get a line a designer ’s tricks for transforming your entire yard using clustering of container planting .
Matthew Benson
While a simple couple of potted plant can provide a little boost to a backyard , assemble containers in tumid groupings can transmute the space entirely . But coming up with theright mix of potted plantingsrequires an eye for design . Enter garden designer and instructor Rochelle Greayer . Here , she shares lessons from her own backyard for container gardens that transform any outdoor blank .
Credit:Matthew Benson
Rochelle Greayeris a Massachusetts - based garden designer , teacher , and editor ofThe American Gardenermagazine .
1. Play with Contrast
" grain is the magic trick , " Greayer says . " If a garden looks respectable in a black - and - white picture , you ’re onto something . " This organisation is a suit in point : While it has a cohesive pinkish - and - putting surface palette , the real write up is one of interesting soma and textures . The contrasts in form between plants like leafy ' Dark Ruffles’coleus , strappyNew Zealand flax , and pompom - shapeddahliaslet each musician in the tantrum endure out .
2. Bring the Inside Out
Come summer , Greayer likes to give herhouseplants a holiday outdoors , where she incorporate them into container organisation . In one group , big - leaf elephant ears , specimen begonia , andamaryllises(whose rich gullible foliage calculate neat even without heyday ) mix with outdoor plants likeHakone grass , coral bells , andferns .
To ease thehouseplants ' transition to the outdoors , start them in a shady part of the garden ( indoor flora foliage can scorch if they ’re placed in direct Sunday right away ) .
3. Blend In
Although container groupings can be statement making , sometimes they act well as an easygoing complement to your inground plantings . " I wanted to augment and establish off the exist colouring scheme , " Greayer says of the potted plants along the stairs here . great deal hold trailing purplesweet potato vine , bushy yellow ' Rock ' N Low’sedum , and a marvellous citronella - scentedgeraniumthat fit correctly in with theyellow wax bellsandblack - eyed Susanson the other side of the low stone paries .
Rochelle Greayer
Planting a container garden provide you to focus , cut , and be originative without the pressure of an in - ground garden .
4. Be Flexible
Try not to get too attached to any element in your arrangement . Move pots around and swap things out as the season change or if something just is n’t knead well . " Do n’t be afraid to jerk a lot out and put it behind the shed for next twelvemonth , " Greayer say .
Greayer typically opts for only one plant eccentric per pot : It simplify care and often make it loose to arrange flowerpot within a grouping .
5. Pick a Theme
Choose a resort element — a color , say , or a material — and start amass pots and plants . In this sketch , terra cotta wad of different size of it and shades tie together an eclectic chemical group of xanthous - and - purple flora that includes agave , coreopsis , Russian sage , and dwarfmorning resplendence . For hatful , do n’t throttle yourself to garden inwardness and nursery . Estate sales , penny-pinching shop , on-line marketplaces , and discount storage can be sources of enshroud gems at buy terms .
6. Lead the Eye
If there ’s an orbit in your garden that does n’t shine — a collapsing shed , an one-time chicken henhouse , or an English ivy - covered incline — consider grade a large musical arrangement of container nearby to take the focus off from it . " It ’s a great way to break up a position and distract , " Greayer says .
You do n’t need to grease one’s palms plants solely for potting up . take container a starting point for plants that may end up in the ground elsewhere in the garden .
Credit:Matthew Benson
Credit:Matthew Benson
Credit:Matthew Benson
Credit:Matthew Benson
