Establishing layers and creating patterns are the keys to crafting an informal garden
Coloring outside the line conduct creative thinking and a upright routine of braveness . Bryan and Cassandra Barrett have both . As a contractor and garden room decorator , respectively , this married man - and - wife duet make a aliveness conceptualizing , instal , and defend gardens under the name Barrett Landscape and Design . There are no expression for the gardens they create . At their home in Dexter , Oregon , you wo n’t regain harmonious groupings , sizeable rowing , or manicured shrubs . Their garden has a fluid , natural look . And yet , with all its stratum , decoration , and myriad plants , there is nothing messy about it . Like any well - designed cozy garden , it sustain a sense of guild without attend rigid . But how , exactly , is that accomplished ? How do the Barretts unify so many ostensibly random plants to create something so beautiful ? Or rather , how do they color outside the lines and do it so well ? Their approach is simpler than it might reckon . See two secret to expectant garden design below .
Step 1:Pay attention to every layer of your garden
The Barretts ’ garden is surpassing for many grounds : striking twelvemonth - daily round color , meandering gravel paths , and contrast texture , for illustration . But less obvious is the way each level of the landscape steps down step by step — from the tallest Thompson sorry spruce ( Picea pungens‘Thompson ’ , USDA Hardiness Zones 2–8 ) , to the Barretts ’ weatherboard farmhouse , to the epimedium ( Epimediumspp . and cvs . , Zones 5–9 ) cascade onto walkway . Each element is integrated . This result is , of trend , intentional . Smooth passage and obtuse bed are what happens when gardeners know how to layer — and Cassandra has layering down to an art form . For her , every garden consists of four tier up , and each tier has a business to do .
Ground story – Add low-growing plants to the beds
Low - get plants , measure 1 ft tall or less , are best admired up close . cogitate of them as jewelry , with their frail texture and vivacious colors . They ’re perfect for accessorizing borders , route , and entryways .
Upper story –Link the sky to the landscape
It ought to be a given that every yard comes with at least a few 80 - groundwork - tall tree , but that ’s often not the case in newly constructed neck of the woods . If your landscape lacks tincture trees and you have the place , do n’t waste any prison term before planting a few cedar or oak .
Secondary upper story –Tie the landscape to the house
The tall your house , the taller this tier up want to be . A general normal is to select tree diagram and shrubs that will maturate at 8 to 15 foot tall for undivided - degree home and 25 to 30 feet tall for two - tale family .
If you ’re starting a new garden , Cassandra recommends buying tree and shrubs first . apply them to make a frame around your K . Plant them in chemical group along your prop contrast for privacy and in the corners of your stack to soften its angles . It does n’t take many of these plant life to give beds structure year - round and to make focal points throughout the garden .
Midstory –Marry the house to the garden
This tier comprise of eye - level perennials and shrub , which are the majority of plant in a garden .
The midstory is also the place where you desire to include several touch plants . You need only a few to sum some wow to your garden . Keep an eye out for ones that do n’t ask much way around their nucleotide so that you’re able to plant shorter perennials underneath .
Step 2:Fuse the layers with patternsbehind the scenes
full developing each storyof the garden create the case of fat , layered beds that make the Barretts ’ landscape painting so inviting . But there is a strategy , of course , to filling up each tier up with plant life . Selecting colors , configuration , and textures that complement each other is all-important , as is arranging plant in an aesthetically pleasing way . That ’s when create pattern comes into play .
Plant selection – Pick three colors and a texture
The secret to draw all four story together can be total up in one parole : repetition . In the early stage of planning , the Barretts picked a color scheme ( burgundy , blue , and chartreuse ) and a texture ( prickly conifers ) to repeat in the garden . The Barretts reprize these just enough to give them protrusion , which is rough every 20 feet . “ That ’s all the eye can really take in at one time , ” Cassandra explicate . With the conifers and the burgundy , blue , and chartreuse always in the line of vision , Cassandra is then free to total almost any other flora that suits her fancy . The ever - present color schema and texture maintain a cohesive feeling , even as young plants are insert .
Plant placement – Think “triangles”
Staggering plants , as opposed to planting in words , further mesh the garden ’s many elements . Cassandra practices what she calls “ triangulation”—in short , thinking in ternion . From zigzagging irises ( below ) along a tract to position a pair of Bourgogne - leaved shrubs at the foot of a red strapleaf Nipponese maple ( Acer palmatum‘Atrolineare ’ , Zones 5–8 ) , Cassandra creates triangular patterns everywhere . She buys multiples of every color , figure , and texture , and disperses them among the garden ’s lower three stories . broadly working within triangle preserve the patterning insidious , the tiers lace , and the landscape painting ’s overall look informal .
Getting down and dirty
Believe it or not , the Barretts ’ garden requires remarkably little maintenance . Bryan and Cassandra do every task themselves . As small - business owners , however , they ’re often strapped for fourth dimension . Here are a few conjuring trick they use to keep their 2½acres picture - arrant .
? Forget about cutting the garden back in fall . The Barretts wait until after wintertime ’s last Robert Lee Frost to tidy up their perennials . They also do n’t prune the same flora more than once a year . They shape multistemmed flowering bush and weeping Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree in late spring , later - winter bloomers in early fall , and deciduous trees in winter .
It waste time and money to fertilize every flora . In spring , Cassandra sprinkles wood ash tree around her peonies to intensify their color and organic , sluggish - release fertilizer around vegetables , fruit trees , and several heavy - bloom perennials . That ’s it .
The Barretts do n’t have an underground irrigation system , but they relieve time ( and water ) by buy the correct tools . For overhead watering , they use a Gardena timekeeper and oscillating sprinkler . For hand tearing , Cassandra swears by her Gilmour 8 - ply garden hosepipe , American - made nerve nozzle , and a governing body quick connective with male and distaff fittings .
Never stop weeding , not even in winter . For the occasional trouble area , Cassandra uses a preemergent herbicide , such as Preen Vegetable Garden Organic Weed Preventer .
Ann E. Stratton is a former assistant editor ofFine Gardening .
Photos : Allan Mandell
This article first appeared inFine GardeningSpecial Issue 52Great Garden Design .
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From poppies to spruce trees, this garden boasts an eclectic mix of plants. But they all harmonize, thanks to patterns. If you want to add patterns to your own garden, start by buying more of a plant you already have.
From poppies to spruce trees, this garden boasts an eclectic mix of plants. But they all harmonize, thanks to patterns. If you want to add patterns to your own garden, start by buying more of a plant you already have.
The beds above are arranged in levels that help to create a sense of dimension and unite the structures on the landscape and bring them together with the landscape.
The Barretts picked a few themes to repeat in the garden, including utilizing prickly conifers and the colors chartreuse, blue, and burgundy.
The irises above are staggered in a zigzag pattern across the path to help create a sense of fluidity and unity.
