English Garden cant get 5 stars

[King DaMuncha]

I've got 5 stars for my flowers, I've got 5 stars for my layout. I've got 0 stars for equipment.

I've looked at a guide and the wiki and put in the things it asks for, and I still get 0 stars for my garde. What am I equipment do I put in the garden?

[dark_haunt]

Equipment is everything in the garden that isn't a plant, so it includes things like pavers, pots/garden beds, ponds, pools, furniture, lights and decorations. It's very important that everything you choose for your contest garden fits the theme. If it fits, you'll get points and that means stars. If it doesn't fit, however... you can also lose stars.

When you go to the contest page, there's a short write up for each contest where it says what sorts of plants and materials should be used for that type of garden. Pay very close attention to the materials mentioned. If you use other types of material, you risk losing stars.

For the English garden, use stepping stones rather than pavers where possible. For lighting; the classic garden lights always work for me, to get full stars. For furniture; either of the 2 small round cafe table/chair sets works well and there's a particular bench that scores highly. It's the wooden one with the arched trellis over it that has a matching arch. Use as many of both the bench and the arch as you can. A gazebo, a fountain, a pond (the original ones, not the Japanese ones with the fish) and the bird set (feeder, bath and the bird house that hangs on the wall of the house) also work well. For decorations, the owl works however I believe a gnome scores higher.

Try to avoid putting in a pool or excessive outdoor furniture as they score much better for American gardens and can hurt your stars in an English contest.

[King DaMuncha]

The info I read told me to use paved bricks. I was making a family home so I wanted things in the backyard for the family and kids. But American garden gave me 0 stars because I used flowers around the edge instead of green shrubs everywhere. Anyway, After putting a few wooden benchs with a back (trellis?), a Pagola, a couple of fountains, and many sprinklers the Garden competition gave me 3 stars for equipment. So I got a +30% to the house value and that was good enough for me.

[dark_haunt]

As long as the surface says the material in the name, it will work fine for any contest that specifies that type of material. If it looks like it is, but the name doesn't say it is, go by the name for the material type.

American gardens can have flowers in them, as long as you also put at least a couple of a few types of coniferous shrubs or trees in. That way you'll gain stars and not just lose them for bad plant choice, so it will balance out. Try to avoid roses, rhododendrons, edible plants or the grasses, however, as they're for other contests more so than the other plants.

The pagola and sprinklers might have let you down. Yes, sometimes it's better to take what stars you get rather than spend more money to try for more stars. Especially on the smaller houses where the gardens can end up costing more than the bonus you get from full stars :)

[King DaMuncha]

Both guides I read said to put in Pagolas and Roses and maybe sprinklers. After putting in the sprinklers I went up to 3 stars from 1 star.

[dark_haunt]

If you need to choose between a gazebo and a pergola for an English garden, go with the gazebo. It's more traditionally English-style while pergola's are more modern.

The best plant to use for the English garden is the rose. The more colours and varieties you use, the better. (My comment about avoiding roses was in regards to an American garden, sorry for any confusion there!)