How to create your garden tapestry
Like viewing a tapestry, it’s best to take a step back from our gardens and view them from a distance. Unlike a fabric design, a garden is a bit more complex.
In garden design, consider the microclimate and the needs of the plants that grow and change, and are subjected to the whims of Mother Nature. We need to be aware of sun and shade requirements, preferred soil conditions and the growing habits of individual plants.
Designing a garden is not as simple as asking, “What goes with what?” Rather than considering flower color first, observe the shape and structure of the plant and the texture of its foliage. Flowers are like jewelry, accessories that embellish the basics, and much of the color and light come from foliage rather than blooms.
Concentrate on a plant’s general growing habit and its subtle color from afar. A gardener I know made the decision that her landscape would be limited to the color combination of blue and yellow. It was clearly difficult to find plants in those hues that bloom at the same time. And when it did happen, it was only for a short period. Think poppies and blue salvia. They are on different time schedules for flowering and never the two shall meet.
Eventually, she added some bluish foliage color as with the Senecio mandraliscae (blue chalksticks) alongside some Santolina virens (“lemon fizz”). The foliage of both plants provided the color she longed for. Both of these are drought-tolerant species, deer-resistant, low-maintenance plants that work well side by side.
I’ve spent the month of January moving plants to different locations, redesigning my backyard “tapestry.” From a distance, it became obvious what changes needed to be made; removing a plant here, adding one there.
As the years go by, I’m less inclined to use my energy “experimenting” in creating my tapestry garden. I know from experience, and from seeing what grows in Cambria’s gardens, what works and what doesn’t. So I’ve begun to be more aware of “combination planting” and of garden design giving a tapestry effect that intensifies the impact of individual plants.
I’m sure you’ve noticed that rains in January have made the soil crumbly and “workable.” Digging around in the moist earth is one of a gardener’s “supreme pleasures.” Creating a unique “tapestry” is another.
Lee Oliphant shares her garden and chickens on her websites at centralcoastgardening.com and backyardhencam.com. Email her with gardening questions at cambriagardener@charter.net.
Tip of the Month
You can safely put in a few drought-tolerant plants this winter to replace those you’ve lost to drought or, perhaps, gophers. You’ll be able to keep the young plants alive with a just a minimum of supplemental water the first year or two. The passion flower, Passiflora “Coral Seas” (jamesonii) vine grows well in Cambria, and the native shrub, Ribes sanguineum glutinosum, or “pink flowering currant,” tolerates dry soil and partial shade.
This story was originally published February 17, 2016 at 11:00 AM with the headline "How to create your garden tapestry."