If there’s one thing which obsesses most gardeners it’s filling up every available space in the garden.
Preferably in layers. When I was a novice Christopher Lloyd terrified me with things like this, how to have one thing on top of another:
All about layering things up so that there’s never a dull moment….
Not only did I have trouble getting enough plants to make any mark at all on my two empty acres, but stuffing things in like that just felt totally beyond anything I could aspire to. I don’t think it’s legal to intimidate new gardeners this way anymore.
But now our lawns are supposed to have flowers and plants flourishing all over them, turning them into ‘meadows’.
We not only tiptoe through our tulips (as if!) but through our lawns too. I’m not against meadows – we have a considerable and fascinating 200 year old version ourselves.
But we both find delight in the sudden emptiness after it’s cut in late summer.
Refreshing
We allow the grass to grow longer on the lawn round our table – it helps make the mowing easier.
But better if it were an emptier space?
It’s the same with the border on the right – when that is cut down in July the view across the lawn is suddenly open from the house, and it is a kind of relief. You can see the lawn. Space. A pleasure then whenever we look out of the window.
Maybe this is the pleasure in the New Perennials flat planting: many different plants to meet our need for alotofplants, with a kind of open view with it?
Hm. No – I don’t think it offers quite what an empty space does. (Piet Oudolf planting at Hauser and Wirth, Somerset.)
I think we need this visual relief if our gardens are to truly satisfy.
It’s not just about having somewhere to play cricket, or more modestly perhaps, that which we used to strangely call Bumble Puppy. It’s about the contrast, and the feeling of openness and space.
It’s one of my indoor frustrations that I never manage to clear a surface in the house without it tempting me to put things on it and lose that sense of openness and an unusual feeling of tidiness. But at least I can manage it sometimes outside.
Nice expanse of empty carpet, but things are sneaking on to the surfaces…..
That shelf is in danger of getting cluttered – and see what has managed to get on to the windowsill.
And, of course, that is the point of a reflecting pool. Or do the reflections spoil it?
Ha ha.. There’s a lot more wrong with the room pictured above than the few nick nacks on the counter/ windowsill . But I get it. The expanse of ‘nothing’ gives more drama to ‘stuff’ once you come upon it.. I am using this warm early very pre early spring to do some trimming, etc. A little here; a little there. Almost time to think about saving up eggshells for my tomato plants!
Strangled cry: “What’s wrong with my room???????”
Nothing wrong with your room-lovely beams & cozy warm color. I agree-a mix of mass excitement (floriferous abundance) and restful voids (green or brown depending on your turf) provides contrasts that make the flowers look better and also gives gardens a sense of visual rhythm. It also gives the dog a place to take care of business you would rather be kept out of the garden! For those who would like to learn to create layered plantings with greater confidence, check out Fergus Garrett’s videos on successional planting-available on the Great Dixter website or Vimeo.
I love the ‘greater confidence! Gave it up entirely, me….
Mass and void. Equally important. Surely we can do both? I love the matrix style of planting, but also adore my open turf under the trees.
Does matrix planting fill everything up? Of course we can (and must?) do both.
Matrix planting does fill everything up, but the ground level plantings are usually short grasses and sedges that give the eyes a rest and it is interspersed with seasonal blooms and structural plants.
This is what I have always understood by matrix planting: “Garden Design: Matrix planting is where a single species, or handful of species, dominates the planting, forming a matrix into which other plants are blended.” – Piet Oudolf.
But I think you and Marianne mean this, maybe?
Referred to as matrix planting, wildscaping, modular planting and new perennial or new American style, gardens following this philosophy often depend on self-sowers. Plants are left standing through the winter, and there’s an overall freer aesthetic than that in traditional garden design.
However – if you look it up online it will do your head in.
this reminds me of the importance of ‘white space’ in advertisements. the eye needs to rest after all the excitement. and of course we all crave change at some point. the same is true in the garden.
True.
I struggle with this, too, on a different scale. An Important Garden Person said, “Plants are the mulch!”, so of course I think I should cover every inch to create a look of abundance. This would be terribly expensive, though, so I don’t. I have lots of bare space between my young plants, and my garden looks nothing like the magazine centerfolds. Every year I resolve to at least plant more ground over to fill the gaps, but I’m not making much progress, since my place is too big. Perhaps in 10-15 years it will all fill in.
You often bring up interesting design issues, Anne. I like your posts, and I like your room, too. Americans would kill for those beams.
I wonder how long you’ve been failing to fill the space? And I wonder how long it took me – much of it happened in the end unremarked, though I have new bits with spaces still. There are some great plants though, commonly disdained as ‘thugs’, which not only do abundance but look great.
Thank you for your kind words about my posts AND my room!
Layering has been around for ages. It’s the best advice for inner city home garden beds. The room is fab! (Did you put the vacuum to the ceiling light fixture? I have one like it and often wonder…)
I was a novice for ages (still am) – but that reading of CL was 30 years ago. That qualifies for ages, for sure.
The ceiling light – if you mean the layered one, I yanked it a lot. The furry one came like that. I am delighted that you like my office! Thank you.
I love the reflection in the pool…and seeing Charles at rest! Also your beautiful English hedges, behind him..
Me too! Both the reflections and Charles at rest! O – and the hedges – thank you. What a great comment to wake up to.
I think your room is lovely. I do appreciate your use of garden spaces, and your thoughts about how we use space.
When I first began to think about my garden, in order to keep myself from planting every inch, I thought of artworks and had a mantra earworm I kept hearing as I worked “Negative space is good space”.
It worked for a while, but over the years the temptation to fill the canvas of my small garden has won out,
I now enjoy the more open look of winter and early spring before the riot takes over (which has its own charm, but is not as restful)!
Ah, an understandable lapse. But you’re right: winter does bring calm and openness.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your recent blog post, “The Wonder of an Empty Space.” As a nature enthusiast, I appreciate the importance of not only appreciating the beauty of what is present in our surroundings, but also recognizing the power of what is absent.
The article reminded me of the Japanese concept of “Ma,” which is the appreciation of the spaces in between objects. These spaces can be just as important as the objects themselves and allow us to truly appreciate the entire landscape.
The idea of “less is more” is often overlooked in our fast-paced, consumer-driven world, but it’s important to remember that simplicity and minimalism can lead to a greater sense of peace and harmony in our lives. In the garden, an empty space can serve as a blank canvas for future growth and inspiration.
Thank you and well put. The Japanese have a lot to offer, I think – we have truly embraced wabi sabi !
Hello Anne,
I think the idea of filling space is one where most gardeners, including myself, fail.
There is the Japanese concept of ma where “absence is as important as presence” which as a westerner is any easy concept to understand but a very difficult one to practice and I am always reminded of the book “the education of a Gardener” by Russel Page where he talks about the use of space and has a little experiment for people to try.
“Take for instance a glass, a bunch of keys, and an apple and then put them on a tray. As you move them round, their impact will change with every re-arrangement. Many of there inter-relationships will be meaningless, but every now and again you will hit on an arrangement which appears just.” Shrubs are a bit harder to move around but I get the point he’s making!
I think we gardeners need to think of the space more otherwise we fall in to the trap of our gardens becoming plant collections. Let me be clear though there is no harm in that if that is what you want and that is what brings you joy!
I am an absolute fan of Russell Page and that great book. And I think that little experiment has much to teach (worth a post?) even if shrubs are not only difficult to shuffle but hard to imagine fully grown when you’re planting.
And I do think plant collections should be confined to Botanic Gardens by law.
I think Russell Page was a very wise man and has much to teach us all. AS for his experiment, there is a good reason he put it at the front of the book!
Here in Maine, we have such a problem with ticks that carry Lyme disease. They like to perch on taller grasses or other stems waiting for some unsuspecting mammal to brush against them. Keeping grass or other plants short (making open space) allows humans to move through the space without collecting 50 to 100 ticks that might carry the disease. I don’t LIKE mowing (with an electric lawn mower) my small patch of lawn frequently but I also don’t like having to do tick checks every hour of the day, either. This is a private property not a public garden so I don’t have the same need for balance that you do.
As an aside, about your meadow with the gazing balls – it’s not really empty when it’s mown. I like it both ways.
Kris makes a great point – one I keep meaning to write about. Same problem here in Virginia. It’s bizarre to see the little devils holding onto the very tip top of grasses with their back legs and reaching out with their front legs – just like they’re fishing. Chronic Lyme disease is a PITA. – MW
What a nightmare! Never imagined ticks so visible and prolific. Horrible. And interesting, because it seems to me that in such a situation a close cropped/cut lawn must look good to humans, because it looks safe. Not an insignificant thing at all. Same with snake possibilities too, perhaps. Something to remind ‘no mowers’ of.
And as for your aside: that occurred to me too after I’d published that post! Quite right – and I’m glad to like it in its not totally empty state.