If you're keen to install a new garden space, drawing up a landscape plan is a good start. But don't forget that a border or gardening bed is a three-dimensional creation. Look at it as a series of layers in both space and time - from front to back, side to side, and season to season.
Which Types of Plants Should I Plant in My Gardening Bed?
Besides choosing plants because you like them and they suit your environmental conditions, it's important to take into account certain key qualities:
- Size
- Seasonal interest
- Texture
- Color
The prospect of composing all of this can be overwhelming as you stand in front of a big empty bed. But a few basic concepts will get you rolling.
Plant height and width are key to good spatial layering, especially from front to back of the bed. The general rule (just like taking a group photo) is short stuff in the front, medium stuff in the middle, and tall stuff in the back. That way everything is visible. If you have an island bed, the rule is tall plants in the center, then stepping down in height as you work out to the perimeter. (Note: Research each plant to know its mature measurements before assigning it a spot in the garden bed.)
But it's OK to loosen up on this regimented approach! It can make a garden more lively and interesting if some plants break the rules - a few tall plants in the middle, a few medium ones toward the front. And avoid straight lines. Instead weave together drifts and clusters of plants.
Arranging Layers in Your Gardening Bed
Make sure in each spatial layer you have a few"anchor" plants you know you can count on (usually shrubs or perennials with presence or"heft," with multi-season interest or evergreen foliage). Even something low growing, like 'Firewitch' dianthus, can serve as an anchor plant at the front of the border. Once you have these backbone plants figured out, then start filling in between them.
A well-balanced garden has plenty of plants strutting their stuff at any given time, but also quiet spaces to rest the eye. Let plants come in and out of flower as the growing season progresses. And purposefully leave some open spaces to allow room to add new things, rotate seasonal annuals, or tuck in some bulbs.
Flower Bed Ideas
Take note of bloom times.
Make sure plants for every season are represented throughout the bed. But for optimum impact, create"vignettes" by grouping plants together that share the same season. Just don't put ALL the spring bloomers at one end of the bed, summer bloomers at the other. And don't feel pressure to jam-pack the border so that everything is going at mach 10 for the entire growing season.
Consider color and texture.
Two other factors for achieving good layering are color and texture. Remember that blocks of color and texture bring greater impact to a bed than a jumble of plants in ones and twos. If a plant is naturally big, one might be enough; for smaller plants, use groups of three or more, depending on the size of the border.
Make sure you include a mix of textures - fine, medium and bold. And punctuate masses of similar textures with something different, like an ornamental grass amidst daisies and salvias. Keep in mind that small flowers and delicate textures are easier to appreciate up close, and coarse textures should be placed further back, though it depends on the plant (some big plants are fine textured and some small plants are coarse).
Colors are categorized as either cool (purple, blue, green) or hot (red, orange, yellow). Since cool colors"recede" and hot colors"advance," use this to your advantage as you layer. For example, cool colors at the back of the border can make it seem larger, hot colors at the back will draw it closer in.
Use patterns.
Give the flower bed cohesion by echoing colors and textures from front to back and from one end of the bed to the other. You can do this repeating the same plant or by using different plants with similar qualities.
The goals of layering are to give the garden energy as well as harmony, variety as well as cohesion.
Feeling inspired? Get your garden beds blooming with a mix of Burpee's best bedding flowers.
You don’t need to be a professional landscape architect to create a visually appealing garden. The simple technique of layering plants brings a pleasing harmony and structure to your flower beds. Layering also ensures your garden has interest all season long. We’ve put together this guide to help you get started on this easy approach to garden design.
Bed Planning
Begin by assessing the light, soil, and moisture conditions in your bed so that you focus only on plants that thrive in your environment. After that, consider these factors as you select plants.
Size
To get the layered effect, you need plants of different stature. Include tall plants to bring height to the bed. Use mid-range varieties with lots of foliage to fill in the space between the top and bottom. Ground covers or other low, spreading plants complete the effect.
Seasonal interest
The best flower gardens are interesting from spring to fall. Your bed may start the season, for instance, with hellebores and flowering bulbs. For late spring through summer, you can pick from a wide range of annual flowers that bloom for weeks at a time. Dahlias keep the color coming into fall.
Texture
When garden planning, think of creating a multi-sensory experience. Include plants with different textures in your bed for visual variety and to invite you to touch them. These might include the wide, ribbed foliage of hostas, the feathery flower clusters on celosia, and the frilly petals on irises. Choose a texture type for each layer to help them stand out while fitting into the whole design.
Color
Your garden will look most cohesive if you choose a simple color palette. Go with two complementary colors. (If you don’t know which hues work together, search for “color wheel” and you can find an explanation.) If you like, you can use white as a third. Red, pink, orange, and yellow are hot colors that light up your garden beds. Cool hues, such as purple and blue, create a calmer effect. Cool colors at the back of the border can make it seem larger, while hot colors at the back will draw your eyes in closer.
Garden Bed Design
Height and width
Strategically placing plants of different dimensions is the foundation of the layered look. Think about it as if you are taking a group photo. The tallest plants go in the back of the bed, shortest in front, and the wider, medium-height plants in between. If your bed is an island, set the tall plants in the center and surround them with the medium-size ones, followed by the shortest ones around the perimeter.
Anchors
Small trees, shrubs, and some large, bushy perennials are the foundation of your garden bed design. These bigger plants serve as a backdrop, so they work best if they have multi-season interest or evergreen foliage. Place these backbone plants first and then you can begin filling in around them.
Patterns
Give your garden bed design a visual rhythm by repeating plants or just colors and textures in the bed. Your display should not feel static, but a little repetition keeps it from looking chaotic.
Drifts and clusters
Group plants together in clumps, drifts, and clusters to give your bed a stronger visual pop than with individuals that are spread out. As you place the plants, consider their mature sizes, so you don’t cause overcrowding. Annual flowers reach their mature size during the growing season. If your bed planning includes perennials, bear in mind that these plants take three years to fully establish and may continue to grow larger year after year.
Vignettes
Another strategy for your garden design is to group plants that are complementary. These vignettes might have a theme, like cottage garden flowers such as hollyhocks and cosmos. Or you might bring together plants that bloom around the same time. Just don't put all the spring bloomers at one end of the bed and summer flowers at the other, so you don’t have long spells with no interest in any section.
Spaces
Your eyes need a rest as they take in your garden bed. While you want to always have color and texture to look at, a well-balanced garden has visual breaks among the plants. This can happen naturally, as plants come up, bloom, and die back during the growing season. And in the years to come, your new layered bed will fill in and evolve, bringing you new opportunities to edit, cut back, and refresh them!