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Plants and planting schemes
Bark, stems and leaves
When we think of garden plants, our initial thoughts are always of flowers, but don't forget that the bark, stem and especially the leaves are just as important.
A delightful tree for a small garden is Acer griseum (left), commonly called the paper-bark maple. This beautiful slow-growing tree from China has attractive pendulous foliage that is grey-green above with paler hairy undersides. It has superb autumn colour and, if that weren’t enough, this good-value tree continues to thrill throughout winter when its branches are bare, making it easier to see its gorgeous cinnamon-brown peeling bark.
Other acers with colourful bark are Acer davidii, known as the snake-bark maple, which has purple-green bark with vertical white stripes and very good autumn leaf colour. A. ‘Sango-kaku’, known as the coral-bark maple has, as its name suggests, wonderful coral coloured bark and, again, good autumn foliage colour.
The evergreen eucalypts and deciduous birches are also excellent for their handsome trunks. Eucalpytus pauciflora and its subspecies are particularly good. E. pauciflora subsp. niphophila is suitable for a small garden as is Betula utilis, and when the latter is planted in a block of three or five, a coppice look is achieved.
And on the subject of winter stems and bark, consider using plants like the common dogwood - Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’ - its almost upright, vibrant red stems will brighten up the garden in winter. It is also great for cutting - its pliable twigs easily twist around Christmas wreaths, or just arrange the stems in a vase for seasonal colour. If you are patient and you change the water regularly, it will delight by coming into bud in the New Year and even into flower a few weeks later. Add to this the fact that it will root in water, enabling you to pot up the twigs for more plants the following year makes this an all-year-round winner.
Other dogwoods to consider are Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’, which has orange-red stems and, as the name suggests, resembles a fire, particularly when seen at a distance. For yellow stems there is C. stolonifera ‘Flaviramea’ and for dark, almost black stems, choose C. alba ‘Kesselringii’ (left). This cultivar also has attractive, purple-green foliage.
If you have room to grow a mixture of dogwood varieties, they will bring your garden alive during the dreary winter months. If you are lucky enough to have a pond in your garden and you plant them along the edge, they will be reflected in the water, giving you twice the amount of pleasure as is demonstrated here by the lake at RHS Garden Wisley (right).
For green winter stems I love to use Leycesteria formosa. This attractive, fast-growing shrub could be described as a ‘cut-and-come-again’ plant as it can be reduced to ground level in early spring to encourage rejuvenation, just like you would do with buddleja. It has long, hanging, heavy racemes of white flowers surmounted by purple-red bracts in late summer, followed by purple fruits in late autumn. Its foliage is nothing to write home about but its hollow, bright green stems, not dissimilar to those of bamboo, give a good winter display. I like to cut them for the vase alongside the red stems of the dogwood at Christmas. On the negative side, it does seed around the garden so can be a nuisance but I wouldn’t say this is a good enough reason not to include it at the back of the border.
Foliage
Leaves are an excellent way to bring colour, shape and form into the garden and here are some of my favourites.
First up is Euphorbia mellifera, an evergreen shrub that I usually try to incorporate in all the gardens I design. It grows to quite a size (2m x 2m/6.5 x 6.5ft) but don’t let this put you off, as its spent flower stems can be cut hard back when it will quickly rejuvenate from the base. Its acid-green evergreen foliage always stands out in a crowd and its brownish coloured flowers in spring give off a lovely honey scent, hence its common name - the honey spurge.
Acers, as we have already discussed, give wonderful autumn colour and some types also have attractive trunks. Pictured here is Acer palmatum ‘Katsura’, which has typical tiny palmate leaves, which emerge pink in spring, later turning to green and then back to pink again in late summer, followed by a glorious red in autumn.
A. palmatum var. dissectum has, as its name suggests, a dissected palmate leaf that is deep red-green in summer turning orange-flame in autumn. All acers, particularly the dissectums, do suffer from wind scorch so a slightly shady, sheltered spot will be needed to ensure the leaves remain in tact throughout the summer in order to ensure a good autumn colour display.
Another shrub for good autumn colour and handsome foliage throughout the summer is Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’. This gorgeous shrub has oblong purple-wine coloured foliage that becomes duller towards autumn when it turns vivid red. My favourite though is Cotinus ‘Grace’, which has a much larger leaf than C. coggygria ‘Royal Purple’, and because it has a greyness to its deep red foliage, this gives it more depth and translucency, particularly when seen with sunlight behind.
On the subject of grey foliage, another favourite of mine is Melianthus major. This very statuesque and architectural plant has wonderful sea green to glaucous blue evergreen foliage, making it a useful plant to associate with others, particularly dark foliage specimens that are often so difficult to place. On the negative side though, it is said to be tender although in my London garden it thrives very well. I cut it down to ground each summer after flowering. It has tawny-crimson flower spikes in spring - and it rejuvenates from the base, so this one works well when you want to fill a space and then later reduce it in size when it becomes too big.
Glossy leaves are always a welcome to break in the border and Fatsia japonica fits the bill in most situations, and its tolerance to shade makes it a great candidate for an awkward sunless spot. This is another cut-and-come again plant that will take hard pruning.
Add some variegated plants too, but try not to place too many different variegations side-by-side, as this can look too busy and will be tiring on the eye.
Next article: Flowers, fruits and leaves again