A well-designed garden is one of the great joys in life, and is remarkably easy to create if you stick to a few basic rules of thumb.
Groupings and repetition
The only hard and fast rule when it comes to garden design is that plants must be planted in groups, or repeated throughout the garden. It is tempting to buy one of everything you love and throw it in the ground, but the effect will be so much better if you follow this rule. A single hosta on a border looks fine, but a lush row of them at the front of a shady bed is a sight to behold. The exception to this rule is for “specimen plants” - real show stoppers that you want to show case. We are partial to David Austin roses and Itoh peonies, but any medium to large plant that you really love can be thrown in to the landscape on its own. The groupings of plants around it will act as a frame.
When deciding on placement, move the plant around in its container until you find somewhere you like. Dig a shallow hole and set the pot in it, and look at it for a few days until you decide if it’s in a good spot. Be sure to water it every day, as plants in containers dry out much more quickly than those in the ground.
Complementary colours and form
Ensuring complementary colours and forms can be a tricky proposition. Many plant tags don’t reflect the actual colour of the blooms that will appear, and it can be difficult to discern whether a certain plant fits with the theme of a garden (corkscrew rush is a great example of something that looks very cool at the garden shop.....and completely ridiculous planted amongst roses and hydrangea.) At The Eucalypt, we take care of this part for you. We go to great lengths to ensure that every single plant we offer will be complementary to every other plant you obtain from us, in both colour and form. This is why we do not sell plants which bloom in neon pink, bright orange or any shade of red, and is also why we don’t carry grasses or other species more commonly associated with modernist planting schemes. We specialize exclusively on providing the components of the traditional English garden (or French, if you have a penchant for pruning) so you don’t have to give it a thought.
Your garden will look will look wonderful so long as you ensure a reasonably even mix of at least two colour groups. Go wild planting your favourite shade, but don’t neglect to plant the complimentary colours that make that colour really pop.
For those gardeners who love to plan, the well-known “60/30/10” principal of design works very well in the garden context. Applying this principal means that roughly 60% of the garden is one colour group, 30% is another, and 10% is really fabulous punchy accents in a third group. Using specific examples, such a scheme could look like this in a medium-sized garden:
60% whites – a mix of ‘White Pearl’ bugbane, ‘Snowbelle’ philadelphus (mock orange), ‘Girard’s Pleasant White’ azalea, ‘Roselily Corolla’ lily, ‘Madam Lemoine’ lilac and ‘Cafe au Lait’ Dahlia, variegated hosta
30% Purples and blues – a mix of blue lupins, ‘Concord Grape’ tradescantia, ‘Grosso’ lavender, bluebird hydrangea, ‘Birch’s Double’ cranesbill and liriope
10% apricots and oranges – a buddleja globosa in the background, a gorgeous ‘Coral Sunset’ peony, “Cornel Bronze’ dahlias and a 'Crown Princess Margareta' rose
Blooming time
Here on Vancouver Island, there can be something blooming in your garden ten months out of the year. This can be an intimidating thing to plan, but if you make sure to have one plant from each of the following groups, you’ll be looking at flowers from February to November:
Early starters
Includes camellia – especially Jury’s Yellow, Ballet Queen or Nuccio’s Gem, frittilaria and crocus
Spring bloomers
Includes peony, philadelphus (Mock Orange), lilac, botanical tulip, daffodil, sweet pea and allium
Late-spring bloomers
Includes Itoh peony, anemone 'Wild Swan' (which will continue blooming all season) and poppies (especially fabulous are ‘Lauren’s Purple Grape’ and ‘Venus’)
Summer bloomers
Includes philipendula, hydrangea, rose (repeat blooming roses will bloom until frost, including Royal Jubilee, Crown Princess Margareta, Wollerton Old Hall, Lady of the Lake, and Lady of Shallott)
Late-summer bloomers
Includes dahlia, gladiolus, rose
Fall bloomers
Includes anemone (especially 'Honorine Jobert' and 'Robustissima' , sedum (most notably, 'Thunderhead')
Winter bloomers
Most notably hellebore (especially 'Double Ellen Picotee' and 'Pink Spotted Lady'), hammemelis (witchhazel), edgeworthia,
Broad-leafed evergreens that look great all year
Includes viburnum ‘Davidii, camellia, pittosporum ‘Golf Ball’, erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’, azalea ‘Girard’s Pleasant White’, boxwood, wax-leaf privet, escallonia ‘Pink Princess’
There are many more options. The plant profiles in our Knowledge Base indicate the approximate bloom time of each plant we carry, and we are always happy to offer suggestions.
Rearranging
Finally – and this is our favourite rule – don’t forget that plants can be moved. Oftentimes plants outgrow their space, or simply no longer fit with the direction the gardener is taking. If you don’t like how a certain part of your garden is looking, figure out what it is that’s bothering you and dig it up. It will re-establish itself so long as you dig a generous rootball, at a time when the plant is well-hydrated and finished blooming (preferably not in the heat of August, although we admit we’ve done that a few times). There are a few species that will sulk a bit after being moved – peonies are infamous for their pouting, and it’s truly not worth the risk to move a romneya (California tree poppy) – but the great majority will settle into their new homes without incident. Be sure to keep newly-relocated plants well-watered. While a little bone meal or other species-specific amendment may be added an inch below the bottom of the planting hole, it is generally wise to abstain from fertilizing transplants until the following season. If you are unsure of how or when to move a plant, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
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