OK, Derby is now over and you can get back to a more reasonable pace of gardening. There’s no Derby party deadline to keep you yanking weeds and jamming plants in the ground until well after dark.
You can take your time and do some gardening that will have long-term impact on the yard. It is in this spirit of the post-Derby gardener that we offer our top tips for improving the design of your garden.
Design, don’t collect! This is a tough one for those of us who suffer from the collector’s disease. It is an easy affliction to self-diagnose. If you are one who peruses plant catalogs, ordering one of everything even though you know you have no space for them, you’ve been infected.
We’re sorry, but you’ll have to find an uninfected friend to arrange a horticultural intervention. If you can’t manage that, we suggest you forget calling your place a garden and just refer to it as a nursery. It’ll reduce everyone’s stress in the long run.
Shape the lawn rather than the bed. This tip comes from one of our great garden-designer friends in New England, Gordon Hayward. He suggests starting your garden layout by shaping the lawn and allowing everything outside the lawn to become planting bed. You’ll be amazed how much easier this makes the design process.
Plant in drifts. One of the biggest mistakes made by most novice garden makers is to buy one of everything they like and then figure out how to arrange them in a pleasant presentation.
Rather than one each of 30 different perennials, try 10 each of three compatible varieties. This allows you to weave masses to provide some movement and continuity in the garden.
Pick a stunning focal point. If your garden is an unending series of blended masses, that’s certainly better than a polka-dotted nursery planting, but it can still lack pizazz. To add some sparkle, pick out a couple of primary views across the garden (outside a prime window, at the end of a path, etc.) and drop in a focal element.
Long views work best when they terminate in something that grabs your attention. The element can be a stunning container planting, a small tree with standout character or, even better, a nicely placed piece of garden sculpture.
Focal points, if they are to have the most impact, are best backed up by a simple planting; large groundcover bed, plain green hedge, even a plain fence. The key is to use the background to make the key element jump out. If the setting competes too much with the feature, you end up with a mess.
When placing artwork in the garden, be sure to account for the changing sun angles and shade patterns and how they’ll change the look of the piece.
Step out of your comfort zone and plant things you’d never consider in the past. Edge a perennial bed with an herb (the triple cut form of parsley makes a great edge). Plant a summer-blooming vine to scramble over a spring-blooming shrub. Dwarf conifers in bright ceramic containers make excellent garden accents that can be overwintered in the garage.
The possibilities are endless, especially if you avoid a few of the plant zealot admonitions: “Woodies are weeds” or one with a long history … “friends don’t let friends plant perennials!” Like most sound bites, they might get a quick chuckle but don’t do anybody any good.
The bottom line is that improving your garden design isn’t rocket science. Follow a few basics, make a bold statement or two and, above all, make the garden your own.
Happy (post-Derby) gardening!
Yew Dell Botanical Gardens is at 6220 Old La Grange Road, Crestwood, Ky. Information: www.yewdellgardens.org.
COMMONWEALTH BANK AND TRUST GARDEN SCULPTURE SHOW
Featuring Louisville sculptor Ed Hamilton
What: 24 regional sculptors showing more than 60 garden pieces during the two-month show and sale.
When: Show, May 17-Aug. 3, during regular garden hours; opening reception, 5:30-8 p.m. Friday, 5/16
Where: Yew Dell Botanical Gardens, 6220 Old La Grange Road, Crestwood, Ky.
Cost: Reception, $25 members; $35 nonmembers (reception tickets available at www.yewdellgardens.org). Sculpture show free with paid admission to gardens — adults $7, seniors $5, children under 12 free, active military free, members free.
Information: (502) 241-4788; www.yewdellgardens.org
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