Garden Planting Design - Shrubs for Texture & Colour

A good planting scheme should include a mixture of plants with different leaf textures, shapes and colours blended together to produce a harmonius picture that leads the eye round the garden and helps set the house into its plot. 

When planting for clients I do not necessarily choose unusual plants, in fact I usually work with quite common plants.  It is the way in which the plants are combined that allows the planting scheme to look out of the ordinary whilst including some very ordinary plans. 

Here are some shrubs that combine well for a good overall effect:-

Choisya ternata ‘Sundance’ – a very common shrub, easy to grow, but can be a little slow to establish. It should be kept well pruned otherwise it becomes very leggy and too open.  It will also flower better if given a good haircut in the autumn.

Sambucus nigra ‘Black Lace’ – a wonderful, shade tolerant, deciduous shrub with a beautiful dark purple leaf and pink flowerheads in summer.  Its feathery form and dark leaves contrasts well against the tighter, rounder shape and gold foliage of the Choisya.  It needs to be cut back very hard in the winter otherwise it will get too big and unshapely. 

 

Fatsia japonica – a fabulous, shade tolerant shrub with huge glossy dark green leaves.  It does flower, but is grown mainly for its architectural leaves.  Its open, upright outline shape works well with the Choisya and the Sambucus.  Occasionally cut some stems right down otherwise it can become very tall with all the leaves at the top.

Cistus pulvurlentus ‘Sunset’ – a prolific summer flowering shrub with a relatively tight shape, This will provide not only textural contrast with its soft, silver leaves, but a welcome splash of summer colour with its bright pink flowers.  It is also lower growing than the other shrubs and can be placed further forward in the border.  Prune with care, as they do not like hard pruning and once they become overgrown it can be hard to get them back into shape without killing them. It prefers a sunny spot.  

 Viburnum bodnantense ‘Charles Lamont’ – add some winter interest with this highly scented winter scented shrub.  It has an upright form which is a good contrast to the other plants and its pink flowers held on bare branches bring a welcome blast of scent in the depths of winter.  It can be pruned quite hard after flowering to maintain it’s shape.

Caryopteris ‘Heavenly Blue’ – extremely easy to grow, a deciduous shrub with tons of blue flowers in late summer.  Small, matt, mid green leaves held on long slightly arching branches are a good contrast to the rest of the planting and bright blue flowers provide some excellent late season colour.  It is a smaller shrub and can be planted further forward in the border.  It can be pruned fairly hard if needed after flowering to maintain size and shape, but leave it in a natural, looser outline for best effect. It prefers a sunny spot, but will take a small amount of shade.  

This is just a suggested selection of plants that I love to use together and I know will grow well.  I will write about perennial combinations in another post.

If you would like help designing or planting your garden, please visit my Web site for contact details.  You can also visit my Facebook page and Pinterest boards to see some more examples of my work.

Garden Design - Creating Private Spaces & Garden Rooms

Many gardens these days are small and overlooked from all sides.  Trying to create a private space to sit and enjoy the garden can be hard.  In larger gardens creating smaller, intimate spaces that feel peaceful and secluded can also present challenges.

The answer is to enclose the space in some way.  In a larger garden you can create the spaces as separate garden rooms surrounded by physical structures such as walls and wooden screens, or high planting.  In a smaller garden you can also define the space as separate and use planting and structures to enclose it wholly or partly depending on the shape of the garden.

This Windsor courtyard is enclosed by rendered, blockwork walls and a pergola to create a secluded space for entertaining.

Garden Design Berkshire

A tall, neatly clipped Hornbeam hedge in this half-acre Surrey garden defines and encloses a seating area for catching the evening sun.  This helps to break up a long, narrow garden giving it width and interest. Hedges are a cheap and natural way of creating divisions in a garden. 

Garden Design Surrey

A pergola set on top of the retaining walls in this Bracknell, Berkshire garden prevents overlooking, and encloses the dining area making it seem intimate and private.

Garden Design Berkshire

The stone-faced wall with reflective alcoves in this Kenley, Surrey garden creates a sense of privacy in the main entertaining area in this large garden.  It provides a smaller, defined space for eating and entertaining.  

Garden Design Surrey

This Bracknell, Berkshire garden has a sunken seating with a pergola that creates a lovely private place for enjoying the last of the day's sunshine. The garden is heavily overlooked, so some extra privacy was provided by adding some pleached trees to boundary.

Garden Design Berkshire

When using built structures in the garden remember that the maximum permitted height for a garden wall without requiring planning permission is 1.8m and the maximum permitted finished height for other garden structures such as pergolas is 2.4m.   

I can design gardens anywhere but most of my work is in Berkshire, Surrey, Oxfordshire, Hampshire and London.  

If you would like help with designing your garden, please visit my Website and Facebook page for more ideas and garden inspiration and contact details.