New construction is looking for a garden planner because we are not creative enough

This is a sketch, quick and dirty. Means: an example, spontaneously scribbled on paper. To the right of the whirlpool is a rectangle - kind of a seating wall or something similar. Some imagination is allowed.

Yes, I didn't mean your sketch but the garden owners. If they install a whirlpool next to or very close to the terrace, I would definitely think about the appearance beforehand. I find the plastic tubs, well. The wall or border bed would have to be quite high to really beautify the whirlpool. But there are also beautiful whirlpools.

Wooden prairie beds are quite insect-friendly and have their justification. Alone the Echinacea or the autumn aster.

I don’t like the plastic boat

I don’t like it either. Our neighbors have one… you can really hear the pump (or whatever it is)

There are probably big differences. When I walk to my parents' house, I pass a garden - a hot tub in front of the house - you neither saw nor heard it. Even though it was only 2 or 3 meters away from the sidewalk.

Also make sure to fill the gaps in the flower beds with low-maintenance ground covers. I have a lot of yellow stonecrop. It blooms beautifully and for a long time, insects love it, and it stays nicely lush green for a long time. It can also be easily removed from the soil but doesn't absorb much water. Otherwise, the rule is tall at the back, low at the front. For the wall, you could also consider planting fruit trees that have been trained as espalier. Privacy and fruit harvest in one. But I don't know if they do well. For the whirlpool: do you want an inflatable one just for the winter or one for the whole year?

Wooden prairie garden beds are definitely insect-friendly and have their justification. Just the Echinacea or the New England aster alone.

If you only look superficially, sure, the plants provide pollen and/or nectar. And therefore they are visited by insects. If you have little knowledge, that looks insect-friendly. But our native wild insects mostly depend on native plants for reproduction, with very few exceptions. There are always generalists that visit every flower, like bumblebees and honeybees (= unharmed domesticated animals), many hoverflies. But they would visit native plants just as much, or even better. I also have a few non-native plants. Sure, insects visit them. No comparison to the crowd and species diversity on important native plants. I have been dealing with this topic for years, and native plants are always better and to be preferred. It is pointless if only adult animals find food, but have no opportunity to raise their offspring. Some New England asters, like Aster novi-belgii, are even invasive and actively harm our flora and fauna.