Aside from the ability to see mistakes, it requires an inventive mind to make new arrangements for plants. Single trees or shrubs are a nice addition to a garden, and if they are taken care of, they add nicely to the composite beauty of the scene.

A single plant will naturally receive more attention when standing by itself than if it were in a group with others. That is why it should have greater individual beauty. It should be perfect, if possible. If you have a large yard to work with, then you have a lot more opportunity to place trees or shrubs in just the right spot.

You will need to use your own judgment when picking these places out, but they should usually be in an area where they will be noticed and available for examination. That way, each individual plant will always be visible, so you can show off your handiwork. Places like this should be reserved for especially beautiful plants. Any rare or remarkable plant—not monstrous and deformed—should be given the spotlight.

So how do you know which parts of your garden would be considered background, and which would be considered foreground? There are, of course, some objects which are seen both near by and at a distance. But in the majority of instances an object—for instance, a tree—will be most often seen from the same distance.

If it stand s at the back of the garden, with a bunch of smaller trees between it and the street, it would be considered in the background. On the other hand, if it stands next to a path or right in front of the living room window, it is usually considered the foreground. Between these extremes there is a middle-ground, to some extent. Any one plant can have an exceedingly different visual effect depending on where you position it.

You can also enhnace the lookof a plant by placing it in a planter. Planters are beautiful in their own right; some could even be considered outdoor statues in their own right. There are so many combinations you could use, too. One planter might look good with one plant, one with another, or maybe a certain plant will turn out even more beautifully in a certain planter.

A background is most often made up of large trees. Here you can use the species of trees which are rough and irregular, which don't look very nice up close. The texture of these trees is too coarse, and would be offsetting if placed in the foreground. In the background, they seem to give a gentle touch to the otherwise unbroken and monotonous surface. Trees with vibrant colors that don't seem to fit in with the rest of the garden would appear soft and calm in the background.

Also, keep in mind that a background must match the theme of the rest of the garden. For example, it can't have a bristling sky line if smooth and round headed smaller trees are in front of it. This goes for color too. The background is usually darker than the plants in front. This rule is more malleable though; otherwise it would force all dark colored species out of the fore and middle-ground.

All plants in the foreground are under close scrutiny, so you should only use plants that can stand up to such judgment. Flowering shrubs and herbaceous plants are usually a safe choice; in most cases plants for the foreground are small. However, it is nice to have large trees next to the path for their shade. This is fine, as long as there aren't so many that you can't see the rest of the garden.

There are plenty of medium sized trees and large shrubs that you can use in the middle-ground. Some good ones to use are the buckeyes, altheas, lilacs, and the interesting koelreuteria. The middle-ground is the perfect place for the exhibition of tree specimen. If you want to show the form of a tree, it can be put far back in the middle-ground. If you're showing the beautiful foliage, it can come to the nearer middle-ground.