3 Strategies for Designing a Garden That Will Make an Impact for Years

Use these three strategies to get the greatest visual return over the life of your garden

Years ago I commemorate telling a landscape designer friend that I wanted to put together a lecture about everything I ’ve done wrong ( in gardening rather than my personal life — that saga might be more of a novel ) . My friend was amused and said that nobody wanted to utter about , much less discover about , mistake and failure . I do n’t live if it was hubris or foolishness , but I go on to give classes and public lecture on on the nose that guinea pig . And hoi polloi love them .

My career in gardening started when I was 19 and develop into a landscape painting purpose practice . A groundwork of that business is a 14 - acre farm in Chester County , Pennsylvania , where my studio is located . This property has become an invaluable laboratory where my team and I try out and canvas asnaturalistic designersand horticulturists . Much of my increment and expertness has come from the vaporous fervour oflearning from failuresand from the many years of watching our landscape painting design evolve . Establishing a garden based on an initial architectural plan ( perhaps one even scribbled on paper ) is a great place to set out , but as plant life , the setting , conditions , our knowledge , and our taste change , so should our design .

unmanageable changes in a garden are inevitable and marvellous opportunities . During my three decennary of experience , I ’ve developed pain - relieve design strategies and helpful pivot to get the outstanding visual wallop from a landscape over a long stretch of time . I hope you ’ll be able to learn from my mistakes to achieve the garden of your dreams .

A high-impact—not high-maintenance—design

As this landscape painting extends farther by from the studio and out toward the natural meadow - alike surroundings , the planting become at large and less refined . They do not lose any visual impact , however , thanks to the flora choice and location .

1. Compose with plants of equally competitive natures

An important aspect of design with plants is assessing their competitive nature in any given setting . plant that spread freely and even aggressively through seminal fluid diffusion or another method acting can be very helpful in developing long - term resiliency within a garden . But these sort of species do n’t do without challenges . Switchgrass ( Panicumvirgatumand curriculum vitae . , Zones 3–9 ) , orange coneflower ( Rudbeckiafulgida , Zones 3–9 ) , and baptisia ( Baptisiaspp . and cvs . , Zones 5–8 ) are all long - lived , dependable performer that add shock to a design . They are also known to expand robustly and countersink plenty of seed in various types of soil . so as to get the optic punch I want but the balance every space need , I have partner off certain vigorous specie with similarly competitive companions ( pic above ) .

Learn more

Get the planting architectural plan

See which plant life are used in this garden

Plants that go well together

Some of the source ’s favorite plant pairing

I ab initio combined switchgrass with fairly competitory plant such as bland aster ( Aster laevis , Zones 4–8 ) and eastern bluestar ( Amsoniatabernaemontana , Zones 3–9 ) . In about four years the switchgrass had sown dozens of beefy seedlings that border and engulfed the neighboring plants . A prairie fire can serve keep switchgrass in check , but I ’m not sure how your neighbors or the local fire department would respond . My neighbors responded with lawn chair and a six - coterie . If you ’re not fain to take on prescribed burns , you could pivot to a less aggressive cultivar of switchgrass such as ‘ Shenandoah ’ . The tame soma , however , still makes for highly dynamic , long - lasting planting ( photo below ) . Be aware , however , that just when you ’re feeling like you have perfect the balance between competitory plants , stressors ( like wet natural spring that can rot seedling ) may pull up stakes you scratching your head .

Baptisia and orangish coneflower ( photo below ) , among several others , have been very successful at retroflex themselves and are wonderful , high - impact plant that go the distance — in the right setting . I began my life history by using these highly competitive plant in mass planting to create more with less . They fight and pull against each other , as seasonal stressor affect them other than .

2. Work with the site challenges, not against them

It ’s not only the plants that present challenge to a high-pitched - impact designing ; the site itself can pose a significant challenge . When I begin any garden purpose , I always moot the local pressures . Things like hint exposure , water - flowing issues , deer and rabbit browsing , or poor soil structure can have damaging impact over time — even on the most expertly designed garden . It ’s good to try and extenuate these potential problems in procession of planting .

For instance , in one of our landscape projects we noticed that an raiment of invasive works had infiltrated the surface soil we were mean to shape into a garden . In addition , a penetrometer showed that the web site consist of heavy compacted soil . Could we have only forged forrader and executed our planting program ? Yes , but that would have created a nightmare maintenance scenario down the road . Instead , we contract the time to by rights work and remediate the soil , installed some larger woody plant ( to get through the firmly - packed soil ) , and crest the beds with sliced barque . We purposefully irrigated the borders to force the sleeping weed semen to germinate ; the resulting seedling were easy to remove because we were n’t working around 20,000 perennials that had been installed prematurely .

We had designate to begin this planting month before and were coerce to maintain a great bit of plant in our nursery while we hold back for the situation to be quick . Slowing down the project did n’t create a absolutely uninventive setting , but it did help us make a much more ideal environment to lead off a new garden . place potential pressure like this before planting and then developing a platform to keep or reduce future pressure can make a huge contribution toward creating a successful garden that attend cracking for many years .

3. Embrace changes, reassess needs, and pivot

If you need a dynamic , multiseason garden , you will demand to make savvy decisions about editing , which is one of the more difficult lesson I ’ve had to learn and teach . All too often I ’ve come upon gardener horrified by the mercilessness that is sometimes necessary for wipe out what appear to be perfectly beautiful plants . But if your destination is gamy impact over the long haul , you must edit to keep thing in balance .

A good example of this in my own garden is where I immingle ‘ Firetail ’ mountain fleece ( Persicariaamplexicaulis‘Firetail ’ , Zones 4–7 ) and wild bee balm ( Monardafistulosa , Zones 3–9 ) with coastal plain Joe Pye weed ( Eupatoriumdubium , Zones 3–9 ) . It proved to be a stunning combination . Within three years , though , the raving mad bee balm and massive clump of Joe Pye weed were seed into all parts of the garden . ‘ Phantom ’ Joe Pye weed ( E. maculatum‘Phantom ’ , Zones 3–9 ) and ‘ Purple Rooster ’ bee balm ( M. didyma‘Purple Rooster ’ , Zones 4–9 ) proved to be much less aggressive . The bee balm does spread into heavy thumping , however , so I ’ve had to trim these plant every few eld by either clip back part of the mass or digging out an full subdivision to open up views between the planting . I run to be overworked and do n’t wish to dig tumid sections out of the garden , but in a few second I can thin out the diam of these ball from 4 feet to 2 foot with just a belittled duo of clippers .

The undesirable expression of this planting dedicate way to joy and geographic expedition . It did n’t require a sweeping change , nor could it even be classified as a failure . It simply presented a chance to be in the garden , explore new approaches , and edit . variety happen every day , in life and in our garden . But by embracing sure strategies at the start and being willing to pivot afterwards , you may achieve a perfectly imperfect , high - wallop design .

Tips for Designing a Meadow Lawn

Strategies for Optimizing a Small Garden Space

Boost Your Garden’s Brilliance with These Spectacular Plant Pairings

Designing for Impact Over the Long Haul: Planting Plan

Join Fine horticulture for a innocent engaging springy webinar boast Dr. Janna Beckerman , a renowned plant life pathologist as well as professor emerita at Purdue University and the ornamentals technical manager …

When I spotted a peculiar Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin dollar cactus ( Astrophytum asterias ) at the Philadelphia Flower Show a few calendar month ago , I get it on I was in trouble . With a delightful colour form …

When we only prioritise plants we desire over plants our landscape painting need , each season is filled with a never - end list of chore : pruning , pinching , watering , treating , improve , and fertilizing , with …

purple and orange flowers in foreground with grasses in the background

Illustration: Elara Tanguy

Video

Touring an Eco-friendly, Shady Backyard Retreat

You must be careful when you participate the backyard of garden room decorator Jeff Epping — not because you ’re potential to trip on something , but because you might be dive - flush it by a pair …

4 Midsummer Favorites From a Plant Breeder’s Garden

Episode 181: Plants You Can’t Kill

Episode 180: Plants with Big, Bold Foliage

4 Steps to Remove Invasive Plants in Your Yard

All Access member get more

Sign up for afree trialand get access to ALL our regional content , plus the rest of the member - only mental object library .

Start Free Trial

illustrated garden plan

Illustration: Elara Tanguy

Get everlasting site admission to expert advice , regional content , and more , plus the print magazine .

jump your FREE test

Already a member?enter

view of large garden through limbs of small tree

Give the bullies a run for their money.Certain long-lived, robust plants such as baptisia and various ornamental grasses add undeniable impact to a design. But their inherent natures can make them indiscriminate aggressors in a garden setting if they aren’t paired with equally assertive companions.

mass plantings of blue and yellow flowers with house in background

Competitiveness is a sliding scale.When these gardens were first installed, switchgrass was a staple that added movement and interest during all seasons. To keep it in check, it was paired with eastern bluestar, which can normally hold its own in a bed. But the switchgrass quickly overwhelmed the less aggressive bluestar, so we replaced the straight species,P. virgatum, with the less robust ‘Shenandoah’ to bring things into balance (above). In areas where the straight species of switchgrass (and other robust grasses) still persist, truly aggressive companions such as prairie dock (Silphiumterebinthinaceum, Zones 4–8) hold the design in check (below).

wide view of garden with lots of purple flowers and ornamental grasses

Baptisia and orange coneflower in front of mass plantings of ornamental grasses

You don’t need to buy hundreds of plants to get impact.When we first began designing these extensive gardens, we relied on species such as orange coneflower to create masses quickly. This inexpensive plant not only expands rapidly, but it can usually be divided in its second year of growth, which gives you more plants to play with.

close up of full-sun garden with grasses and perennial seed heads

Don’t fight the site.Chances are, there will be areas of your garden that have less-than-ideal conditions. In this full-sun locale the soil was quite dry and lean. Although we mulched and amended the soil to make the spot a bit more hospitable, we also selected plants such as butterfly weed (Asclepiastuberosa, Zones 3–9) and little bluestem grasses (Schizachyrium scopariumand cvs., Zones 3–9) that thrive in these tough conditions.Photo: Jennifer Benner

gardens and gravel path around covered porch

For interest over a long period, editing is a must.Without the purposeful removal of clumps of some neighboring plants, this eye-catching patch of summer-blooming mountain fleece would never have realized its potential. Judiciously pruning or culling out some perfectly healthy plants is an occasional chore that must be tackled to ensure that a design has longevity.