Entry Garden
Cool and Serene Color palette: Leaf green, light sage, white, deep blue, sky blue As calming as puffy white clouds moving across the sky or a sailboat on the water, planting palettes made up of blue and white blossoms set the tone for a tranquil landscape. To keep beds looking crisp and clean, restraint with the color palette is key. Choose blooms in clear shades of blue and as close to true white as you can find, and mix them with plenty of evergreen foliage.
In a mixed floral border in a garden near Sheffield, England, the designer used an engaging color palette of gold and bright orange avens (Geum spp.), and dark crimson and pale purple pincushion flowers (Scabiosa rumelica syn. Knautia macedonica). The overall effect is like a sprinkling of bright jewels over a dark backdrop (the green foliage).
Gardens using jewel-toned color palettes benefit from tones chosen from opposite sides of the color wheel (like orange and blue or yellow and violet). Pairing plants with foliage or flower colors in closely complementary hues makes each color stand out in contrast to its neighbors. For example, in this seaside garden on Bainbridge Island, Washington, dark purple ‘Caradonna’ sage (Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’) and cool blue ‘Little Titch’ catmint (Nepeta racemosa ‘Little Titch’) set off bright orange California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) planted close by.
Dramatic and Energizing Color palette: Pomegranate, dark purple, yellow orcher, periwinkle blue, medium gray-green High-contrast jewel-toned color palettes command attention, making eye-catching border displays that stand out on the block. Gardens in this rich color palette shine all year but are particularly dramatic in late summer and fall, when the deeply saturated tones complement the red, orange and amber leaves of trees changing color.
RIVERWALK ENTRY GARDEN Concentrating on blues and purples in a pastel palette creates a calmer and more tranquil feel than pastel schemes that include yellows and pinks. In the same garden, catmint (Nepeta sp.) blends with dark purple ‘May Night’ sage, lavender-pink ‘Globemaster’ allium and lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis) for a calming walkway planting.
ENTRY GARDEN TO RIVERWALK In this woodland garden outside of Boston, the designer banked the beds with pastel blooms mixed with plants that have silver to medium green foliage. Here we see white peonies, dark purple ‘May Night’ sage (Salvia ‘May Night’), lavender-pink ‘Globemaster’ alliums (Allium ‘Globemaster’), silver-leaved Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia), lamb’s ears (Stachys byzantina) and evergreen inkberry (Ilex glabra).
DESIGN ELEMENTS It turns out that shape and mass are interrelated concepts, elements that refer to how we view forms in the environment. Think about shape as a two-dimensional form and mass as its three-dimensional iteration. Bevlin illustrates shape with a line drawing of a square. Turn that square into a cube and the idea of mass appears. In the landscape, we can use both shape and mass to define spaces and give us clues as to how to occupy or navigate through them. The eye may see shapes as patterns, such as in a floor, wall or surface design. And similarly, the eye sees geometric, natural or multidimensional forms as mass. Here are some great images to help us understand how to use shape and mass in the landscape.
GRO VERT Living Wall Planter The horticulture industry is forever changed with the introduction of the BrightGreen Living Wall Planter.By graphically arranging a collection of plants in our GroVert vertical planter and mounting them on a vertical surface, designers, architects and the weekend gardener are presented with a whole new world in which to express their creativity.
BLACK MONDO GRASS Unlike many grasses, black mondo can successfully grow in the shade. Whether planted under an enormous spreading tree or beside a massive boulder, black mondo can serves as a textural contrast to basically any plant or landscape design element out there — particularly lighter foliage colors in a bold chartreuse or deep red.
Long-lasting rosettes. Set in a tabletop container in an outdoor living room, blue rose echeveria (Echeveria imbricata) looks as decorative as a bouquet of flowers. Native to Mexico, blue rose echeveria has a chalky coating over silvery-blue to pale pink and purple rosettes. It is much tougher than its appearance might suggest and needs only occasional water once established.
Special fixtures for important features. The downcast LED lights shown here are embedded in a slick fixture that helps illuminate the walkway. This path is a key part of the garden and probably one of the most important parts to light at night. One way to approach a minimal lighting setup is to invest in one set of high-end lights that illuminates only the most important part of the landscape. Leave the rest alone and focus on what’s most important.
Decide on the type of garden you want. Some Japanese gardens are designed as strolling gardens. The stone pathway twists a bit as it follows the fence line. Surrounded by a low ground cover that resembles moss, an often-used ground cover itself, the path disappears at the end of the yard. You may know, intellectually, that it just goes to the fence, but it appears to continue to a distant destination. Boulders and mixed plantings line the path in a causal and irregular mix that creates a sense of balance while still providing movement through the space. Though most of the elements are taken straight out of nature, the dark stone lantern hints at a human presence.
Enclose the space. Because these gardens are a microcosm of the world outside, fences and gates play an important role. Fences create boundaries that set the garden apart. The trick is to keep these barriers from feeling harsh or forbidding. Fences are simple in design and designed to blend with or set off the landscape they enclose. Plantings may conceal part of the fence to both soften it and hint at a world beyond, or the fence itself may be painted to blend into the rest of the yard rather than stand out sharply. The opposite approach is the fence that is opened up in one spot to capture a view beyond the garden itself, maybe a mountain vista or even a tree in bloom in a neighbor’s yard. Bamboo is an obvious choice as a fencing material, but wooden fences, especially those with a grid pattern, will also work.
Before you plant. Japanese maples have a slow growth rate and temperamental nature and can be scarce and expensive at nurseries. After planting, be sure to keep the soil moist yet well drained, and protect the tree from severe winds and harsh sunlight which can scorch its foliage. Routine pruning can promote air and sun circulation to the core of the tree, preventing future disease or infestation. Design plants with autumn color: Persian Ironwood | Smoke Tree | Bald Cypress | Feather Reed Grass | New Zealand Wind Grass
You can introduce moss into your garden in various ways. The mere act of soil acidification, coupled with proper preparation, will most likely encourage moss to grow on its own. This moss garden was created by this method, supplemented with a bit of transplanting, and is three years old. A moss garden is not for the impatient. It can take an average of five years to firmly establish a moss garden through soil acidification. Moss may be commercially purchased. Specialty nurseries such as Moss Acres sell it by the square foot. You can also introduce it by crumbling dry moss and scattering it throughout your planting area, as long as the area stays consistently moist. Finally, slurries or "milkshakes" of moss can be prepared by placing moss, along with buttermilk or plain yogurt, in a blender and mixing thoroughly. A can of beer plus two cubes of sugar, or even manure di
Moss, such as this sheet moss, grows steadily in a prepared bed. Moss grown this way requires acidic soil, full to partial shade, moisture and protection from leaf litter. You will note in these photos that Benner covers his moss with a fine plastic mesh in autumn so he can easily remove fallen leaves. He says moss will grow where it wants to grow. To encourage it, he recommends preparing a flat, shaded section of your garden by making sure that the chosen area has moisture-retentive soil and is raked clean. He recommends amending garden soil with humus, which retains moisture and will provide the moss with essential nutrients.
On a recent trip to Pennsylvania, I was fortunate enough to visit the moss garden of David Benner. Benner has been growing moss in his garden for more 50 years. One of his sons runs Moss Acres, a specialty mail-order moss nursery. Benner's appreciation for this primitive plant was evident as he gave me a two-hour tour of his garden. Here he is shown with a prized moss-covered rock that he has been nurturing for 50 years. Let's look at how Benner grows moss.
Moss has root-like structures called rhizoids that hold it in place. However, it has no vascular system; it transports nourishment through osmosis. This is why moss tends to grow best at a water's edge, where it can absorb water directly from a pond, spreading it throughout the patch. Because moss holds moisture so well, a plethora of shallow-rooted plants, including ferns, grow readily in it — bringing enjoyment and deep satisfaction to many woodland gardeners.
n the meditation studio in New York, the moss wall is meant to encourage interest without overwhelming the space or distracting those who are in it. “We wanted a wall that was breathtaking but encouraged deep breathing just the same,” Blank says. Its primarily monochromatic design features sheet mosses and dimensional mosses, as well as some ferns for texture and layering.
CALMING MOSS Moss, even in a preserved state, has benefits, inspiring calmness in those who look at it and providing greenery in spaces that normally couldn’t support living walls. MNDFL, a new meditation studio in Manhattan, is a quiet place for contemplation. The stripped-down space limits physical distractions, with an oversized preserved moss wall serving as a primary design element. The 9-foot-wide moss wall is surrounded by whitewashed brick walls and illuminated by natural light from a skylight.
EFFICIENT MOSS Living walls typically are made up of plants grown in soil-filled trays that need to be watered and monitored. The researchers at BiotA Lab, on the other hand, are designing walls that will use the material of the wall itself to grow plants — with minimal maintenance or structure. “We are aiming for a system that is more passive, and that doesn’t rely on costly irrigation systems,” codirector Cruz says. Right now they are studying concrete as a growing medium. Plants like mosses are perfect for this application for a number of reasons. “The fact that they are hardy and need much less maintenance than larger plants make them ideal for the integration into our cities and buildings as a productive part of our urban fabric,” BiotA’s Beckett says. “Moreover, recent research from the Max Planck Institute [for Chemistry] has shown just how much carbon dioxide and nitrogen these species take up from the atmosphere.”
RED CAP MOSS Moss is that green patch that shows up when moisture and shade mix. It looks good in Japanese gardens and on the walls of abandoned castles and fortresses. Sometimes, as an accidental ground cover, it adds a layer of history to a shady flagstone path. For some designers, artists and architects, moss also is an inspiration and an ideal material for their work. On an exterior wall in France, moss has been fashioned into a living work of art. In a university lab in London, moss is being grown as a new type of vertical garden. And on the wall of a meditation studio in New York, it is used to inspire calming mindfulness in visitors. With more than 12,000 recorded species inhabiting every global environment except salt water, m
Japanese Tea Garden Moss is recommended for ground cover. That alone will go a long way toward creating a teahouse garden atmosphere. Hypnum moss (Hypnum plumaeforme) is recommended because it is easy to grow in places that get half-shade to full sun. Moss dislikes dryness, so pay plenty of attention to watering.
A Beginner’s Guide to the Japanese Tea Garden
perfect plants to exist with hydrangea
contrasting shade plants
shade plants
shade plants
shade plants
shade plants
PLANT FOR CONTRAST Good garden designers know how to create interest through juxtaposition. By considering shape, size, color and texture, and grouping several plants with two common and two different characteristics together, you can create visual excitement in your garden.
TEXTURE, TEXTURE, TEXTURE A frequent complaint regarding shade gardens is that there is little color other than the ever-present green. This perceived shortcoming can be used to great advantage, because THE ABSENCE OF COMPETEING COLOR CAUSES THE EYE TO NOTICE SUBTLER BUT EQUALLY BEAUTIFUL THINGS SUCH AS FORM AND TEXTURE.
Plant to emphasize layering. The layered growth habit of certain ferns, such as this tassel fern (Polystichum polyblepharum, zones 5 to 8), provides unexpected interest in a shade garden. They can be used to create a focal point around the bend in a pathway or can really shine if planted on a slope at EYE LEVEL.
Plant for architectural interest. Plants with good structure are standouts among the usual array of ground covers found in most shade gardens. Fortunately there are many ferns that fit the bill. Notice the beautiful vase-like structure of these ostrich ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris, zones 3 to 7).
northern maidenhair fern Mature size: 1 foot to 2 feet tall and wide Benefits and tolerances: This fern tolerates acidic soil, deep shade and wet feet; it’s disease and pest resistant Seasonal interest: The northern maidenhair fern celebrates spring by pushing up soft, new fronds in midspring that are pink; by summer it sports soft, billowy fronds that seem to take the edge off hot, seemingly endless summer days; as long as it receives enough moisture and shade, the display will continue until the frost.
Shade gardens rely on shape and texture. Botanical name: Adiantum pedatum Common name: Northern maidenhair fern Origin and range: Eastern North America Where will it grow: Hardy to -40 degrees Fahrenheit (USDA zones 3 to 8; find your zone) Water requirement: Moist soil; while some fern species can tolerate semidry conditions, do not allow this fern to dry out Light requirement: Partial to full shade Soil requirement: Consistently moist, rich soil amended with organic matter
Planting notes. Ohio spiderwort is very adaptable and can grow and thrive in most soil types. The foliage may wither and brown if it’s planted in a site that is too sunny and dry and/or susceptible to drought. The plant will go dormant if the conditions are severe. If this occurs, move it to a site with partial sun and more soil moisture. I have not seen Ohio spiderwort browsed by deer or rabbits
Ohio spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis), an eastern U.S. native, helps solve this color deficit by providing clusters of blue flowers in early spring. Use this finely textured perennial along a walkway
Embrace the art of backlighting. Some of the more mundane plants in your garden will suddenly take on new vibrancy when placed in front of available light. Some of the most effective plants for this technique are those that are translucent by nature, those that capture and diffuse light. My favorite translucent plant is the sometimes-invasive horsetail rush (Equisetum hyemale, zones 3 to 11). Its 3- to 4-foot upright growth habit is a perfect foil for a curved or rounded sculpture, or a clumping shrub. Just be sure to contain it, lest it spread indefinitely.
'All Gold' Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra 'All Gold', zones 5 to 9) for shade. Japanese forest grasses are dynamos for shade, take dry soil once they're settled in, and mature to 1½ feet tall and wide. This variety glows like a beacon, and for gold, you'll be amazed at how well it meshes with other colors — it goes with just about anything.
Let light project onto a screen. Much like the drive-in movie theaters of the past, you can project light in your garden, capturing its movement and nuances, by erecting a screen or wall, or even by enlisting the side of your house. THus the blue wall.
I took this picture one day in late spring, when the morning sun appeared through the trees and perfectly choreographed the interactive dance between the hardy begonia (Begonia grandis, zones 6 to 9) and the autumn fern (Dryopteris erythrosora, zones 5 to 9). This only happens for a few minutes each morning, but what a SPECTACULAR WAY TO START THE DAY. I wouldn't miss it.
Conceal and reveal garden destinations. One timeless design technique that is well suited to shade gardens is known as conceal and reveal. The idea is to offer the viewers glimpses of their destination as they move through the space and then reveal it dramatically, all at once, when they turn a corner, go around a bend, enter a clearing or open a gate. The destination might be a water feature, a gazebo, a bench in a grassy clearing or a sunny space bursting with colorful wildflowers.
Garden Case Study: Innisfree Garden This estate-turned-public-garden is exceptional in its use and display of boulders, conifers and specimen plants. Notice the ironic yet pleasing simplicity and complexity of this garden vignette. A weeping larch (Larix decidua ‘Pendula’, zones 3 to 6) leads us off, followed by two Japanese maples, then a juniper. A bed of ostrich ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris, zones 3 to 7) finishes the scene. The mounding shape of the larch mimics, but does not match, the form of the maples. The color similarity of the maples is close enough to be soothing, yet is not matchy. The GREY OWL JUNIPER (Juniperus virginiana ‘Grey Owl’, zones 4 to 9) adds to the vignette by lending texture, form and color. The ostrich ferns mimic the texture of the larch while contrasting its form.
In the garden here, a pruned Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris, zones 3 to 7) makes an appropriate connection with a Crimson Queen Japanese maple (Acer palmatum var. dissectum ‘Crimson Queen’, zones 5 to 8), because the green of the pine and the red of the maple both exhibit undertones of blue. It’s this subtle attention to detail that will set your garden apart from those of your neighbors.
The sculptural dry creek bed shown here is a strong focal point. Notice how the pine, spruce, arborvitae, juniper and cotoneaster plantings create a relationship between the piece and the larger garden. This conifer selection, rich in shapes, holds its own against such a strong focal point while creating the transition.
Establish a focal point. A good garden helps its visitors by showing them where to look. A small garden may have one focal point, while a large space may have several. Conifers, such as this pruned Austrian pine (Pinus nigra, zones 4 to 7), can be very sculptural and can establish focal points all by themselves. This pine commands attention by hanging over a small urban patio and is contrasted by an underplanting of low Golden Pacific shore junipers (Juniperus conferta ‘sPg-3-016’, zones 6 to 9).
The best gardens are those that are moody, that elicit feelings in the mind of thoses who visit. Most gardens are a reflection of their creators.
Here we see how a sweeping run of mixed pebbles and cobbles creates a very realistic copy of a dry creek bed in an informal contemporary garden.
great leaf texture
Perhaps grand allées aren’t for our smaller contemporary gardens,. This straight path creates a clear axis through the garden, softened by adjacent plantings.
Decorative pathways. For centuries cobbles and pebbles have been used to create hard-wearing paths. Stones in the past were laid on a clay or hoggin base, while today they are set on a hard core and secured with concrete. The simplest paths can be constructed using random-size cobbles, while more decorative paths have cobbles that are sorted by size and type. The most intricate paths, such as the one seen here, include mosaic patterns using different sizes and colors of stones. Though beautiful to look at, cobble pathways are not always the easiest to walk along, and in some cases cobbles are used to create a deterrent surface (the cobbles are left raised above the retaining concrete).
Rethinking sculptural accents is an excellent way to create a memorable garden experience. Good garden art is a worthwhile investment. Let me just say that the resin tabby cat or gnome found at the local thrift store will not create the memory that you want your guests to take away from your garden. Art can generate emotions and create continuity in your garden. The piece shown in this photo generates feelings of solitude, strength and even self-esteem. The sculpture is a close match in color and texture to the stone wall, creating a homogenous vibe.
Bergenia Large paddle- or oval-shaped leathery leaves make versatile bergenia an ideal ground cover for cold-climate gardens with a subtropical theme, while its flowers, in shades of pink or white, are perfect for cottage gardens and perennial borders. The leaves of some varieties have a reddish-brown tinge during the winter. This plant loves a partially shady position, with moist, well-drained soil, but can tolerate sun if the roots are cool. It forms large clumps that can be broken up to form new plants. Popular cultivars include ‘Red Beauty’, ‘Bressingham Ruby’ and ‘Bressingham White’.
1. Ajuga Also known as bugleweed, ajuga is a member of the mint family that grows well in shade. It will spread to form a dense carpet of rounded leaves in a variety of colors, including purple, bronze and green. There are also several variegated types. White, pink or blue flowers appear in spring and summer. Frost-hardy ajuga can smother other plants if conditions are ideal (moist shade), but the occasional trim will keep it under control. Well-known cultivars include ‘Catlins Giant’, ‘Burgundy Lace’, ‘Black Scallop’ and ‘Pink Elf’.
Pleaching. Pleaching is a method of growing trees, usually in a straight line, with the branches of the trees tied together and clipped to form a flat plane above the bare trunk. The branches are tied to canes or wire and are regularly pruned to keep their shape. Some species used have the tendency to naturally graft themselves onto one another.
Professional garden designers have started incorporating crown raising into their designs, especially when multiple trees are planted as a feature, as with these Photinia x fraseri ‘Red Robin’ examples.
RAISING THE CROWN, or canopy, of a tree by removing or shortening the lower branches can create valuable room under a tree while retaining a tree’s benefits. Crown raising does minimal damage to a tree, as long as the removed limbs are not too large and only a few branches are removed at a time and from each spot.
Purple and chartreuse. Give your spring containers real pizazz with a high-contrast foliage combination of deep purple and zingy lime green. The designer of this container garden combined plum-colored carpet bugle (Ajuga reptans ‘Black Scallop’) with lime-green creeping jenny (Lysimachia nummularia ‘Goldilocks’), purple-leaved Strobilanthes, African daisies (Osteospermum ecklonis ‘Lavender Mist’), and purple and gold pansies.
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