Foliage Foundations and Gnasty Gnomes (the Gs are silent)

Imagine this late dark scene : You ’ve finished floss , folded down the quilt , fluffed the pillows , flip subject F is for Fugitive , feel it shine flat on your face , and flipped off the fluorescent .

That ’s their signal . I ’m not excuse their doings , mind you , but as you navigate off to The Land of Nod , your garden gnome begin their nightly escapades . Imagine a job like theirs — abide immobile while the summertime sun bake off your paint , or winter winds whip you with sleet . And what ’s with the sprinkler bidet ?

So when late night falls and their shift ends , the dwarf need to bodge off some steam . Off to the all - night public house , they belly out up to the brass foot rail and get down to serious business .

The night is n’t over yet . Stumbling household , their little concrete eyes gleaming , the merry pranksters repeat their pre - dawn ritual : foot off all the flower buds waiting to open , so the gardenneverblooms .

The moral of this narrative : Design your garden as though these mischievous , misanthropic ( or is that mis - flor - opic ? ) , bugger live in your garden . Do n’t use flowers as the only ocular interest in your garden . Instead , boil down on creating year - rung interest group by work your plants ’ shapes , density , folio patterns , and foliage colors , so your garden looks great , flowers or not .

grant me to partake in one of the most elegantly sophisticated little corner of landscaping I ’ve ever seen . What rap me out so much is the use of two key optic invention principles – harmony ( elements with similarities ) and contrast ( factor with differences ) . This vignette sits a few block from my house , adorning the Sansum Diabetes Research Center in Santa Barbara .

( Back row , leave behind to rightfulness ) You ’re looking atRhamnus californica(California coffeeberry),Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘ Marjorie Channon’(Marjorie Channon Kohuhu – that always cracks me up ) , andGeijera parvifolia(Australian willow tree ) . In front is another Aussie , Lomandra confertifolia ‘ Little Con’(small matting thrill ) .

From this soar upwards out view , observe the symmetrical interplay of the four plants , all sharing easy , cloudlike form . Additionally , the willow and Kohuhu have alike shapes – marvelous than they are full .

Next , we ’ll swing over through the composition , moving from left to right .

Too much concord can get boring , so a little variety pauperization to be injected : the dark , dull - green , larger leaves of the coffeeberry ; the soft , milky tint of Kohuhu smaller foliage ; and the strikingly hopeful , hunky-dory grain and one-dimensional manikin of the matte upsurge . There ’s no mistaking where one plant ends and another begin .

In the picture above , notice the similar shape of Kohuhu and willow tree , and the fact that each is dim and fine textured . The difference of opinion in foliage people of colour are less spectacular than the side - by - side paring with the California coffee . And since the willow tree foliage has a snatch of white-livered underlie the green , it immingle with the warmth of the Master of Arts in Teaching rush foliage .

I guess that ’s it . Maybe you ’ve picked up a few bakshish for create interesting flora groupings in your own garden . And do n’t remember you ca n’t use flowering plants in the garden – they ’re the frost on the cake .

Now I ’ve make ta go fumble the book , flip off the fugitive , and floss the dwarf .

Also , I write latterly about theSan Francisco Flower and Garden Show , running from March 23 thru March 27 . I ’ll be speaking on Thursday , dispensing indispensible design advice , signing copy of Fine Gardening , and regaling you with my rapier - same humor . add up join me .

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