It may be cold outside, but it can be fun beginning plans for our spring gardens. Perhaps you’re happy with last year’s display and there’s nothing you want to change. But just maybe you’re a bit tired of that over-zealous cluster of rose bushes and the now-too-tall ornamental cherry tree.
Let me offer you a few inspirational suggestions for ways to update your garden and (dare I say it?) transform your garden into a trendy Eden. Yes, I know there’s nothing new under the sun, especially when it comes to gardening. But here are four fresh looks gaining popularity among landscape designers.
They are (1) Pleaching, (2) Mixed Planting, (3) Maximalism, and (4) Xeriscaping.
Pleaching:
I’ll begin with pleaching because, if you like the idea, you’ll want to set aside this magazine and rush right outside and start pleaching! Dating back to the Middle Ages, this creative approach uses your garden’s trees and shrubs to create an environment, a space created from woven branches. Begin by tying and weaving pliant branches of shrubs and/or trees together to form a tunnel, roof, or hedge of greenery. Pleaching is particularly lovely when used in combination with arbors, trellises, and pergolas.
You’ll need: (a) cotton garden twine, (b) a stepladder, and (c) patience. After you’ve decided where you’re going to pleach and which trees or shrubs will lend themselves to the training, it’s time to work. (Pleaching works best with deciduous trees.) Winter is the best time to do the weaving and tying of branches. In the spring, when those secured branches send out new shoots, they’ll begin to intertwine with the neighboring tree or shrub. The new shoots are easy to train by gently tying them to mature branches. By early summer, you may already see lacey boughs shading your path or patio area. Throughout the summer trim the occasional random shoot or branch heading off in its own direction. By autumn next year, there’ll be a lovely sculpture of vining branches overhead.
Mixed Planting:
Mixed Planting is a practical and sometimes challenging approach to garden design. Traditionally, one creates a flower garden and/or a vegetable garden. Mixed planting is a garden designed to mingle flowers, fruits, and vegetables. The two types are not customarily mixed because the vegetables are grown in quantities to be harvested, while flowers are raised for beauty and occasionally for bouquets.
The problems faced by this combined garden are (1) location: how to harvest the carrots without harming the daisies blooming nearby, or how to control the pea vines so they don’t strangle the lilies growing majestically beside the vines. (2) Maintenance can be difficult too, if your asparagus needs to be treated for beetles with a spray the foxglove can’t tolerate, or your tomato plant needs generous watering but it’s drowning the dahlias. So, lots of planning is essential. A great project for the snowy days ahead.
Maximalism:
As a reaction to the Minimalism of the last decade, there’s a trend now to Maximalism in garden design. One type of Maximalism is known as “meadow scaping.” The New York City High Line, designed by Piet Oudolf, exemplifies this approach—a profusion of wildflowers loosely interspersed with ornamental grasses. Another type of Maximalism is the Romantic Garden popularized in the 19th century. Romantic gardens use a plethora of plants and bright, lush colors to create a panoply of sensory experiences. There’s lots of room in this design style for one’s personal mark—applying color, texture, and volume to planting. To some degree, the Maximalist Garden responds to the deepening concern for pollinators in our gardens. The variety and lushness of plantings are exactly what bees, hummingbirds, and other pollinators enjoy.
Xeriscaping:
The term “xeriscape” refers to planting with the intent of little or no artificial irrigation. The trend to decrease or eliminate lawns is an example of this movement’s impact. Recently, there are two new approaches to xeriscaping: (1) Gravel Gardens and (2) Industrial Gardens.
Gravel gardening uses layers of pea gravel to provide a well-drained setting for sturdy, well-established plants. Laying down layers of small, clean pebbles is critical. Into this bed of gravel, reasonably mature, healthy perennials are settled—holes dug in the gravel allowing the established plant-roots to get deep enough to reach the ground beneath the gravel. While it takes careful planning, including clean, differentiated borders to hold the gravel in place, once established the gravel garden needs little attention—it looks after itself.
Industrial Gardens is an unusual direction in garden design. As the name implies, items we think of as used in industry are repurposed in the garden. For example, cement blocks can be filled with soil and used as planters. Metal rods and beams may provide interesting vertical designs and supports for vines. The challenge for the gardener is to see materials for their color, texture, and versatility. The garden becomes a modern, or even post-modern assemblage.
Whichever of these trends captures your imagination, you’ll surely adapt them to your particular vision of a garden. And that is the true beauty of gardening, harmonizing the natural world with our cultivation and care of that world.
