15+ Novel Types of Gardens - Because why can't a gardens be fun as well as practical?

 

Now that I'm close to retirement, I'm thinking I may finally have time to start a garden. The question is: what kind? I'm the kind of person who likes to rethink the way things have always been done, which is how I ended up compiling the following list of ideas for gardens that might be a little more "exotic" than your traditional backyard kitchen or spice plot. Gardening is too laborious and dedicated a task not to spend the time creating something that will bring you genuine and lasting delight ...!

1. Poison garden. A garden in which all the plants and flowers are toxic. Some of these species are actually quite lovely, and the experience might inform usefully inform my career as a murder mystery writer. On the negative side, however, this might perhaps make the neighbors nervous and have a chilling effect on the local wildlife. 
2. Dinosaur garden. A garden including only species that were around at the same time as the dinosaurs: ferns, cycads, horsetails, sequoias, cypresses, pines and ginkgos.  Back when everyone was paleo, and paleo wasn't even hip yet. Just for fun, I'd love to add plastic dinosaurs peaking out from the foliage and wait to see how long it takes for the neighborhood kids to notice!
3. Midnight garden.  A garden meant to be enjoyed at night - from flowers that bloom only at night to varieties with smells that become even more exotic in the dark.
4. Hanging garden. Create a long tunnel-like trellis structure and plant it with either fruits or veggies that can be trained to climb. I love the idea of being able to walk though a shady, fragrant tunnel of foliage and pick my dinner or desert as I go along! 
5. Medicinal garden. A garden in which all the plants and flowers have medicinal value - aloe, St. Johns Wart, etc.  I've always wanted to be an apothecary and formulate my own prescriptions.
6. Hobo garden. I'm a big fan of plain, chunky stews, so a garden that grows ingredients for all my favorite soups is appealing. 
7. Train garden.  Even as an adult, I still find myself transfixed by miniature train sets. So why not plan a garden garden around raised wooden planks that could be transformed into platforms for train tracks at any time?  I might throw in "houses" and "stations" crafted out of natural materials. It would be like a fairy garden for adults!
8. Art garden. I wonder if it would be possible to replicate a famous impressionist painting in flower colors?  Maybe something swirly, like one of Van Gogh's starry night constellations? 
9. Shakespeare garden. A garden constituted solely from plants and flowers mentioned in Shakespeare's poetry or plays.  
10. Sculpture garden. Plant only species that can be easily groomed (or that would easily grow over statuary), then trim/train the garden into a whole whimsical tableau - perhaps Alice and her tea party? Or trolls feasting on bones? 
11. Tea garden. A garden constituted solely from plants that can be brewed onto teas. 
12. Seedpod garden.  All the plants would be required to sport gorgeous or unique seedpods.
13. Pilgrim garden. Featuring only fruits and vegetables that would have been available to America's first European settlers. I imagine the varieties available these days barely resemble the plants in their original form, but one could at least recreate a garden that replicates the species that were available then. Bring on the Scuppernogg wine!
14. Turtle & Frog garden.  The trick would be to landscape the pond and surrounds using native species, so that the frogs and turtles who stop by for a visit would feel right at home and stay a while.  There's nothing I enjoy more in spring than watching tadpoles develop into frogs! 
15. Cocktail garden.  All the plants are ingredients in exotic cocktails.  Time to whip out my copy of The Drunken Botonist and start listing species! 
16. Booze garden.  All the plants can actually be transformed into alcohol - which I realize, technically speaking, would include all plants, but I'd focus on the more traditional and or interesting varieties. My moonshining Kentucky forebears would be so proud!