We all love flowers in the landscape. Every spring we look forward to the spectacular blooms of ornamental flowering crabs, rhododendrons, lilacs and azaleas. Our gardens bless us with an array of blooms following a seasonal succession we come to know and love — spring bulbs, carpets of creeping phlox, iris, lilies, daylilies, etc. They’re like old friends coming back to visit each year.

With that said, lets be sure not to overestimate the importance of flowers in the landscape. Foliage, fruit, bark, and plant form or shape, have a lot to offer as well. These components can really make or break the aesthetic appeal of a landscape. First let’s consider color, texture and plant shape or form.

Use colored foliage thoughtfully. We have a full pallet of colors to choose from with a multitude of shades — greens, yellows, red, purple, silver. Seasonal color change is important as well.

Texture refers to the visual fineness or coarseness of the foliage, branches and fruits/seeds — smooth, glossy, pubescent, bumpy, etc.

It also refers to the size of the leaves. I’ve often heard it said that if all the leaves in a garden were the same size, it would be boring. Think about that the next time you’re in your garden and you’ll probably notice how diverse your plant selection is.

Plant shape or form can be described as rounded or mounded, creeping/spreading, conical, upright, arching, drooping/creeping, horizontal branching, columnar, etc. Using a variety of forms will also create an interesting landscape or garden.

Tiger Eyes sumac (Rhus typhina ‘bailtiger’) is an excellent plant for exemplifying interesting color, texture and form. This shrub has deeply cut almost lacy leaves. The new growth starts out chartreuse, but soon changes to a bright yellow. In autumn the plants turn a brilliant scarlet-orange layered over the yellow. The fuzzy purplish stems offer a pleasing contrast to the lemony foliage. The branches angle upward, while the lacy leaves droop downward, resulting in a graceful, almost Oriental look overall.

In a well-designed landscape or garden, each plant has a purpose. Some are “stars” while others are supporting cast members.

How do you pull it all together? The challenge lies in the placement. You’ll want the best characteristics of each plant to shine and yet play off one anther as well. When designing your yard or garden keep the three “Cs” in mind — complement, coordinate and contrast.

Plants can compliment each other by making up for each other’s shortcomings. I planted early spring tulips next to catmint (Nepeta racemosa ‘blue wonder’).

The tulips bloom before the catmint comes out of dormancy. By the time the tulip leaves begin to die back, the soft grey-green foliage of the catmint forms a dense mound hiding the tulip leaves that by now contribute nothing of interest to the garden.

In another part of my yard I have mature white pines. The lowest branches are a good eight to ten feet from the ground. Planting shrubs like Onodago viburnum (Viburnum sagentii ‘onodago’) in front of the white pines helped to enclose the yard creating more privacy from the road.

Plants can be coordinated in numerous ways. The color of one plant’s leaves can coordinate with another plant’s stems or berries. The reddish purple foliage of purple-leaf sand cherry (Prunus x cistena) combine nicely with the dark purplish red berries of the ornamental crab Prairiefire (Malus ‘prairiefire’).

Contrast creates interest and spontaneity. Varying color, shape and form with different plants is a lot of fun but be careful not to overdo it. There is a fine line between an interesting landscape or garden and chaos. Keep in mind a couple of strategies to help you through this process.

Create transitions that bridge the gap between contrasting colors, size and form. Use a medium-sized plant between something that’s tall and a low-growing plant.

Change only one or two factors at a time and have the plants coordinate in other ways. In a planting consisting of all evergreen conifers, I’ve created contrast using a variety of plant forms.

A dwarf Alberta spruce (Picea glauca ‘conica’) is conical in shape while the birds nest spruce (Picea abies ‘nidiformis’) has a dense, spreading habit with a depression in the center giving rise to its’ common name — bird’s nest. Both are spruces but with completely different shapes.

To this grouping I’ve added creeping juniper (Juniperus horizontalis), a low spreader and Sea Green juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘sea green’), a compact spreader with a deep green color and fountain-like arching branches.

A little advice when using plants with variegation. Variegated plants have leaves that are stripped, rimmed, spotted, or blotched with white, cream, yellow or even red. To appreciate the patterns in variegated plants, use them up close. At a distance they become blurred.

A backdrop of darker colors will help variegated plants stand out and look special. This can be done with green plants, a dark-colored house or fence. Variegated perennials like hosta, Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum ‘pictum’) or lamium (Lamium maculatum) will brighten a shade garden nicely. Conversely, a plant with variegated foliage in a bright sunny location especially near concrete can appear washed out and sickly.

When shopping for new plants for your garden or yard this spring, let color, texture and form, along with flowers, influence your choice. You’ll be another step closer to the landscape you’ve been dreaming of.

Kerry Ingraham’s passion for gardening fulfills her creative and physical craving for the outdoors. She has an avid interest in sensitive sites such as wetlands, prairies and waterfront restoration. Kerry earned a bachelor of science in horticulture from UW-Madison, taught horticulture for UW-Extension and CVTC. She is presently working at Gordy’s Garden Center, Lake Wissota as well as freelance work in landscape design. Reach her at kerry.ingraham@yahoo.com.

source : www.chippewa.com