Gardening by the Fire...
This is really one of my favorite times of the gardening year. No, I'm not out mucking about in the cold and wet—sometimes snowy—garden. I, like many, am a fair-weather gardener. I love this time of year when I can study the latest catalogues looking for new plants and browse endlessly through all the garden magazines I bought through the year and never had time to read!
Each year I explore a new 'theme' with my container gardens. Sometimes it's a style, like the very successful 'southwest' theme of a couple of years ago, where sedums, succulents and foliage were a beautiful contrast with my Pacific northwest environment. Sometimes it's all about color, like this year's amazing display of purples, oranges and pinks. In this issue I'm going to share some ideas about designing container gardens that will raise your displays from mediocre to magnificent! In the next three issues, we'll learn some of the techniques professionals use to create beautiful planted containers.
To help you plan your best garden yet, I've selected some excellent gardening books full of information and inspiration ~ so grab a book, curl up by the fire and get busy on your garden!
In this issue...
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Design Tips for Container Gardens
Part I : Basic Design Principles for Containers
There are several basic design principles to consider when creating your container garden. No matter what your budget or your level of gardening exxperience, you can create containers that are an expression of your personal style or your love of color and texture that will enhance whatever setting you choose for them.
Planning a container presents the challenge of seeing into the future, of having a vision of how the display will look as the plants grow, blossom and mature. Knowing the characteristics of the plants you choose is as important an aspect of successful containers as applying good design. Be sure to balance your creative ideas with a practical knowledge.
As you browse through gardening books, see if you can identify the following principles at work in the garden and planted container photographs, this will help you apply the principles when you begin selecting plants and creating your arrangements in the spring.
Focus
The area where the eye is drawn first. The focus should be placed below the tallest point to achieve balance. Develop focus by using contrast in size, texture or color of plant material.
When it comes to some decorative planters, a beautiful planter may be the focus and the plants simply enhance the planter's style or unique characteristics. Usually it is the plants that command center stage, so you will want an arrangement that draws the eye to the plants you want to feature. Experiment with creating focus by arranging plants still in their nursery pots to see which arrangement produces the effect you want. It's a simple exercise, but you'd be surprised how often this step is overlooked.
Symmetry |
Balance
Symmetrical balance is equal, almost identical elements on each side of a central axis, with the highest point over the center. Asymmetrical balance is when the two sides of the central axis are not mirror images but have the same visual weight. For example, two medium-size elements on one side might balance one large element on the other side.
 Asymmetry
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Symmetrical balance creates feeling of stability and calm, while asymmetrical balance is more dynamic and creates a feeling of energy (see wall planter to right). Formal gardens or displays use symmetrical balance, natural or cottage gardens would use aymmetrical balance.
Shape
Vary the form of the plant material you choose; use tall linear species to add height; mounded species to add mass; and low growing, cascading species to fill in, add depth, and soften the edges of the container. Careful attention to form can help to create drama and excitement, or calmness and serenity.
• Plants with distinctive shape and structure are ideal for simple, modern displays. Use singly or in uncluttered groupings for best results.
• Always consider the shape of the pot. Don't let overly fussy pots detract or compete with your plants and flowers. Simple shapes and strong outlines act as a complement to plant foliage and texture.
Color
In container plantings, color details and combinations are more distinctive than similar plantings in a garden landscape. In a confined area, plant characteristics such as color and texture tend to have greater impact on their surroundings. When working with color include flowers, foliage, planters and surroundings in your planning.
Color is used to create different moods. While color choices are often made solely based on personal preferences, you will find exploring and experimenting with color, both the amount of a particular color in a display and in different color combinations, will broaden your appreciation and enjoyment of all colors.
Some colors work best as 'support' or background colors to enhance and enliven others, while some colors are intended to be the 'stars' of a color display. Within color combinations you will use the color principles of contrast and similarity to create a variety of effects. While contrasting and complementary colors mimic nature's dynamic color palette, the artful combination of analogous color (colors close together on color wheel) can be dramatic and monochromatic color schemes very elegant.
We will explore color and color combinations in container plantings in more depth in Part III : Designing with Color.
Texture
Add coarse, medium, and fine textured plants together to create visual interest. Three to five species will achieve a lively assortment of forms and textures. Use variation and gradation of shape and texture.
Rhythm/Repetition
Repeat color at regular intervals around the outside of a round container, along the length of a long rectangular container or in several containers to "tie" your container display together.
Identical repeated plantings can be used to create grandeur, stability and continuity. Used carefully in conjunction with proportion, you can create simple, dramatic effects and define spaces with repetition.
Graceful lines of plant leaves add flow and rhythm as they are repeated within a container or in multiple containers.
Proportion
Scale and proportion are the biggest challenges in designing containers, as they are constantly changing as plants grow. This is where your ability to visualize will be put to the test. What will your plants look like in a week, a month at the peak of the season? You'll want your containers to be attractive throughout the season, so consider all stages when choosing your plants and plan to 'adjust' your plants by trimming or removal when they don't contribute to an attractive display.
Use larger and/or more plants in larger containers, and less and/or smaller plants in small containers. Rule of thumb is the height of the tallest plant should not exceed one to one and a half times or two times the height of the container, excluding pedestals. This is not a rigid rule, and must be adapted to the shape of the container. Remember to consider the overall mature proportions of the plantings to the pot's size and shape.
Bulbs in Containers
