Design Tip
It's that time of year again. Mailboxes are filling with garden catalogues,
nurseries are gearing up for the onslaught of new plants, and homeowners (in parts of the country) are waiting for the ground to thaw and the snow to disappear so they can finally get at the garden. Designers, too, covet new and exotic plants, want a shrub that nobody in the neighborhood has, crave the latest trendy perennial. But resist, resist, resist the temptation to order or buy things first and figure out later where you're going to put them.
(photo: Nat'l Agricultural Library, ARS, USDA)
The worst clients I've ever had, the worst gardens I've been hired to straighten out are the ones that have scores of plants, each one in a different place. I understand why clients want one of everything, but it adds up to a jumbled design and a garden that offers no sense of serenity, no place for refuge.
It's perfectly OK to have a lot of different hostas, but PLEASE, plan where they'll go and put them together -- or repeat them in various locations around the garden in an effort to bring it together, as in the photo at left.
Do not cram another plant into the border without knowing how large it's going to get and whether it'll soon take over the entire space!
Plants that are massed together look better than one of each -- unless the one is a true specimen and has a special place -- a focal point -- of its own. Think of those gardens where you see masses of daylilies or masses of azaleas or masses of roses all planted together. If you don't know how to map out a vision on paper of where your plants will be located, hire a designer to help or take a class in basic garden design. And think of all the plants you can order next year, when you know where they're going to go.
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