discussed ideas, we get this stunning rainbow island. You’ll want to start this design by carefully creating the island with some waterscaping. In the middle goes the moon, as it’s the grand centerpiece. Around the moon go the many colors of flowers. This player was able to breed every type of flower and plant them in small, color-coded sections, to create a rainbow circle. Now that’s diligence!
15. Butterfly Garden Spiral
I’m sure many of you have seen spiral rivers, but this is the first time I’m seeing a spiral garden. Start out by laying down some dirt path in a spiral pattern. On the dirt, place many colorful custom designs such as rocks, flowers, leaves, and butterflies. In between the spiraling rows, place shrubs, log stools, stone stools, hedges, fencing, and flowers. There’s no real pattern to those items, which I think increases this garden’s whimsical nature. What you want to make sure you include is some butterfly models from Flick on the log stools. After all, you can’t have a butterfly garden with butterflies. Otherwise it’s just a… garden.
14. Fairy Rock Garden
If you’re not a nincompoop like me, and actually like your material rocks organized, then adding a fairy theme to create a garden is a good idea. For this idea you’ll want to surround your rocks with the custom leaf and floral pattern. And you’ll wanna plant plenty of fruit trees, and then just add flowers! There’s no real rhyme or reason to the flower usage. But I do personally recommend cool colors like blues and purples, maybe with some pinks thrown in there too.
13. Village Brewery
If you’re under 21, keep scrolling. Eh, ok fine you can build this, but no drinks! To make this brewery area you’ll want to clear out a decent sized field to set up the dining space. Craft some log dining tables and benches and place them into neat rows. I like the stalls and silos in the back too, which were crafted to make the village gates. On the stalls and tables, you’ll want to add some pitchers and pots that you’ve crafted from clay, along with plenty of succulent plants for some tableside drinking.
12. Garden Market Square
Here’s another fun idea that focuses more on selling your plants than growing them. And it can be setup as part of a market square, just like this design. Start by setting up some stalls for vendors, and top each one with a different colored heart bouquet so customers have a variety to choose from. Then craft some bamboo benches and place them in the middle of some custom wooden pathways. You can display even more plants on the benches, such as floating biotope planters, anthurium plants, terrariums, and mini cactus sets. And if you’re feeling really ambitious, you can add a garden off to the side like this player did, so that your plants are close by.
11. Beachside Berry Patch
When you first start out, your island’s beaches can be very bland. So maybe it’s time you turned one of them into a berry garden (for whatever reason). I mean, it’s kind of funny. I never would have thought about picking flowers to make them look like berries. I have to say it works very nicely. Fence off two small sections for “berries” by crafting and building some barbed wire fencing. A wooden plank path running up the middle is always a nice touch. Then, just craft some wooden shop signs to advertise your berries for sale. Boy, do they look juicy!
10. Elegant Garden Wedding
Weddings ought to be elegant occasions, and the garden where they happen ought to be even more elegant. Here’s a garden wedding idea for you to try: Start out by laying down some white stone path to create a long wedding aisle. Then setup a wedding arch as a grand entry way, and decorate the aisle with some Bunny Day topiaries. I love the small shrub islands too, but you’ll need to do some waterscaping to make that a reality. Lastly, setup some rows of Turkey Day pedestals and floating biotope planters. And then you’re ready to walk down the aisle.
9. Bamboo Garden Pond
Every good garden needs a wonderful pond. This pond idea is actually made of some custom designs meticulously placed on the ground, so that there’s room for the Kero Kero Keroppi bridge to cross. To mimic this idea, setup a couple statues and surround them with various flowers. I like the use of red, yellow, and white flowers here, as it’s a simple color scheme. Lastly, plant plenty of bamboo trees for some more elegant scenery in your fancy pond-adjacent garden.
8. Waterfall Garden Entrance
I swear, I have the creativity of a tree stump when it comes to this game. Because I could’ve never made this scene myself, and it is just plain gorgeous! There’s a lot going on here, so I’m just going to highlight some of my favorite parts. The circular lake and waterfalls are stunning, as is the valiant statue in the middle surrounded by shrubs. I also love the forced perspective bridge. But it’ll require some very careful sculpting of the land and water to create these aquatic depths. To actually setup the bridge, lay down some stone path and iron stone fencing. And be sure to leave a grand stone staircase to lead into this stunning garden spot.
7. Rainbow Garden Path
Here’s another great use of the wide variety of flower colors. Just simply set them up along a walkway leading up to anyone’s front door. To make this, create some custom stone or brick pathways in front of your house (or anyone’s I guess?) Then, line the walk with a plethora of flowers, all organized into plenty of colorful rows. What sets this idea apart is the many floor lights along the walkway, positioned carefully to match the flowers next to them.
6. Floating Global Islands
Water can be a prominent feature in most garden designs. But I’d say here the water here is the main attraction! You’ll most definitely need to do tons of waterscaping to carefully carve out the many square islands pictured here. Position them perfectly so that you can easily hop from island to island without a vaulting pole. Some islands need to be bigger, too, as they’re going to hold the many worldly items you can obtain from Gulliver. This can include a pyramid, pagoda, Stonehenge, or even an Easter Island head. Then all you need to do is decorate your islands with plenty of flowers. There’s no real pattern here, so go nuts!
5. Artistic Vineyard
And now we’re getting into the garden designs that are truly remarkable. To set up this vineyard, you’ll need tons of custom designs on simple panels, standees, paths, and even displayed as artwork. Setup simple panels with a lattice work pattern and standees with grapevines. You can add a small community painting area too, with custom designs displayed as easels and iron garden chairs for seating. Then add in a fountain area with some barrels for wine, and iron garden benches for a place to enjoy the view. One final area you can setup is a beachside seating area with rattan chairs, a rattan table, and your wide brim straw hat as you relax by the water. Plus if you want even more vineyard design ideas, we’ve got plenty of those for all of you truly passionate wine lovers.
4. Icy Winter Flower Bed
While it’s certainly not winter anymore, it’s never too late to get ready. For this custom winter flowerbed idea, start by creating a backdrop of wedding pipe organs turned at various angles in an artful display. Then setup some bunny day topiaries and craft a log bench to create a cute little spot to sit. Blue and white flowers work very well with the winter aesthetic here, so I’d recommend using them. I also like the addition of the scenic painting. After all, why not add a winter painting to a winter scene?
3. Gardens of Alhambra
I’ve never been to Spain. But if you’ve visited the Alhambra Gardens (or just heard of ‘em) then you’ll surely want to recreate them on your island. Start out by laying down some gorgeous stone and tile pathways. The tiles are positioned kitty-corner from one another, which helps it not look too busy. Next dig out a small pond, and in the middle, place a beautiful statue on a small island. Setup plenty of custom panels in the background too, with the garden window pattern. Also you’ll wanna plant your favorite fruit tree in the corner, just for some summertime picking. Then setup a bit of garden seating with iron garden benches, hedges, and floating biotope planters for some added greenery.
2. French Castle Garden
Let’s continue to travel across Europe for garden ideas. Here we have this French-inspired castle garden for you to try out. To start, setup your house as a grand palace by crafting two silos to act as towers, stone lion dogs to guard your door, and some iron stone fencing to protect your property. Then (not too far in front) setup a valiant statue as a centerpiece for your garden. You’ll also want some small hedge sections to hold various statues and monuments, such as an athletic statue or Tower of Pisa. Once you add some pretty white flowers, you can take a break and breathe in the fresh garden air.
1. London Italian Gardens
Well color me impressed, because this has to be the most beautiful New Horizons garden idea that I’ve personally seen. This is a recreation of the Italian Gardens of Hyde Park in London, so it takes a lot of work to properly catch their magnificence. Especially in a game like Animal Crossing. First, you want to make a large rectangular lake with a smaller island in the middle. Be sure to add some small waterfalls in the background that pour into your lake, too. Then craft a fountain to place on the island, and proudly display a gallant statue atop the falls. Around the perimeter of the lake, display plenty of shrubs, flowers, and statues to finish off this remarkably breathtaking venue.
