Adding Drama to the Landscape
Use These Four Techniques to Bring Instant Interest to the Garden
Mar 2, 2007
We've all seen them: those gardens that just make you stand staring. They capture your interest, tease your imagination. and make you just a little envious. There are plenty of “nice” gardens out there: neat, with plenty of pretty blooms. For something with a little more drama, give one (or all) of these techniques a try.
Be Bold
Bold foliage in the landscape provides two important things: contrast and an instant focal point. Next to the more traditional boxwoods, roses, coneflowers, or daylilies in the garden, something like a canna or an Elephant's Ear just screams “look at me!” Use plants with bold foliage anywhere you want a little pizazz, either in the garden beds or in containers. Porches and patios are wonderful places to incorporate bold foliage.
Plants with Bold Foliage:
- Elephant's Ear (Colocasia)
- Gunnera
- Cardoon
- Hosta (large-leafed cultivars, such as 'Big Mama,' 'Sum and Substance,' 'Komodo Dragon,' and 'Atlantis.'
- Canna, 'Bengal Tiger,' 'Red Stripe,' or 'Intrigue,' for example.
Add Some Movement
Use ornamental grasses to provide a sense of movement in the garden. Ornamental grasses are available for just about any site and situation. They can soften hard edges, such as along walls or fences, and also play well with other plants in the landscape.
Grasses that provide tons of movement:
- Miscanthus sinensis 'Purpurascens'
- Miscanthus sinensis 'Silver Feather'
- Pampas Grass, any
- Fountain Grass, any
Embrace the Dark Side
Black plants are sophisticated. They're sexy. They provide an instant focal point, and they make brighter colored plants look even more vibrant. Of course, they're not really black. "Black plants" is an umbrella term for any dark-colored plant, usually very dark red or purple. Black plants are best used in bright areas. Planting a black plant in a dark, shady corner will only make it look gloomy.
A Sampling of Dramatic Black Plants:
Annuals
- 'Black Gem' cornflower (Centaurea cyanus)
- 'Penny Black' baby blue-eyes (Nemophila menziesii)
- 'Ace of Spades' pincushion flower (Scabiosa atropurpurea)
- 'Black Dragon' or 'Inky Fingers' coleus (Solenostemon)
Perennials
- 'Nigra' hollyhock (Alcea rosea)
- 'Black Knight' delphinium (Delphinium)
- 'Mocha,' or 'Obsidian' coral bells (Heuchera)
- 'Nigrescens' mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus)
Bulbs
- 'Black Knight' canna (Canna)
- 'Black Magic' elephant's ear (Colocasia esculenta)
- 'Queen of Night' tulip (Tulipa)
Shrubs
- 'Black Lace' sambucus (Sambucus nigra)
- 'Black Knight' butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii)
- 'Diablo' ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)
- 'Melanostachys' black pussy willow (Salix gracilistyla)
Be Generous
Nothing is more dramatic that a garden that is full, lush, and abundant. Perennials gently spilling over walls and onto paths, anything planted en masse, containers packed full of color. All of this can make a visitor to the garden feel heady with the sheer drama of it. Don't plant three tulip bulbs. Plant a hundred. Not one lonely little hollyhock; plant twenty in a drift of old-fashioned elegance. Pack porch pots and hanging baskets as full as you possibly can. Often, just one container, filled and spilling over with annuals, is enough to give that sense of abundance to a garden. Start small, and add plants over time.
A dramatic garden is easy, and within every gardener's reach. Boldness, movement, black plants, and abundance. One, or all, of these elements in the garden will make your garden unforgettable.
For More on Adding Drama and Interest to the Landscape, Check Out These Suite101 Articles:
Cascading and Trailing Annuals by Angela England
Colored Evergreen Shrubs by Angela England
Grow Flowers in Pots and Planters by Barbara M. Martin
Ornamental Grasses by Kate Copsey
Landscape Design: Role of Plants by Georgene A. Bramlage
