Plants and planting schemes
Planting principles
When designing a planting scheme, your first thoughts will probably be to bring colour into your garden by way of flowers. This is perfectly natural but you should not make it your first consideration. As plants play a vital role in creating the garden structure, your first thoughts should be to decide on the roles the plants will play in your scheme. Do you want to screen an unsightly view? If your garden is small, you may not have room for wide spreading plants, so think about including tall plants and climbers because in a small space, the sky is the limit.
Once you have decided what part the plants will play, the next thing to look at is structure, texture and form.
Structure
Trees for height and shrubs for bulk are the natural choice, but do consider that whatever plants you choose will play a big part in what effect they will have in the great scheme of things - bare branches in winter will give a different feel to your garden than in summer, when they will be fully in leaf, growing among other plants in your borders.
Tall-growing perennials like delphiniums and Echium pininana (pictured right at The Chelsea Physic Garden in London) and annuals like sunflowers will also give the garden structure. But, unlike trees and shrubs, these plants will not afford the same year-round interest - come the winter months, herbaceous perennials will die down, not to return until the following year or, in the case of annuals, they will die completely at the end of the growing season as soon as the first frost has taken its hold.
Evergreen bamboo is another choice for adding structure, and for further interest, grasses will continue to look good if left standing throughout the winter months, as can be seen here at RHS Garden Wisley (left).
Not only do grasses give structure, they can also give colour - Miscanthus sinensis ‘Zebrinus’ pictured here has yellow horizontal striped foliage for summer interest and then in autumn it produces silky, brown-pink flowers.
Other grasses, like evergreen Stipa arundinacea (see picture below) continue to give form and shape throughout the year with the added bonus of autumn/winter colour.
Texture
Texture is mainly associated with foliage, which can vary from very coarse like Eriobotrya japonica (left) to the softer foliage of the evergreen grass Stipa arundinacea (right). This grass is not tall - it grows to about 1m (3ft) high by the same spread - but, like taller grasses, it makes an excellent specimen plant in the border or a container. Grasses have an added dimension in that they also offer movement, as their fine foliage waves in the slightest breeze. This particular grass works very hard and is a true good value plant as its gorgeous green leaves, with hints of orange throughout the summer, turn to glowing tones of orange, pink and green in the autumn and throughout the winter months.
And there are grey-leaved plants to consider, some with velvety foliage like Verbascum bombyciferum seen here contrasting with the shiny, strappy leaves of evergreen Agapanthus africanus.
Put it all together and, as can be seen in this example, the end result is a pleasing mix of foliage shapes, textures and even colour, proving that you can achieve a colourful border by using just foliage, if that is your fancy.
This plant grouping also offers year-round interest as the Eryngium pandanifolium in the centre is both structural and evergreen. Its glaucous grey, spiny foliage is in complete contrast to the purple leaves of heuchera, also evergreen, and its airy flowers on tall spikes (seen here) create yet more contrast while softening the hard, upright leaves of the eryngium. The purple leaves of the heuchera also act as a foil to the soft velvety leaves of Stachys byzantina and pots of pretty grey-leaved Helichrysum petiolare, usually grown as an annual as it is tender, unless you live in a warm area - in London I find it comes through most winters in tact. At the other end of the spectrum, in the background can be seen a large pot of Gunnera manicata, its giant, coarse leaves making a bold statement. Scrambling among the whole composition can be seen the magenta flowers of Geranium psilostomen, which uses the other plants as a natural climbing frame.
I will discuss later the use of containerised plants to effect in the border. This trick enables a grouping of plants that may not otherwise grow happily alongside each other but which, nevertheless, do look good together.
Shape and form
Now think about the shapes and forms of your plant groups by looking at their outline rather than their leaf and flower detail. You should be aiming for a balance of contrasting shapes, as in the image, which depicts a selection of clipped evergreen box, laurel and santolina as well as the strong outline of the pencil thin cypress trees.
Shape and form can also come from deciduous trees and shrubs as their bare branches will continue to add shape and form throughout the winter months. They also take on a ghostly appearance when covered in frost and, if covered in snow, they become even more magical.
The plot thickens
Plan your scheme using groups and avoid planting singly, unless the plant is a specimen tree, grass or shrub - if your plan includes irises don’t plant one, plant a large block for greater impact, and repeat it again in another part of the border or garden, which will help to relate each area to the other.
If your garden is very small and you don’t have the space to plant large blocks, it is better to keep your choice of plants to a few species and repeat them rather than planting one of this and one of that, which will end up looking ill-conceived and will lack impact.
Plan to use your borders to the full by including spring and autumn bulbs in between herbaceous plants and underneath deciduous trees and shrubs, thereby making full use of the space, particularly if it is limited.
In a small space don’t forget to make full use of the vertical plain using climbers and trees, and think big. Just because you have a small garden, it doesn’t mean you have to only include small plants. In fact, in a small space big is better, particularly if you want to achieve the wow factor. Be bold.
To quote Alan Titchmarsh, whose sentiments are basic common sense when it comes to designing a garden "Plan views and vistas that invite you to explore."