What do you think about the planting below?
A corner of my own garden
Hopefully you like it; it’s a bit of my own garden so feel free to be complimentary…. Do you think the plants are too close together, possibly even overcrowded?
We’re taught as gardeners to give plants plenty of room to grow and develop. It’s so ingrained in our collective gardening psyche that even after more than 20 years of success the ‘New Naturalistic’ or ‘Dutch Wave’ planting is still seen as revolutionary. The idea of specifically not giving plants lots of room to grow into big specimens is seen as strange, possibly even horticulturally dangerous.
We like big plants and little plants growing together, but it takes courage to actually do it
I’ll confess that it’s something I’ve only recently had the courage to do myself. We want the best plants for of our hard-earned money, and it seems disrespectful to the growers and even the plants themselves not to allow the plants in our gardens to reach their full potentials.
Outside the garden…
Step into nature, into the most iconic natural garden in the world, and you see quite a different dynamic to the ones we nurture in our own gardens. We lovingly plant our treasures in the best soil we can provide, we lavish them with feed and water, and we fight off anything that dares to upset the balance in our idyllic world.
Vegetation along a road near my home
Nature, by contrast, is a hard parent; germinating seedlings must immediately deal not only with the vagaries of weather and climate but also well established plants looking to rob the seedling of its meagre resources. Only the tough survive, a far cry from the cosseted world of the garden plant.
Logically after millions of years of this battle royale the plant world should by now be dominated by a handful of species. Logically… but the natural world is illogical.
The majority of species on this planet are adapted to occupy a niche that isn’t occupied by something bigger and more dominant, and we see that in the way plants behave with each other. Climbing plants, what I believe in the US are referred to as ‘vines’, are adapted to use other species as frames so they don’t have to support themselves; it’s a neat trick to avoid competition between plants on the ground and exploit a niche.
Different hedge plants find their own niche, making a mass of vegetation
Bringing order
We train our plants up man-made structures so they can be enjoyed, while in nature the same plants (or their wild ancestors) will use trees and shrubs as supports… but we don’t want to risk our treasured vines ruining our treasured woody plants.
However by understanding the relationships between plants in nature we can hope to gain insight into how we can nurture greater harmony in our gardens. Taking inspiration from nature, good and bad, we’re emboldened to break many of the rules of horticulture.
Yes there are complications. It’s important to take time to understand that it’s the pace of growth that’s important when selecting plants, not simply the possible height and spread. Two plants might have the same dimensions on paper, yet if one grows far more quickly than the other plant will suffer if they’re grown together.
‘Butterburs’ are usually too big for gardens, but Petasites paradoxus is, as the name suggests, a paradox
We mustn’t be afraid to act as referee or editor in our gardens either. Nature is cruel but that doesn’t mean that we can’t be benevolent; occasional editing of a fast-paced species to redress the natural balance is something we shouldn’t be reluctant to do.
Whatever we grow and however we grow, we must remember one key thing: a garden is not, and never will be, a natural space. As soon as we plant something (whether native to us or not) or make an alteration, we’re making a garden.
Thank you Ben! I’m a keen,long time gardener and have unconsciously been practicing these principles for a while. It’s so good to see it laid out in print, and it makes sense.
Four years ago I was diagnosed as needing two hip replacements; one down,one to go,and so my garden has had a great deal less attention than usual. I was dreading ‘ letting it go ‘ and yet each year,I’ve had a fuller,softer,prettier garden with less ‘ weeds ‘ and much more insect life. This year for the first time,I’ve had continuity of flower since the first crocuses. Sure,some bits could do with more tweaking,especially the pond,but overall,surprisingly successful.
I’m glad it’s working out for you.
Your ‘gardening years’ clearly laid down a good basis for the garden to grow when it was right to manage it less intensively.
i am always astonished at how packed in the plants in our meadow are, and occasionally toy with the idea of counting how many there are in a square foot, should such a counting be possible. It’s a totally different aesthetic, though.
It is a different aesthetic, but the principles are very similar. It’s about making a matrix of planting, but in a flat plane with a meadow and more three-dimensionally in a garden setting.
I’ve got a couple of ‘rough grass’ areas that. due to climate and soil, will never be a pure ‘wildflower meadow’. I’ve brought the seasons forward with Camassias and daffodils, but I’m looking at lengthening the season with red Bistorta amplexicaulis. It should work, after all Bistorta amplexicaulis is just a Himalayan version of our native Bistorta officinalis, and those branched red flower spikes emerging from long grass later in the year should look really dramatic.
Nice idea – might nick it!
Remember well, someone saying ca. 1985, “Plants don’t read tags, and plants don’t read books.”
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Adore seeing how you PLANT !
Gardeners around the world should be very grateful that plants can’t read!
As long as the plants I don’t want (weeds and “thugs”) don’t out-compete the plants I do want, I’m happy with crowded beds. Some contain a single type of plant, others are a mishmash, and I (mostly) strive for all natives.
It’s an interesting question… where to draw the line?
This is where, at least in gardens, it’s good to step away from conventional theory. Traditionally gardeners are lured into growing exotics and regarding native plants as weeds, yet in the UK we grow quite a few American plants as treasured ornamentals (I must water my Trilliums before I go to work…).
If we throw away conventions on how to behave with plants of particular origins we start to look at plants with a more reasoned eye, choosing the best of our native plants to make and enhance our gardens. Some of those natives arrive under their own energy; we assess them with a critical eye to see if they work for us and if they do then we congratulate ourselves on our new (free!) plant.
I have always been drawn to gardens that have a more naturalistic, chaotic look. Your garden looks perfect with the plants all knitting together. I once read that ‘gardens are a reflection of our personalities’. Hmm, opens up some serious questions.
Are you suggesting that I’m somewhat chaotic…?
You’d be right to say so!
In my many years of gardening I have evolved (matured perhaps) from very formal controlled styles to more naturalistic ones. I suppose both styles have their respective place in the grand scheme of things. In my front yard which meets the public eye I have settled for a more organized look, but in the back I have gone nuts with lots and lots of wonderful perennials and shrubs (only a few shrubs for the necessary “bones” I suppose). I like to think I have everything under control and there is some degree of design but for sure, the plants are touching each other and comingling, hopefully in a pleasant manner, which is pleasing to the eye. Should we call this “organized chaos” or “naturalistic style”. Perhaps a bit of both.
It’s difficult isn’t it; the front garden lays you bare to the critique of your neighbours, and if they’re all ‘neat freaks’ then they might well see your planting style as ‘untidy’ and get annoyed by it. Enjoy your back garden!
This is exactly why I have always been drawn to a cottage garden. I love knowing I will get volunteers every year as they send out seeds. The riot of color has always been pleasing to me.
It’s fun to have that exuberance, with things growing as a mass. I can see why some gardeners would want to be ‘tidy’ in their planting, but the joy of a mass of flowers is something I get a lot out of.
Ha! I’ve always said, “the plants don’t know what it says in the books”! Go with your gut. You’ll have some successes and some failures. Do what feels right or what makes you happy. I love these lush, wild and crazy garden beds.
Yes a lot of gardeners should be very grateful that plants can’t read!
Mirabel Osler wrote A Gentle Plea for Chaos, and I have become a necessary adherent. A shortage of time and energy, plus an abundance of densely planted stuff, all challenged by a hellishly vigorous invasive weed population, and density is where it’s at. Sometimes it works surprisingly well. Sometimes it’s just a mess. I think your garden looks lovely.
Taking the idea of the pace of growth, if you have robust weeds that aren’t going to be easy or even possible to remove you must choose robust plants that will grow and do well without being overwhelmed.
A good example from one of my gardens is the ‘ground elder’ (Aegopodium podagraria); this is very difficult to control and remove, so the borders are filled with robust ‘cranesbills’ (Geraniums), ‘Japanese anemones’ (Eriocapitella) and other big, tough plants. Good luck to the ‘ground elder’ coping with that lot!
I think Patricia above and I have a similar philosophy. I refer to my garden as my “crazy quilt” and I love it. Volunteers are welcome and accommodated, if at all possible. I do “edit’ but very judiciously.
Having the confidence to edit can be quite difficult. It’s very easy to say “everything must go” or “everything must stay”, but to go through your garden saying “this plant stays and this plant goes” takes courage.
I have used close/packed perennial planting for many years. My tips: mulch heavily in the early years until the plants get established, weed without fail during this time, mulch makes the weeding easier. Once your first plantings are established, start filling in the “holes”. I had 4 very large gardens with flowering shrubs planted in between. When hardly any mulch was needed, it only took me 4 hours/week to weed. That is manageable, only one hour a day on a rotating schedule. Now, because I started doing all this 20 years ago, I was often told this was not good planting. But my plants flourished, pollinators came, and I had little weeding to do once the “plan” was finished. One caution, perennials don’t last forever, in most cases, and unless self-seeding, you will always find a hole or two to fill…so always an opportunity to try new offerings. From a plant lady who taught me much, “Nature abhors a vacuum”!
Thank you for sharing the quote.
You’re welcome.
My garden is too small and I have too many plants to need mulching for any length of time!
Plants work themselves out, although I will probably have to get in and divide some plants at some point. Not a big job by any means, and worth it to keep balance.
Oh my I told myself when I saw this rant, I cannot show this to my husband who would love “the chaos” of this garden. He will never let me forget it and will print the photos and stick them all over the house. I am, on the contrary, a neat garden kind of person, but sometimes I doubt myself about it. Love this and I will print the rant just to see my husband’s face.
In design you would usually want to balance ‘chaos’ with ‘order’; a classic way to do this is to have exuberant planting but to keep a very straight mown or hard path to balance the chaos the plants bring.
Balance is key.
I like the picture of your coner garden very much. I am drawn to a naturalistic garden much more than a formal one. If nature is chaotic, a natural garden is controlled chaos with the gardener supplying gentle but persistent control. This produces exuberance without a sense of things being overrun.
The secret is to know when to act and when the let things do what they’re doing. It takes a keen eye but it also takes courage; the courage has been a long time coming for me.
This addresses the trepidation I experience when contemplating close planting for the naturalistic garden I’d like to grow. Thank you for naming it and for your lucid explanation.
It is scary to do this at first; plants can misbehave and cause trouble, but once you try this way of doing things and start to see your success you will very much enjoy the result.
I’m totally converted to planting densely, covering the ground with green instead of mulch. As you mentioned it requires the gardener to become referee (love that term, btw!). At Nancy Heckler’s beautifully packed garden, I lifted the idea of carefully pruning a bit, reducing one shrub gracefully while limbing up another to create layers. Cram them in, I say! Like writing, get the ideas flowing, then edit.
I remember a story of a garden in France where the owner planted an enormous number of trees in a small space; everyone told the lady that her trees were far too close together and that she’d have to remove some, but once they hit that magic point she limbed up the trees to create what is now an expansive woodland garden with beautifully framed views.
It goes to show that plants can indeed work very closely together, even trees, but also that there is usually more than one approach.
Only in the last two or three years have we allowed our garden in central Kentucky to grow a little wooly. There are a few perennials like Oenothera tetragona, Aster tataricus ‘Jin Dai’, Iris tectorum, Phlox ‘Minnie Pearl’ and Geranium macrorrhizum that gobble up empty spaces efficiently, though do need occasional thinning. Seeders such as Canada columbines, Viola sororia and celandine poppies are great surprises. I like the look, but it does seem to walk a fine line between magnificence and the neighbors calling the health department. We have not been cited so far.
As always, I’m smiling reading your comment. Cheers dear.
I have been cited, numerous times, but the frequency has slowed. I suspect the complainers are “aging out”. I do still frequently beat back the street side exuberance, however.