DESIGN/BUILD: Bold & Beautiful

A garden, especially a front entry bed, is not a place to be shy. Forget soft pastels and boring foliage, and think bold colors and big plants. A punch of color and a splash of texture can brighten any bed and helps create a warm, welcoming space.

But being bold doesn’t mean throwing all design principles to the wayside. The right blend of colors, texture and year-round appeal can create a living work of art. Even though today’s gardens shun wallflower status, it’s still necessary to follow basic design principles to create a unified space.

EYE-CATCHING COLOR. It’s hard to ignore a garden overflowing with vibrant color. And with shades of reds, pinks and purples gaining popularity, it seems more customers want their gardens to scream, “Look at me!”

Jessica Atchison, industry communications manager, Ball Horticultural Co., West Chicago, Ill., sees rich, bold colors, such as burgundy, purple and black becoming more popular, along with warm tones like yellow, orange and fuchsia. “We’re moving away from pastels and toward deeper or more vibrant colors that provide a sense of fun or luxury,” she says.

Although client preferences will differ from job to job, it’s hard to argue the prevalence of red, pink and purple hues. For example, Nicholas Staddon, director of new plant introductions, Monrovia Growers, Azusa, Calif., notes the continued popularity of weigelas, especially a new variety that offers burgundy leaves. “It used to be they only had green leaves,” he says. “But now you have a rich coppery tone that offsets the pink or red flowers.”

Roses are a perennial favorite among clients, and an increased use of Knock Out Shrub Roses also suggests a trend toward pinks and reds. But it’s not just the color that makes the plant popular. William Healy, a landscape designer who works with Morton’s Landscape Development Co., Columbia Station, Ohio, started using the Rosa variety of the plant about six years ago, and it quickly became one of his favorites because of how much it flowers and how tolerant it is to disease. Healy is also a big fan of the Blushing variety, which comes in a lighter pink color.

Purple is also a big hit in gardens, thanks in part to Geranium Rozanne, a new variety of hardy geranium. Kevin O’Brien, landscape designer, Lifestyle Landscaping, Grafton, Ohio, likes to use the flower, especially when planted in mass. “It virtually flowers all summer,” O’Brien says. “It gets about 1 foot tall, but has a strong horizontal habit to it.”

But of all the colors, Staddon believes one in particular is gaining the most favor. “If you look at trends in interior design and fashion, there is a quiet trend toward pinks and greens,” he says. “Pink is becoming an enormously popular color again.”

It’s often difficult for the gardening industry to keep up with other design trends because of how long it takes to bring a plant to the market. But Staddon predicts the timing is perfect for a new dwarf pink echinacea due out next year called Pixie Meadowbrite. The plant grows 18 to 20 inches high and wide. “At last, we have a plant that ties into fashion and interior design,” he says.

A TOUCH OF TEXTURE. The bold look doesn’t just apply to color, but size and shape as well. Plants with large flowers and foliage can add visual interest to any garden. The trend toward “monster plants,” as Atchison calls them, looks like it’s here to stay. “In annuals, the most attention-getting plants of the past year have been giants in some way,” she says, pointing out the Kong coleus, Magilla perilla and Wave petunias. “The Kong coleus has enormous leaves with flashy color patterns. The Magilla perilla is an annual foliage plant that grows up to 3 feet tall, and Wave petunias spread up to 4 feet.”

Staddon notes the popularity of oakleaf hydrangeas which, instead of a regular green leaf, have a large oakleaf that can grow 8 to 9 inches across. In addition, the leaves turn vibrant shades of crimson and burgundy in the fall, providing year-round interest. Next year, Staddon says to watch for a new breed called Vaughn’s Lillie. “The plant is 4 to 5 feet tall and 4 to 5 feet wide,” he says. “The flower is the size of a small child’s head. It’s a gorgeous plant with year-round interest.”

Another indicator of the bigger-is-better trend is the increased use of tropical plants in recent years. “Designers are using tropical plants in beds to add bold texture and color,” Healy says. “Cannas, which can grow up to 6 feet tall and have huge leaves and wild-colored flowers, are a popular choice.”

In addition to large plants, customers are drawn to soft plants. “I think people like textures they can actually touch,” Staddon says, such as ferns and ornamental grasses.

Atchison notes the increase of what she refers to as “touchy-feely” plants – the kind that make you want to reach out and touch them. “Examples would be Silver Shield plectranthus, a variety with thick, fuzzy silver leaves or Purple Majesty ornamental millet, which has fluffy seed heads,” she says.

Atchison also sees a trend of combining lots of different textures. “Plants with big, fuzzy leaves or small, succulent foliage can harmonize perfectly with large-flowered annuals in combination plantings,” she explains.

Bob Thomas, landscape designer, Moon Landscaping, Yardley, Pa., says his clients, who live in homes worth around $1 million, prefer a more evergreen look to their front gardens. They like the formal look it offers, as well as the year-round interest it provides. “P.J.M. Rhododendron, for example, has a green leaf in the main growing season, but the leaves turn a little mahogany in the fall and winter,” he says.

To create textural differences, Thomas will place a broadleaf evergreen next to a finer leaf evergreen. Next to that, he’ll plant a juniper variety, which offers more of a needle evergreen. In addition to differing texture, all these plants have various shades of green. He says he tries to stick with 12 to 15 varieties for an entire front-yard planting. Occasionally, he’ll also incorporate ornamental grasses such as Adagio for texture and color variation.

In addition, Thomas’ customers live in an area where deer often eat plants in the landscape. When designing beds, he needs to select plants that are tolerant to deer, which can be challenging. “Deer are an all-season long problem, and their appetites change weekly,” he says.

A popular plant, both for its appearance and its deer-tolerance, are boxwoods. In addition to being used as hedges, they can also be used to frame the sides of an entrance or as a single specimen in a container. “I would plant a triangle of three of these in a garden,” says Staddon. “It gives it a mathematical look that draws the eye. Close by, I would have a plant to soften it, such as moving grasses.”

EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE. Once plants have been selected for a bed, the next step is figuring out where they should go. The goal of entry bed plants is to create a welcoming space and call attention to the entrance.

A plant with an interesting texture or a splash of color can highlight the entry. “There may be a specimen plant material such as a Japanese white pine to show this is an area of interest,” O’Brien says.

O’Brien also uses the area around the front door and porch to do a more detailed planting. “At that point, people have slowed down enough to take everything in,” he says, adding that as he moves farther from the door, he’ll start massing plant material.

With the right placement, plants can also disguise parts of the house, such as an electric meter or a downspout, and accentuate other parts, such as a unique architectural feature. It’s also important to remember that gardens should be appealing from the inside, as well as the outside. That’s why Thomas always asks to go inside the home when he visits a site. “We can determine what views we may want to screen or disguise,” he says. “Many of the homes we work on have a lot of windows, so we want to design the garden for inside, as well as outside viewing.”

Massing plants together delivers the best color show, and it also helps alleviate maintenance because the plants crowd out weed competition. “If you group things together, the texture becomes one,” O’Brien says. “It has more impact visually than a bunch of individual elements.”

But be sure to consider how the garden will look from up close as well as far away. A block of dark-leaved plants works in dappled shade areas and may look good up close, but when from a distance, they can look like a black hole. “To liven up the space, use them in conjunction with blues, golds or bright greens,” Staddon suggests.

Even though a plant may offer the right color and texture, it doesn’t mean it’s the right plant for the space. Staddon says the greatest tip ever passed on to him was to be aware of how big a plant will get. “A plant may be beautiful and the color just right, but if it’s too big or too small for the spot, the design won’t work,” he says.

For example, says O’Brien, it’s not a good idea to cram a Viburnum one foot from a pathway. “It will ultimately grow into the pathway and create a maintenance issue.”

When placing annuals, Atchison recommends placing plants close enough to fill in quickly. “It takes more plants, but it also makes a much bigger impact and results in a happier client,” she says. “Nobody likes to see bare spots.”

Understanding the plants and knowing their growth habits can ease selection and eliminate potential headaches. “The choices in plants can be completely overwhelming,” Atchison says. “You can get help from the Internet, catalogs and your wholesale grower to make sure you’re making the right decision. A little research up front means better results later on.”

BALANCING ACT. The shift may be toward bold color, but in order to remain beautiful, designers need to follow basic design principles. This doesn’t mean gardens have to be stale or staid. Designs should be creative and dynamic, but the goal is to provide balance.

Bold textures are great, but the bold stands out because finer textured plants are nearby for them to play off. Balance is what gives gardens more appeal. “Garden beds need to have some type of unity,” Healy says. “If they don’t, it’s chaos.”

Unity can be easily established through repetition, such as using a group of oakleaf hydrangea on both sides of a garden. Or, if there is a triangular planting on one side of the garden, use the same triangular planting somewhere else in the garden. “This creates balance and natural flow of the eye,” Staddon says.

To bring unity to his designs, Healy likes to place one plant, say a red peony, at the end of a driveway, and then repeat that plant by the front door. “Design-wise, it takes the eye and philosophically, it brings the person to the door,” he says. “It’s easy to do, but it creates repetition and unity.”

While basic principles are the key to an effective design, that doesn’t mean creativity has to be stifled. In fact, Atchison sees more designers following the idea that anything goes. “You can interplant petunias among junipers, for example, or try breaking up long beds with exotic-looking tropical plants,” she says.

Healy also likes to go against the flow when possible to add some kick to his designs. For instance, standard design principles say large plants should be placed in the back of a bed, and small plants in front. But Healy says that rule doesn’t always have to be followed.

He suggests placing larger plants with see-through ability, such as a medium-sized perennial like Persicaria, in the front of a bed. “If it’s a grassy plant or the flowers are up higher on stems, you can see through the flowers to the plants in the back of the bed,” he explains.

But to get really creative, sometimes it’s necessary to think outside the bed. “Landscape beds are important, but little spots of color in containers can really help tie the landscape beds in with surrounding structures,” Atchison says.

Staddon agrees that containers are a great way to spruce up a landscape bed or entryway. “You can accentuate and soften an entranceway with containers of flowers, perennials or columnar plants,” he says. “Sometimes people have to wait in entranceways, so you should give them something to look at while they do.”

Containers can hold an assortment of ornamental plant materials, a small tree, or even grasses and bamboo. Other popular container plants are Endless Summer hydrangea and columnar plants, such as boxwood.

But in the end, the most important thing to remember is that a garden is not the place for a designer to be shy.

“Don’t be afraid to be dramatic,” says Staddon. “A garden is a place to unleash your creativity.”