The Process Behind the Art of Plant Design

We pick up where we left off a few weeks ago... breaking down the design process into more manageable steps. Up to this point, we have defined our spaces, what they will be used for, and how big they need to be. We have also given some thought to minimizing the non-native lawn in an effort to increase biodiversity and reduce our carbon footprint.

The exercise of defining spaces has led to the incorporation of hardscapes and transitions, the sculpting lawn lines with recycled tree chips, and the pinpointing areas for additional trees. If we look closely, we have naturally delineated smaller areas with which to work and can begin to pick our plant combinations based on sun, wind and water exposure.

The next step is to select three to five different plants for an area without yet deciding on how many of each or the physical layout. For example, for the first area, we might decide to use Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snow Queen', Abelia x grandiflora 'Kaleidoscope' and variegated Hosta. Notice how we've combined a large-leaf, gray-green plant with a small-leaf, light green plant with a large-leaf, variegated herbaceous plant. Using the size, shape and color of the leaf along with mature height of the plants, we have developed a certain level of contrast with this combination of plants. Done. We move onto the next area and name the next combo. Right now, the goal is to simply identify interesting combinations of plants for each segment of the landscape, bearing in mind that repeating certain plants or colors will tie the design together.

Next time we'll talk about how to weave a beautiful layout with plants.