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The snow has melted, the air is starting to warm up, and the smell of springtime is in the air. It might be time to start getting your garden ready for the glorious spring and summer that are to come. And if you're sick of your backyard garden, it also might be the perfect time for a clean start. We asked readers to submit pictures and descriptions of their "theme" backyard gardens and patios. Here are our top picks - maybe they will inspire you!

1. Butterfly Garden: Rosemary Willis has designed this gorgeous garden just to attract butterflies. Featuring bright colors and sweet scents, this garden is irresistible to these fluttering insects, not to mention a joy to behold by humans as well. Rosemary's butterfly garden is beautiful, aromatic, and full of life, giving the butterflies and their observers a wonderful place to visit.

The traditional English garden theme is that of half-wild and half-cultivated plants that are allowed to sprawl and ramble as they will. Joshua Rakham designed his first backyard gardens in the classic form with magnificent recumbent plants, short hedgerows to keep the plants where they belong, and pathways - and then added garden globes, plaster gnomes, and fairies for a touch of whimsy.

When building a garden, pet owners must take particular care that they do not plant any poisonous plants where their pets can get at them. A cat garden takes into account plants that are safe for cats to be around, and also contain plants that cats can climb on, sit on, or play with. Even birdhouses (installed safely out of reach, of course!) can be entertaining for your cat.

4. The Monochromatic Garden: Designed by Pilar Sota, these remarkable black and white theme backyard gardens are as stunning at night as they are during the day. The sun sparkles on the whites, as patterns laced with dark, rich violets swirl in the light. By moonlight, the white plants seem to glow with an otherworldly quality.

Love cuddling up in bed every night with a warm cup of tea? The aroma, the warmth, the flavor. Imagine this same experience every time you walk out to your backyard patio. Create a tea garden right in your own backyard and incorporate some of the ideas Janice LaRoux used when she created her aromatic tea garden with over 50 plants. And for a decorative twist, she added some teapots to continue the Tea Garden theme.

If you are ready for a change in your backyard gardens, perhaps these theme garden ideas will inspire you. A butterfly garden is not only beautiful and aromatic, but functional. Butterflies eat annoying little bugs. A garden can have both wild and cultivated elements, inspired by an English garden. Cat lovers can design their garden around their cats with cat grass, catnip, birdhouses and plants to attract butterflies providing entertainment for the cats. A black and white garden that looks beautiful both during the day and at night in the moonlight. Perhaps you would like to enjoy a cup of tea on your backyard patio surrounded by your tea gardens.