Repetition and unity also works
At last week’s Springville farmers market, a customer asked about plant suggestions for an area of her yard. After discussing various possibilities and mixing and matching them, she said, “I think I just want to use one plant species for the whole area.” I smiled. “Good choice,” I said. Does it matter which species she chose? Ultimately, as long as they would all work with the site’s soil, sun/shade and water availability attributes, the customer could choose whatever her personal preference dictated.
Last week I wrote about two elements, “contrast” and “harmony” that you can use to plan a successful California native plant garden. Two related general design elements are “repetition” and “unity.”
My farmers market customer was, on her own, choosing repetition at the extreme end of the spectrum. Using a single species (or visually closely-related species) is what we do when planting turf or other ground cover for an expanse that looks simple and harmonious. Limiting the species choice also makes maintenance simpler. Ask any developer setting up the front yards of a new home sub-division; you don’t see much variance in species choices. This simplifies the entire procurement and planting process for the contractor, but it also simplifies the maintenance for the developer until the home is sold and for the new homeowner, who may or may not be interested in gardening. So next to the single-species model on the spectrum is limiting the landscape to a few repeated species. The general guidelines are one tree species, up to three larger shrub species and up to two small shrubs, ground cover, vine or perennial species. In these cases the landscapes are uni- fied by the repetition of species throughout the yard and throughout the neighborhood.
I’m not suggesting we all have cookie-cutter landscapes. Most sub-division landscapes trade away interest for this unity and simplicity. In our own yards, whether we are gardeners or not, we can increase the number of species in each category, or we can replace species and boost the interest. Look around at some of the newest commercial-site plantings; the drought requirements mean that contractors are using a lot of new species and creating some great commercial landscapes that are both unified and interesting.
The challenge is that many of us end up planting “one of each,” purchasing and planting different species, one at a time. Over the course of months or years, this can make a landscape look chaotic. Although it may be the ultimate in contrast, it may lack any areas of harmony or calmness. This style is on the opposite end of the spectrum from “single species” planting.
Planting “one at a time” can work, but to increase the harmony, careful attention must be paid to mature size and form, foliage color/ form and flower color/ form. It is possible to repeat form and repeat bloom and/or foliage type and color in different species. This does take planning, or extra work transplanting and re-designing-on-the-fly.
If you have an empty spot in the garden, you can use repetition to keep your garden orderly and unified. If you have Cleveland sage shrubs with a space in between not quite large enough for another Cleveland sage, but want to keep the bed unified, you may choose purple sage (Salvia leucophylla) or one of the Cleveland related ground cover sages: bees’ bliss, Mrs. Beard or Dara’s choice, for example.
The easiest way to unify an existing garden that has lost its structure is to choose one species that will work horticulturally through- out the area, and to repeat that one species throughout the garden. Deer Grass (Muhlenbergia rigens) is a popular choice for this because of its bold year-round structure, but any single species can be used.
You can also repeat a single-species group throughout the garden to provide unity. A group of common yarrow (Achillea millefolium selections) or of native ornamental grass such as purple needle grass (Nassella pulchra), California fescue (Festuca californica), purple three-awn grass (Aristida purpurea) or several other possibilities are good choices. A mass of at least five plants will be visible from a distance and can calm down or unify an otherwise too-busy garden. This is a good idea for those of us who like to include a multitude of species. Block out the garden into sections. Inside the boundaries of the sections, go ahead and “one of each” all you want for either harmony or contrast, using the guidelines from last week’s column. In between the sections, use a single plant or a single-species group as a unified transition and boundary. We sometimes think of this as a quilt or tapestry approach, because we are bordering the patterns and using repetition to create an overall unified pattern.
On the other hand, if your garden is boring, maybe you have too much repetition and unity! Break the pattern by using a plant or group of plants that contrast with the existing species. Remember it is not always about flower color. Use all elements of the plant: form, mature size, foliage color/shape and deciduous/evergreen to your advantage, for a garden that is perfectly blended between simple/harmonious/unified and contrast/interesting.