Week 17 > You are reading Week 18 - April 29th, 2024 > Week 19

A Beautiful Dream

What makes a garden beautiful?

Balance, proportion, harmony, scale, texture, scent, color, surprise, sight lines, welcoming nooks, structural elements, water, wildlife.

This meeting of enjoyable features rarely happens by accident. They have to be planned into the design from the start, and if the garden stole your heart at first sight, they probably were.

Tall flowers sway gently above the landscape, drawing attention to their shorter, but just as beautiful sisters at their feet.

Delicate fronds contrast with sharp foliage, guiding the gaze down the path toward a secret nook surrounded by fragrant flowers.

Green and fragrant archways formed by tall flowering shrubs bow gracefully overhead.

In the shade of towering trees, walking ground covers in bloom thrive, punctuated by the rare flagstones marking the path.

Fragrant flowers are thoughtfully tucked near patios and garden paths, to create a cozy atmosphere and ensure they are always close enough to enjoy.

A beautiful garden is never random, and the design features don't look like much when first introduced into the landscape. Nature helps them along as plants mature, and then an enchanting harmony suddenly emerges, as if from nothing, exactly as intended.

Small Treasure

Speaking of variations in scale, you can't have a well balanced landscape design without tiny blossoms.

Creeping phlox, creeping Veronicas, creeping thyme, creeping Jenny, don't shun the creepies, the garden is lost without them.

Tiny flowers make up in volume what they lack in size, and bloom abundantly, quickly color blocking large areas.

They are the secret ingredient that helps the garden come together, and their diminutive size is an asset and the reason for their charm.

They are cottage garden staples like pinks, sweet violets, verbena, primroses, candytuft or alyssum, placed at the front of the border to delight you with color and scent.

They are trailing beauties like soapwort or lobelia, overflowing planters and spilling over the tops of retaining walls.

They are self-effacing greenery like lemon balm, thyme and mint, which release their fragrance to remind you of their presence as you accidentally brush past them.

Don't forget the ground covers, like lily of the valley, dead nettle, pachysandra, vinca, sweet woodruff or bugleweed, which thrive in poor soils, dry shade, or the shade of walnut trees, and bring color, cool respite and fragrance to places where not even weeds dare to grow.

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