A “Bird’s Eye View:”
Designing the Horizontal Spaces of Your Garden
Dear Readers,
To read or review the previous posts in this series, click here: How My Garden Grows: One.
Each post, One through Six, will provide a link for the next post.
Margot’s Get-Real Guide:
Space:
Identify the horizontal space: Do you wish to create a border, bed, island, or garden path?
Speak Compass:
Toward which direction does this space face?
Sun exposure requirements will determine your plant choice.
Soften:
Choose plants that will soften the angular architectural features.
Standing Feature:
Consider one standing “feature” in each large bed, border, or island.
Ex: a fountain, a stone statue, a bird bath, a bird feeder, a fogger/mister, an obelisk, or a tutor.
Space:
Within the design, plan open spaces, for these purposes:
- Walkways [“allees”] for trimming/pruning.
- Access to water spigots/hose, fountains, bird baths, bird feeders, utilities. etc.
- “Growing and breathing space” between plants and buildings or between plants and fences or walls.
- Foot-paths, stepping-stones, etc.
Study Notes:
Research, using The Southern Living Garden Book:
Which “care-free” and “bullet-proof” plants are best-suited for the space?
Spine:
For beauty and low-maintenance all year round, perennial evergreens should form the “spine” or “backbone” of your garden spaces.
Ground Covers range in height, from 6 inches to 4 feet, so you have a great variety of sizes from which to choose.
Systemize:
From your Study Notes, create a Table or Chart, listing each “care-free” and “bullet-proof” plant.
Include these categories:
- Formal name, informal name
- Requirements for light exposure: Su=Sun; Sh=Shade; P=Part; Lt=Light; F=Full
- Requirements for: soil, moisture, fertilizer
- Size: height, width, “OC,” which means “off-center” or “space between plants”
Use this Table/Chart, to revise the Sketch of your garden design.
Keep the Chart: At the end of the season, add notes: What worked? What did not?
Sketch:
Draw a rough sketch of the horizontal space. Indicate approximate sizes of each section.
Refer to your Study Notes and add your favorite plants to the design.
Stature & Size:
Height, Width, Depth
Do not line up your plants like little soldiers!
Within the space, mix up the height, width, and depth.
Surface Texture:
Provide contrast between/among the plants.
Consider the shape of the plant [macro] or the texture of the leaf [micro].
Shades, Hue, Color:
Break out your color pencils, crayons, or water-colors, as you design your Sketch.
I do not like a strict color scheme: I have a Georgia red-brick house but I use a “Crayola” color palette.
Consider the color of the bloom, foliage, stem, bark, etc.
An all-white night-blooming garden is fabulous, with a view from a porch or window.
Snow Drift:
Imagine a snowdrift, on a slope, with soft curves of snow, covering the earth.
This is the soft, organic look you want. Avoid sharp edges.
For perennial evergreen ground cover: Plant three different plants in three large “drifts,” of roughly the same size, with the central drift slightly larger.
Shapes:
The “Paisley” shape is one of the most pleasing designs to the human eye.
In your composition, employ the “paisley” shape: Use a different plant for each paisley shape.
Interconnect and overlap the shapes, as above drawing illustrates.
Stagger:
Within each paisley shape [above], stagger the plants, with an odd number of the same plant.
Select:
Take your Sketch and your Table/Chart to the Nursery.
Select your favorite “bullet-proof” and “care-free” plants.
Choose an odd number of each type of favorite plants: 1, 3, 5, etc.
Maintenance:
Shear or Prune?
Most perennial evergreen ground covers do not require maintenance.
For those plants that require maintenance:
Consult the Southern Living Garden Book and choose the appropriate method:
Prune from the inside: encourage a natural, soft shape; allow air to circulate; eliminate weak stems and branches.
Shear according to the natural design shape; plants should look lush and full.
Plan Your Future Design:
Gradually eliminate turf and replace with beds, borders, islands, and garden paths.
Coram Deo,
Margot
Margot’s Corner 
