Consider Art of Fine Garden Design When Adding Plants

There are many things to consider when adding plants to your garden. Some of the easy ones to figure out can be: will my new plant grow in the sun, shade, wind, wet or dry locations I have chosen? How big will it grow and when does the plant look its best or how much care will this plant need?
While these are valid concerns, if they are the only criteria that determine your choice, you may end up with a boring and random looking garden, full of the “plant of the year” syndrome. Or worse, undersized beds with overgrown plants hiding your house and making you a slave to your pruners and rakes.
Trusting your garden and plant choices to a professional designer, landscape architect or knowledgeable horticulturalist may seem like a big step, but the rewards are great, and the “look” of your garden will be the envy of all those who have been frustrated with their own trial and error approach. And you will be assured that your garden will have its own look, and not be just the same layout added to another home.
When Garden Design is put into the hands of a capable designer/artist, wonderful plant combinations and interesting layouts are the result. When an experienced plantsman is given an opportunity to use their creative abilities, even the smallest of spaces can become quite attractive. Fine garden design is a mix of shapes, textures, color, balance, scale, layering and intrigue that brings out the most in your home’s architecture and the function of the yard.
Sometimes the design solution is fewer plants, less variety and stronger lawn shapes. Sometimes the answer is in more native and tolerant plants. Sometimes the answer is not in plants at all, but in a well-placed gate, bench, water feature or pots.
Whether your space is small, or an entire property, consider getting advice from professionals who have studied all these aspects for years, and can show you existing gardens with similar combinations and mature examples of plants that you are considering. And sit back and enjoy the new scene that will evolve, with various bloom times, interesting plant characteristics and surprising places to go in your own yard!
(Stan Sperlak writes from Court House. He is a nationally known artist/teacher and a regionally respected garden designer. He has been designing spaces in New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania for over 30 years. His award-winning business “Cape Shore Gardens” is a rare treat with beautiful walking gardens on site, an art gallery and an exotic mix of plants, pottery and garden sculpture. Visit the web site at www.capeshoregardens.com.)