Planting style

Our planting style

Planting our garden has been like creating a giant flower arrangement. 

We have given consideration to colour, texture, scale, balance, proportion, unity, rhythm and harmony. 

“Quiet” spaces are important and are provided, for example, by conifers and evergreens. 

Bold focal points are a recurring theme. 

Red, blue and yellow

We enjoy contrasting flowers against bold coloured foliage. We especially contrast the colours red, blue and yellow and bold shapes and forms. 

Plants need one another to show themselves at their best – red acers come alive when placed near a yellow holly and the addition of a blue conifer really completes the setting. 


Colour, shape and form

When landscaping, the position was chosen for a specimen plant, to serve as an anchor for other plants. Its position was checked from various vantage points – and if it passed that test then other plants were placed around it, making sure that there was a variety of colour, shape and form. 

Mixing evergreen and deciduous plants made for all-year-round interest. 

Photography

Photography has always played an important part in landscaping our garden. A view through the lens is often a helpful, additional, tool in achieving interest, harmony and balance.

Bold shapes and colours

This photo explains some of the joy we have in developing bold foliage shapes and colours as a background structure against which to display our spring and summer flowers. 

The photo also illustrates how we use the colours red, blue and yellow to contrast against one another. 

The plant in the mid lower picture is Pieris japonica 'Mountain Fire'. Several Japanese acers are bursting into leaf. The light green leaves in the middle of this picture are those of acer shirasawanum 'Aureum' - Golden leaf Full Moon Japanese Maple.

All-year-round interest

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