Rules and Pointers
How to Arrange Flowers on a Garden Border
A few simple rules or points will guide us in planning attractive borders of quiet dignity and undeniable charm in our outdoor living room:
• It is better to use fewer varieties in masses than a large number of varieties with just one of a kind. Do not let your love of flowers become a collector's mania. Masses of bloom give undeniably pleasing effects, whereas too many varieties are certain to give an effect that is "spotty." As in all forms of composition, the first and greatest rule is to consider the composition as a whole and let the details come later.
• Plants should be arranged with the tallest varieties in the background, medium growing varieties in the middle ground and the low growing varieties as edging in the foreground.
• We can achieve an interesting skyline in our planting by using plants of varying heights in the background and using the tall, narrow varieties for accent at desirable points.
• Plants should be selected for height, color and habit. Mixed borders of perennials, annuals and bulbs are usually more satisfactory than borders devoted only to one kind of plant.
• Plan for sequence of bloom and see that our plan provides for as many plants in bloom as possible from early spring until frost. Annuals best fill in the gaps between the periods of perennial bloom.
• Harmony of color is to be considered and when two plants side by side bloom at the same time they should complement each other instead of having their colors compete. There are many delightful blooming combinations that will provide bright spots in the border throughout the season if proper consideration is given to color. Individual tastes enter naturally, for probably nowhere do they make themselves so strongly felt as in garden planning.
• Physical and climatic conditions are similarly important to consider for soils, sun and shade also enter into the proper selection of flowers and care should be taken to select only the type of flowers that will grow in our climate and under the conditions present in our outdoor living room.
With these points in mind for the selection and placing of flowers, the actual drawing of the plan can proceed. We have to consider shape of masses and distance apart to plant to arrive at a workable plan.
There are two general schemes of grouping or massing flowers in the border. One is the system of squares, where the planting is more or less in parallel rows and the masses rectangular. The other is the drift scheme, where informally shaped masses merge into one another, avoiding all semblance of formality. Either method is good, and the shape of the bed often suggests which scheme is the most practical for our outdoor living room.
The size of each variety's mass is a determined by personal selection or desired effect, but it must be remembered that with perennials, what may be an oasis of beauty at one time may be a desert without bloom at another if the masses are too large. In front line planting this may not hold true. Sometimes whole beds can be edged with one hardy variety of flower especially if it be a long blooming variety, or one annual variety, and the result will be quite pleasing if not overdone.
The distance between plants is determined by the character and spread of the plant. For low and medium growing perennials, one square foot of space is all that is required. A Peony will use all of nine square feet to advantage; Tulips are planted five to six inches apart. The plant itself governs the space allowed.
By drawing a plan with these points in mind, we can have a working scheme that will provide a guide to ordering, arranging and planting border plants throughout our outdoor living room. The work can proceed systematically, either all being done in one year's time or spread over two or three years. If we know what we want, the plants can be obtained at the right time and easily put in their proper places, with the result that this important element in the decorative scheme of our outdoor living room will truly represent our personal thought and endeavor making it a source of permanent satisfaction.