The flowerless garden
Fifty shades of green, pops of colour is new style
While beds tumbling with flowers are lovely, there’s an emerging trend in landscape design: the flowerless garden.
Non-traditional gardens are no less green. In fact, the hue is often more obvious than in a floral-filled space. Varieties of leafy shrubs, trees, vines and grasses create a verdant vista, even in small gardens. An additional perk: these gardens may be significantly easier to maintain than a plot full of posies.
Justin Hancock of Costa Farms, a nursery in Miami, describes two types of non-traditional gardens: “One is a soothing, naturalistic garden that’s filled with different shades of green,” he says. “The other is a little more flamboyant and uses variegated plants to bring in splashes of colour.”
Both offer a pleasing esthetic in all seasons.
Serenity
A Zen-like garden keeps the focus on the garden structure itself, with greenery that’s calming. Shawn Fitzgerald of the Kent, Ohio-based Davey Tree Company, thinks hardscaping should also be a consideration in these gardens.
“A water feature always adds a nice element — a pond, or a creek, with the sound of running water,” he says. “And, of course, benches are always great,” Fitzgerald says.
“Who doesn’t like to sit and reflect in a peaceful garden, under some nice shade cover?”
Visual interest
Hancock suggests using variegated shrubs or trees to add colour and texture to a garden. Give similarly hued plants like hostas, dusty miller and succulents a tonal frame by placing them next to bluestone pavers, he suggests. Or play with scale perception by graduating dark and light greenery along a pathway.
“One of my favourite ways to make a small space feel larger is to plant varieties that have rich green, purple, or orange foliage up front, and incorporate white-variegated leaves at the back. Because the light colour recedes, it creates an optical illusion of more space,” he says.
There’s one annual he recommends. “Coleus is one of the most versatile foliage plants you can choose. Some tolerate full sun, but most grow in shade, too,” he says. “Redhead, which is a personal favourite; Campfire, which is purple and orange; chartreuse Wasabi; gold Honeycrisp.”