Planting design tips

  1. Try massing plants rather than have one of everything.
  2. Plant in odd numbers; though once you reach ten plants you can drop this rule
  3. Make a nice composition of plant forms (add a little variety by mixing different forms, yet make sure you still have repetition)
  4. Mix plant textures. Combine plants with large leaves and plants with small leaves to make your garden pop
  5. When choosing colours limit your choices by picking a theme (monochromatic colours, complimentary colours etc)
  6. Consider all plant heights.. especially those itsy bitsy plants (12” or less) for the front row.
  7. Plan for scale. A big house, for example, will work better with wider and fuller beds and tall distinctive, a smaller garden will work better with a series of more compact beds and lower height plants
  8. Fill your beds with plants! This not only keeps down weeds but makes your garden lush.
  9. Layer your plants. Why not have two, three or even five rows.
  10. If you have a long border to fill create a pattern with your plants.
  11. Consider winter interest too (berries, interesting twigs and bark, flowing grass.)
  12. Most importantly experiment and have fun. If something doesn’t work, try a new combination… until you fall in love with it.