Garden Magic!                 

People use illusion every day – make up, hair color or clothing that hides or enhances a given area. In designing your yard, you can use techniques that highlight an area, or hide an area, or fool the eye into thinking there is more or less in an area.

Color:

In using color you can create atmosphere, make the eye follow along a certain path or fool it into thinking there’s more plants or less confusion to an area. It can also give continuity to an area that is both shade & sun but you want symmetry in your design.

You know that certain colors show up in certain lighting better than others. White, light pink, light yellow are just a couple that show up in shade, at night, under moonlight and outdoor lighting very well. They seem to glow, which makes your outdoor space very inviting at night! (One reason is they can attract night critters better, like certain moths.) With their soft glowing color this is a good way to wind down after your day. Variegated foliage that has these colors will also show up and add yet another dimension to your yard.

Vibrant colors; reds, oranges, bright yellows, purples show up beautifully in daytime. These colors use the sunlight and glow as beautifully as those in the moonlight. They stand up and shout “Hey, look at me!”  They are often used for dramatic effect and to uplift the spirits; who doesn’t like a bright blouse or pair of colorful silly socks to change our mood? As I get older, I appreciate oranges and yellows much more than when I was a more “conservative” young mother! It is a way to put liveliness in your life if you don’t want to add to your wardrobe; add a few flowers to your yard and walk outside to get a bit of energy and positive attitude adjustment!

Vinca (Periwinkle) for sun

Impatiens for shade

If you want to design a landscape that is symmetrical on both sides of an area, but have more sun or shade on one than the other; use color to fool the eye into thinking the design follows all the way across. There are many plants that have not only similar color, but shapes that you can pair to create a sense of continuity and flow throughout a design. YOU may know that the plant material is different on each side, but those that weren’t in on the design may not even notice! This is a practical way of getting what you want without fighting the elements.

Telephone poles, utility poles, trunks of tall trees, a neighbor’s ugly shed; these are all things we don’t always have control over and don’t really want to see. Now here’s a solution that won’t remove these things but will help diminish their impact on your view; plant with the intent to distract the viewer’s eye from what you want to ignore. I use colorful flowers, interesting shrubs and artwork to draw the eye away from poles, sheds, etc.   Even if you can’t plant up close and personal to these things to cover them, an eye catching planting bed in the forefront or to the side will lead your viewer’s eye away from these annoyances. Plan to have seasonal and year-round plants in there and the problem won’t catch you by surprise in the winter! You may not go out in your yard year-round, but if you do, you still want the distraction. Remember that the utility company may still need access so if the pole is in your yard, you need to make sure plant material is not at the base of the pole and they can easily walk to it. Even with a planting bed in front, using taller shrubs at the back of the planting bed can hide an access-way to the pole.

"Confetti" bed

The ‘confetti’ look. This is where you place one of every color you like in a planting bed. On a small scale, like a pot this isn’t always bad, but on a large scale it can get overwhelming. Your eye doesn’t know where to rest while it is looking at the design. It will jump from color to color to color.  If you want lots of color, clump like colors together in some sort of pattern or transition the colors from one to the other, like a wave. Start with one color and transition to another that is similar in hue. For instance, start with yellow transition to orange then to red. You get your color fix but your eye can follow and isn’t jumping around. Next time you look at a planter bed see how it makes you feel. There are some that I like even if I may not like all the colors and others that I love all the colors but for some reason it doesn’t work for me.  Chances are it is the placement of the colors.  If there isn’t a good flow to it, it may feel a bit uncomfortable. Step back and evaluate; are the colors in a pattern or random? This can give you an idea of what appeals to you and how to work in your garden. I’m not saying the confetti look is bad; it just is another aspect of design that may not work every time.

Variegated holly-leaf osmanthus

Variegation. One of my favorite things about plants! I love flowers, but flowering times can be limited, they can also be very time consuming; deadheading, fertilizing at appropriate times, staking if needed, it can fill your weekends without you realizing it. I love flowers, I do, but I also appreciate the plant that gives me variegation so I can appreciate the plant for plant sake. The variegation can be in a lot of different shapes, stripes, dots, edging, veining, leaf tips, stems, you name it. With some plants, their variegation can change with the season and air temperature. The Nandina species is like that.  It has leaves that can be green, light green, yellowish and reddish. Come winter if the temperatures drop enough you get copper leaves with interior greenish leaves. Some varieties of Nandina get berries as well, an added bonus!

Variegated plants can work in a moonlight garden, a shady spot, even in full sun. They can be borders, pathways to another area, the shining star of a design. The possibilities are many and the limit of their use is your imagination!

"Living" fence for privacy

“Screening”plants: These are plants used to hide, deter or focus on an element in your design. Used as a screen to hide these can be very effective as a living wall to eliminate a neighbor’s window view into your life, hide an ugly fence, or give the impression that you have no fence at all! Screening plants are also used on older homes to hide the base of houses that have raised flooring and there are vents all around the house. Typically this type of screen is only a few feet high.

Pyracantha with thorns

 As a deterrent there are plants that can be used as a barrier to avoid trespassing issues, keep animals at bay whether in or out of your yard. Often plants like pyracantha or bougainvillea are used because they have thorns and thick growth. I used bougainvillea when there was a junkyard behind a property. Kids were using the low chain link fence as a shortcut into the neighborhood. It stopped the problem once they realized they couldn’t climb over it! It is also helpful if you live on a corner house and don’t want people shortcutting the corner. You don’t necessarily need to use a thorny bush, but something 2-3 feet tall can be a deterrent if used properly such as bordering your property or creating a planting bed that prohibits people from cutting the corner.

If you have a gazebo, fountain, pond or an interesting statue or some sort of artwork, you can plant to focus on it.  Typically you want to highlight such a thing, but sometimes you want privacy (gazebo), or you want to create a particular atmosphere (pond).  Remember less can be more. If you only add a few tall shrubs to a pond or gazebo, you can either enhance the feature or make the eye pass over it to give some privacy, depending on placement. You are not limited to tall shrubs. You can also use bamboo (clumping kind is best), tall grasses, small trees, even fruit trees to create your screen.

Flagstone pathway in a narrow
side yard

Hardscape: This is using concrete, flagstone, brick, rock, etc., to create pathways, raised planter beds, seating areas for your yard. Used properly you can make a small area look bigger by creating pathways and planter beds to allow visitors to wander. A seating area using flagstone can give the illusion of being larger because of the material and often the color. Concrete is great, useful too, but it can be expensive, unless you want to add color to it; it can be monotone and sort of just there without contributing warmth, style or interest.

In using hardscape you need to remember scale. Using something that is too large for the space will throw everything off. Flagstone in a small area may be overwhelmingly large in scale with a small yard. If after you lay it down it looks too large, you can always make smaller pieces by breaking the flagstone. While you may still have the same amount of flagstone, with smaller sized portions, it won’t look as overwhelming.  With brick or rock (or gravel); if the scale is too small on brick, it can look too busy or out of scale. On the other hand, gravel that is too large will be uncomfortable for pathways and a hazard to walk on. I suggest getting samples of what you intend to use, (except concrete unless they are concrete pavers) and place it in the area you want. Step back; look at it, live with it for a few days before you purchase the amount you need so you aren’t trying to remedy a situation after the fact.

So there you have it; “dress” your yard to create the design or image you want. It takes a little bit of forethought, but with what I’ve given you to start with, I think you can do it!

Happy Gardening!

Mary