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To enable the different elements of gardening to blend comfortably and attractively, there has to be a balance. These elements can be largely dictated by the trees, shrubs and flowers that you choose to grow in it.
By opting for for plants that complement and harmonise with other aspects of the garden, such as the paving or lawn, and its overall size and shape, you can create a framework in which art and nature reach a happy equilibrium.
Making a garden is an intensely personal business. What one person loves, another may hate. Such varying reactions are often to do with the level of harmony and contrast in the planting. Very harmonious gardens, where all the colours match, and clashes or surprises are avoided, are soothing, restful places. Those who like more stimulation may prefer gardens with lots of vivid, contrasting colours, or a wide and dramatic range of leaf shapes and plant forms.
Harmony in gardens is relatively east to achieve with single colour schemes. White gardens are particularly rewarding and straight forward. Plantings based on colour contrast are more difficult to get right, and are much more personal. Mixing strong colours can create results that are vibrant to some, but obtrusive to others.
Some gardeners are happy to have most of their garden flowering at once. They like to see a spring garden with lots of bulbs, or an early summer garden with roses and perennials, and they are happy to let it rest for the remainder of the year. Most gardeners, though, prefer to attempt a long season of interest, which involves trying to interweave plants so that there is always something or some part, that looks good.
A garden takes time to develop, and never stands still. Planning planting for the short, medium and long term helps avoid the great gaps that can try the patience of even the most dedicated. Trees, needless to say, are the most long term, often maturing long after we have gone. Shrubs, too, can take many years to look their best, which can mean that a garden that is heavily reliant on them may take rather a while to develop. Herbaceous perennials look established with remarkable speed, whereas annuals fulfil their promise and disappear within a year. It makes good sense, then, to include all these different plant forms in a garden.
