A Naturalistic Garden Is Better for the Environment and Requires Less Work

Mimic the look of nature, and add a little art of your own

Many gardens elicit a “ Geez , how did they do this ? ” response . It is not because of monolithic hardscape or Palace of Versailles - level preciseness ; rather , it is more of the sensory faculty that these gardens appear dead natural yet utterly disingenuous , as though when walking through a nature preserves you had stumbled upon the gross spot at the sodding fourth dimension . But you are in a garden .

No case of garden evoke this form of reaction like a realistic - panache planting . You have in all likelihood seen such a design in a botanical garden , at the High Line in New York City , or in the pages of this mag . Such gardens are lush , every space occupy with plants knitting together like it all happened naturally — except it did n’t . Somebody designed that . And you’re able to design one too .

Because they work with nature and not against it , these designs are ecologically healthy and reduce maintenance for the gardener . They rely on a variety of industrial plant grow together , protecting the grunge , and allow for other endure things . This means no twines or wager , few wheelbarrows of mulch , and no need to weed . A abbreviated feel at two approaches to naturalistic planting will give you a sense of how you could create these pattern , no matter what size your landscape painting .

Design with three key plant types

One of the key rule in design a naturalistic garden is read the roles sure plant play . In their bookPlanting : A New Perspective , Piet Oudolf and Noel Kingsbury specify several substantive variety of plants .

First are “ matrix plants . ” A matrix is a foundational structure in which something else develops or is turn back . Oudolf and Kingsbury apply the doctrine of analogy of a screwball , where the actual cake is count the matrix that holds the yield . Matrix plants , therefore , are masses of earth natural covering plant that forge the underpinning of the pattern . If you hear “ priming coat cover charge ” and think of low - turn plants that spread quickly , you are only partly right . A gardener has many opportunities to apply plant life in this role . A good matrix plant not only occupy up space ( thus limiting the chance for smoke to grow ) but also does n’t slip the show . Because these flora will be used in large numbers , their colors should be soft . Their configuration should be mute in interest but always comparatively respectable . gravid selection for creating a matrix are perennial such as bigroot geranium ( Geranium macrorrhizumand cvs . , Zones 4–8 ) , genus Epimedium ( Epimediumspp . and cvs . , Zones 4–9 ) , and grass that abide relatively small , such as sedge ( Carexspp . and cvs . , Zones 2–9 ) and fall moor Gunter Wilhelm Grass ( Seslaria autumnalis , Zones 5–9 ) .

Tip: Bulbs are a bright idea

Perhaps the unknown heroes of a realistic planting are bulbs . They put up seasonal structure and interest throughout the twelvemonth and are especially worthful early on , when they seem and do their thing while the other plants bulk up . Then they disappear again until next year . Sprinkling them in haphazardly is easy , too , adding to the ad-lib , natural feel of a planting .

Of naturally , no crank can turn with just cake . It needs fruit . So to your matrix plants Oudolf and Kingsbury suggest adding “ principal plants . ” These works are the most visually dominant in the innovation , relying mostly on gloss and form to offer multiple season of interest . Repeated throughout a planting , basal plants are used in a greater variety than matrix plant , with some taking electric charge as other primary plant life pop out to fade in pursuit . May Night salvia ( Salvia‘Mainacht ’ , Zones 5–9 ) , ‘ imperial Smoke ’ baptisia ( Baptisia australis‘Purple Smoke ’ , Zones 3–9 ) , or ‘ Frances Williams ’ hosta ( Hosta‘Frances Williams ’ , Zones 3–9 ) are all great nominee .

Planting plan details

The third variety of works help bring the whole design together . Dotted willy-nilly throughout a design , “ spread plants ” raise the born feel of a design . They should also add an extended period of structure or a jounce of seasonal color . Planted individually but repeated for unity and rhythm , plants like ninebark ( Physocarpus opulifoliusand cvs . , Zones 3–8 ) , smokebush ( Cotinus coggygriaand cvs . , Zones 4–9 ) , or ‘ Skyracer ’ majestic moor grass ( Molinia caeruleasubsp.caerulea‘Skyracer ’ , Zones 5–9 ) can do this purpose .

Another approach is to think in layers

In their bookPlanting in a Post - Wild World , Thomas Rainer and Claudia West offer another elbow room to intend about a naturalistic pattern . They advance us to cerebrate in terms of layers when creating this type of planting : a design layer and a running layer .

The independent end of the design layer is to cater aesthetic interest and a level of order or “ discernability ” so that citizenry can concern to the planting in a more meaningful elbow room than if it were just a wild snarl of plants . This level is made up of two types of plants . Structural plant are large plants that make up the backbone of the design . These tree , shrubs , or grandiloquent perennials should have distinct embodiment and year - round presence . Without these industrial plant , the design will collapse . The 2d type of plant in the design stratum are seasonal theme plants , whose visual dominance peaks at various times of the twelvemonth . Their purpose is to compound pursuit in the innovation , increase its legibility , and soften the structural plants they environ . The variety of seasonal theme plants should be such that certain industrial plant create visual interest as others have finished their show .

1 . excogitation layer : geomorphologic plant

These plant are the bones of the invention , ensuring year - turn presence .

2 . invention layer : Seasonal root word industrial plant

Using a across-the-board variety of plants with acme at different prison term of the year ensure continued waves of involvement .

3 . Functional layer : primer coat natural covering and filler plants

This layer functions as a living mulch — one you do n’t have to replenish each year .

The functional layer of a planting ply the ecological benefit , supply sustenance and protection for dirt ball , keeping down weeds , and protect the grunge . like to Oudolf ’s matrix plants , these generally low - growing plant have soft shapes that weave around and under the design bed . “ Use them like you would mulch , ” Rainer and West recommend . By planting a diversity of genera and mintage of solid ground covering plants , you provide a greater benefit to a heavy number of louse and wildlife . Also in this layer are what they call “ makeweight plants . ” These are suddenly - lived , reseed plants that can fill gaps , cover ground , and provide interest while the long - full term players in the excogitation get up to size .

The law of similarity in the approaches of the interior designer note is easygoing to see , but there is much more to these conception than we can get into here . If you are still a little intimidate to try them out for yourself , do n’t be . A naturalistic conception can be scaled to any size bed or landscape . finger free to start small and expand from there — unless you relish drag lawn cart full of mulch around .

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No sun? No problem.While many naturalistic plantings look like full-sun meadows, the same concept can apply to shade plantings. The matrix plants here are ostrich ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris, Zones 3–7) instead of grasses.

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ninebarks among tulips and allium

That’s so random.In trying to create a planting that feels natural, you must add moments of randomness. This is where “scatter plants,” like the burgundy ninebark at the back of this area, come in. Plant them in “a group of one,” but repeat them so they don’t seem out of place.Photo: Christa Brand/gapphotos.com

illustration of the different planting layers separated