If you have struggled to create a cohesive design, this easy formula is the answer
coherence in a garden can be hard to achieve . A conception can seem either too homogenous or too disparate . The latter is specially lawful for us gardeners who are accumulator . The answer lies in what I call “ meaningful apposition . ” I break-dance down the conception of juxtaposition , or comparison - contrast , into four parameters : size , shape , color , and texture . Whether plants or hardscape materials , all garden elements possess these four parameters . Matching all four can be predictable , middling , and boring — rather like purchasing a matching article of furniture suite from a big - corner memory . But if none of these parameters connect , a garden can look like the markdown rack at a garden center . aim for garden cohesion begins with jibe two of those four parameters and varying the others . Doing so produces enough sake to cast the viewer into the unexpected , the tactile , and the magical . Who does n’t want to bestow a measure of illusion to their garden ? Let ’s explore each argument and how to employ it successfully .
With size, it’s all relative
Size deals with the plate of the item-by-item element as well as how the constituent relates to the space into which it is placed . Historically , interior designers brag the wisdom of using only little - scale furniture in a small way . While this is a secure approach , it is far too predictable and uninteresting . in reality , overscaled pieces can tally unexpected sake and drama to a small room if done thoughtfully .
And so it is with the garden . Examples of sizematching abound , particularly in traditional and conventional garden . believe of allées , pollarded tree , and boxwood ( Buxusspp . and cvs . , Zones 4–9 ) gardens . Such garden can be pleasant and even tranquil , but seldom are they intriguing or inventive . Size - matching can be a corking tool when employed in a collector ’s garden . For example , thoughtfully placing similarly sized boxwood among a disorderly aggregation of conifers can innovate rhythm method and become a common thread to wind a disparate assembling into a cohesive and tranquil garden .
If done in a manner that captures attention , combining plants of counterpoint sizes can read as both exalted and profound . The key fruit to doing this successfully is to verify the departure is pronto obtrusive and that the plants relate with regard to other parameters .
Use shapes to elicit emotions
Shapes animate the mental imagery and elicit emotion . This is why I have such a making love for tears , gnarl , contorted , and prostrate tree . I tell customer that such trees resurrect arthritis to an art form . In particular , I find the spheric human body quite nurturing , in all likelihood because it beseech light-headed antepartum memories of being in the womb , where all our needs are encounter without any exploit on our part . Again using boxwood as an object lesson , ballpruned box can easily be interlard with stone sphere . Doing so can shoot a present-day feel into a traditional or transitional garden . For extra interest , cone-shaped box can be added to produce contrast .
folio flesh can also be pit . For instance , boxwood , Japanese Charles Hardin Holley ( Ilex crenataand cvs . , Zones 5–8 ) and dwarf yaupon Holly ( Ilex vomitoriacvs . , Zones 7–9 ) all have a similar leaf shape as well as overall form , and all may be used successfully in a exclusive garden . The key is to aggroup the same plants together and space these dissimilar grouping widely aside . You do n’t need to stress too hard to make the connection . The subconscious minds of your garden visitor will do the work for you . This kind of coherency , without being flat in its repetition , will give your garden its noble-minded sense of place .
Color can come from hardscape
Color is generally the most obtrusive , and most attempt after , boast in most garden . To reword a well - known quotation mark , I think that colour often is the opium of the the great unwashed .
A quick study of the color wheel will give you a work noesis of how to engage color to accomplish your garden goals . completing colors are those that are opposite one another on the color wheel . Red and green are completing , for exemplar . Analogous colors are those that lie in close together on the bike , such as blue and purple . Using completing colors as garden stress create pastime and pull in the oculus toward sure areas . Using analogous colors produces less “ pop ” and yield a more tranquil feel .
For year - round interest , I suggest a sound blend of both flower and foliage color . Foliage color is frequently ephemeral throughout the year and should be observe . This is especially unfeigned with regard to plants such as Nipponese maples ( Acer palmatumand cvs . , Zones 5–9 ) , pieris ( Pierisspp . and cvs . , Zones 5–9 ) , and some conifers . Therefore , mate these plants with suitable bedmates or even hardscape should be a precedency . In my garden , I ’ve planted a carmine - foliage Japanese maple near a set of passee Formosan door encased with a Chinese red skeleton . For several week in autumn , the vignette puts on quite a show . A more permanent example of twin foliage people of color to hardscape is the use of a low - spreading blue - goad conifer that drapes over a bluestone terrace . The color matches , or nearly so , accentuating the textural difference .
glum immature reads as tranquil to our brains and give the heart a place to rest between pops of color . It also visually recedes and , by doing so , can make a place seem larger than it in reality is . When dealing with short-lived foliage semblance , dark green is a lifesaver in that it provides stability to the vignette . However , a garden with an excessive amount of dark green can seem uneventful and predictable . The addition of some light-colored greens such as chartreuse is a quick fix .
To see whether your garden relies too much on colour at the disbursal of size , form , and texture , take your camera into the garden and look at the resulting photos in black and white . Does your garden still look cohesive and your design intentional ?
Texture can be tricky
Texture is one of those construct that is difficult to grasp and define . It relates both to how something feel and to how it come along to sense . Thus , a legato ceramic container with a crackled glaze could appear to be highly textured even though it has a low textural quality when really bear upon . grain can be match in two way : either by level of grain or by real , similar grain . When work with grade of grain , you could pair a extremely textural coniferous tree with a roughly glazed container . This would work because both elements feel crude and perhaps even a bit uncomfortable when you run your hired hand across them . study using disparate plants with gibe textures . Similar grain can be the cohesion that take for a sketch together .
Pulling It All Together
In the pursuance to create a empyreal and cohesive garden with a sexually transmitted disease of the unexpected , a good starting detail is to match two of the parameters and to vary the other two . If when you have hand this point the individual element read as too strong , you may need to fit a third argument to make more continuity and dilute the degree of contrast . If at this point the single elements take as too weak when viewed as a whole , you may want to counterpoint a third element to create more noticeable interest . Consider this drinking glass installation .
Too much contrast (below left)
The blown - Methedrine foliage utterly mime the embodiment and grain of the plaster cast - iron plant in which they are sit . The size and color of each constituent vary . Because red and green are complemental rather than correspondent colors , the vignette appear too jarring and necessitate more continuity .
Too much harmony (above right)
In this photo , the satisfying - crimson methamphetamine has been replaced with two - toned glass that picks up the chartreuse of the surround ‘ Florida Sunshine ’ illicium ( Illicium parviflorum‘Florida Sunshine ’ , Zones 6–9 ) . Now colouring material , shape , and texture all mate , with only a little amount of red ink to draw the eye . The semblance is so correspondent that the red appear to be floating aimlessly over the top of the vignette instead of earn a attentive connection to it . More demarcation is needed to give this sketch the position of honour it deserves in the garden .
Just the right balance
The final instalment shows a mixture of the two types of methamphetamine . There is enough chartreuse glass to make a color connective with the surrounding foliage . The solid - reddish pieces toil the mixed pieces by draw the red down to primer coat floor . Finally , the glass mime the shape of the form - iron industrial plant leave-taking . The instalment has now become an appropriate focal point in this woodland garden .
*Invasive Alert: Cortaderia selloana ‘Patagonia’
This flora is debate incursive in AL and CA .
Please visitinvasiveplantatlas.orgfor more entropy .
Jay Sifford designs gardens in Charlotte , North Carolina .
Photos , except where noted : Jay Sifford
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What makes this little guy stand out?The use of “meaningful juxtaposition” allows a plant such as ‘Pagoda’ trout lily (Erythronium‘Pagoda’, Zones 5–9) to make an impact in its section of a border.Photo: Howard Rice/gapphotos.com
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Sometimes you need to go small.Adding the smaller flower ‘Jeana’ phlox (Phlox paniculata‘Jeana’, Zones 4–8) next to the larger purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea, Zones 3–9) makes an artful combination.Photo: Nancy J. Ondra
Spheres can be powerful.The colors match perfectly, so it is up to the strongly contrasting shapes and textures of ‘Mount Everest’ allium (Allium‘Mount Everest’, Zones 3–8) and Mexican feather grass (Nassella tenuissima, Zones 7–11) to create drama in this combination.Photo: Nancy J. Ondra
Take advantage of seasonal color.The fall foliage of the Japanese maple adds more power to its focal-point neighbor, a set of antique Chinese doors.
Mix two and match two.This combination works because the size and color of the pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana ‘Patagonia’, Zones 7–11) contrasts with that of the persicaria (Persicaria amplexicaulis‘Taurus’, Zones 4–9) while their shape and texture are similar.Photo: Richard Bloom*
Color catches the eye.But the contrasting shapes of sweet iris (Iris pallida‘Variegata’, Zones 4–9) and ‘Axminster Gold’ comfrey (Symphytum×uplandicum‘Axminster Gold’, Zones 5–7) ensure that this vignette is built on more than color.Photo: Nancy J. Ondra
For texture, try a container.The smooth surface of a container always adds a shot of textural contrast to a collection of plants.
