Post category: Plant Types
Some kinds of plants have adapted to growing in deep water to one metre and more; they are true aquatics. Water lilies(as shown), water hawthorn and water violet are examples of plant that can be grown in open water. Floating aquatics are plants that float in the water, such as pondweed and parrot feather. Others are marginals; they like shallow water at the pond’s edge; they include sweet flag, flowering rush, bullrushes and easter lily.
Water Plants
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Further up the bank, there is a big group of plants that enjoys wet soil but not standing water for any great length of time. These are usually known as bog plants and include kingcups, certain polygonums, asian primulas, ligularia, certain irises, mimulus, peltiphyllum, gunnera, loosestrife, lysimachia, sedges, and lysichiton.
A hedge is a line of trees or shrubs planted close together and clipped to shape; it can be of any height or width. Many kinds of trees and shrubs are suitable; hedging species only need to be capable of branching when clipped.
Hedges
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Topiary is the related practice of clipping trees, or shrubs, to individual shapes and it can be very effective. A shrub or tree can be clipped into any desired shape – cones, pyramids, spheres, as well as animal shapes, urns, even tea-pots! In recent times, there has been some interest in creating abstract shapes using this very old technique.
Uses
A hedge can be used to mark garden boundaries, and to provide privacy and shelter. If a hedge is made of thorny plants, it will also provide a useful security barrier. Hedges can be used within the garden to create division, making separate areas within the garden. Dark green kinds, such as yew and holly, are often used as a backdrop for borders of shrubs and flowers.
The light green foliage of griselinia or thuya could be used to set off the brighter colours and, conceivably, purple-leaved plants could be used for dramatic contrast with grey foliage and pink and while flowers. Hedges can be used to form a maze – a complex design of dead-ends and wrong turnings.
Great forests of oak, ash, elm, pine, birch and beech once stretched across most of Europe, the dominant plants of the landscape. Their large size and longevity make them very useful plants for large gardens (over 2000 square metres). A large garden without big plants can look very flat and empty.
Forest Trees
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Forest trees are very effective at filling space, both horizontally and vertically. Mature oak and ash trees, for example, can ultimately reach heights and widths of twenty to twenty-five metres. Five or six such trees would fill a large site. Although they take well over one hundred years to reach that size, the covering effect can be achieved more quickly by planting in greater numbers.
Large trees have great beauty and dignity; there is an enduring solidity about them. Trees give the garden shape; they provide its ‘skeleton’. They can be used to provide a good backdrop for smaller ornamental plants, and excellent shelter for many non-native plants that dislike wind. For example, rhododendrons, camellias and magnolias. Native tree species help to link rural gardens with the surrounding countryside.
Planting
Forest trees are best planted as young transplanted trees; not only do they root more deeply and make finer specimens eventually, but they are cheaper too. Plant them as garden woodland at an average two metres apart each way, but for ornamental purposes, never in rows.
Half the number of trees should be removed after ten or twelve years growth, half again at twenty five years. Forest tree species should not be planted within fifteen or twenty metres of a dwelling house. They can also be planted as single specimens where there is enough space for a large tree to develop.
Garden trees, such as flowering thorns, crab-apples, laburnum, hollies and cherries, are much smaller than forest trees and more suitable for gardens, especially those under 2000 square metres. Few kinds of garden trees reach more ten metres in height and width. Unlike the forest trees, which are mostly native, the garden trees are mainly from other parts of the world.
Garden Trees
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Uses
In small gardens, these smaller trees fill the same role as big trees in large gardens – they fill space; they are ornamental; they provide shelter and a good backdrop for other plants. Garden trees make the ‘backbone’ of the garden. Garden trees tend to be more fancy than forest trees; many of them are spectacular in flower, whereas forest trees, mainly, have inconspicuous flowers.
A choice can be made of garden trees to suit every small garden; there are those which tolerate shade, wind, urban pollution, damp soil, dry soil. With few exceptions, they are all hardy – not damaged by frost. No garden, however small, should be without its complement of trees, even one or two. They set the garden off, give scale to other plants, and they have a year-round presence.
Planting
Unlike forest trees, which are best planted small, garden trees do best planted as feathered trees or light standard trees, between 1.5 metres and 2.5 metres tall, bare-root but usually potted. Although more expensive, only a few trees are usually planted in a small garden and it is worthwhile to have well-grown quality plants.
Garden Trees
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Unlike the forest trees, which are thinned to select the best specimens, each garden tree will be expected to reach maturity. They can be planted closer to the house, within three metres, but be careful not to block the light of windows. To space neighbouring garden trees adequately, add together their expected heights and divide by two.
Considerable care should be exercised in choosing suitable small garden trees. They should be able to tolerate the conditions of the location, and not be likely to outgrow their position. Carefully plant into well-prepared, good soil. Staking can be necessary.
To provide instant effect in a small garden, semi mature trees up to six metres tall are available. Though more expensive than ordinary standard trees, semi-mature trees instantly lend an air of maturity to a new house, and cost less than a pair of curtains!
Shrubs are relatively low-growing woody plants, ranging in height from a few centimetres to three metres or more. The majority of shrubs are rounded in outline, but shape is very varied – upright, rounded, flat, drooping, and prostrate.
Shrubs
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Shrubs of different sizes can be used in two ways. In big gardens, large shrubs are used to fill in around trees. In small gardens, large shrubs such as philadelphus, buddleia, tamarisk, pieris, lauristinus and forsythia, might take on the same role as small trees, creating a planting ‘backbone’.
A tree has a single trunk; a shrub has numerous stems at ground level. Nature is not clearcut, however, and while there are trees such as hazel that often produce several stems, there are also shrubs such as broom and hebe that have a single stem. Neither is it a question of size. Certain japanese maples are small trees while the much bigger buddleia davidii is always a shrub.
True shrubs tend to regularly produce new shoots from low down on their stems, or even from their roots. But there are suckering trees as well. In general, shrubs tend to be less woody than trees, more twiggy and their wood is not as hard.
Types
Shrubs are the next layer of woody plants, a step down from the garden trees. Some are native to woodland – they are forest shrub layer plants. These tolerate shade to varying degrees. Examples include rhododendron(as shown), camellia, snowberry, cherry laurel, viburnum, aucuba, osmanthus. Notice that many of these are evergreen, taking advantage of the light before the canopy comes on the big trees.
Many shrubs are plants of open ground, in both dry and wet habitats, where there are few trees or no trees. Heathers, juniper, cistus, lavender, thyme, broom, cotoneaster, berberis, roses, potentilla are examples of those which enjoy sunshine and well-drained soil. Dogwood, shrubby willows, sambucus, and some spireas enjoy damp soil.
Uses
Shrubs are used to fill out the ‘backbone’ of trees. Shade tolerant types can be used to fill the space beneath trees; those which like more light can be used in borders in front of trees, hiding their bases.
Shrubs have tremendous variety of size and shape, flower and leaf colour, season of flowering, leaf size and shape. The challenge is to plant shrubs so that they associate well with trees, other shrubs and herbaceous plants.
While shrubs are best used with some trees to give height and some flowers to give colour and lush foliage, shrubs can also be planted on their own in some circumstances – for instance, to fill out a piece of ground – or they can be planted just with trees, or just with some flowers.
Planting
To space neighbouring shrubs, add together the expected spread of the two species and divide by two. Dividing by three gives a closer spacing and quicker fill-in. The latter estimation is more suitable for groups of the same plant and for the shorter-lived kinds. Long-lived shrubs, and the more choice kinds like rhododendron, magnolia and pieris, should get the wider spacing.
Shrubs
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Shrubs must be planted in conditions that suit them. Some require acid soil; others, dry soil, damp soil and so on. Most kinds like a sunny position and good soil, even those which tolerate some shade. Feeding is worthwhile at planting and every spring for a few years until they are established.
Bare soil is always colonised by plants, principally wild plants because the seeds are likely to be already present in the soil. It is essential to cover bare soil with desirable plants and reduce the chances of wild plants – weeds – getting established.
Ground Cover
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Although the term ‘ground-cover’ is usually taken to mean low-growing, ground-hugging plants, every garden plant provides ground cover. For example, practically nothing will grow underneath evergreen oak, lawson cypress or yew.
A couple of layers of cover gives best weed-suppressing results. For example, a tree layer over shrubs such as snowberry, dwarf laurel, Viburnum davidii, hydrangea, mahonia, skimmia, berberis, pernettya, Euonymus radicans and japanese azaleas; or a layer of tall shrubs with suitable shade-tolerant herbaceous perennials beneath.
The best ground cover plants tend to be good ground colonisers. Some shrubs are excellent colonisers, covering the ground closely, rooting as they spread and shade-tolerant – green ivy, vinca, hypericum, Rubus tricolor, pachysandra, Lonicera pileata, and Cotoneaster dammerii.
There are many good ground-cover perennial flowers. They include hardy geraniums, bergenias, london pride, epimedium, lysimachia(as shown), lamium, brunnera, tiarella, symphytum, lungwort, Euphorbia robbiae and ajuga. These are vigorous ground-cover plants that compete strongly against germinating weeds and tolerate shade as well.
Taller than a hedge, a living screen can be created with a line of trees or shrubs. The term usually refers to a single line of plants of the same type, planted about ninety centimetres apart. A screen can be clipped back occasionally, or left unclipped if there is enough room.
Shelter Belts
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A screen is used when a bigger version of a hedge is required. In urban situations, they might be used to create privacy, but a screen should not be allowed to grow too large if space is inadequate. Screens are more difficult to clip than hedges because they are taller.
A shelter belt is a more extensive form of screen. Although it can consist of one row of trees spaced about 1.5 metres apart, it is better with several rows of trees spaced about 1.5 metres apart, two metres between the trees.
A really effective shelter belt should have six or eight species suitable for the site and soil conditions. The number of each species should not be equal; the composition should be thirty to forty percent of two main species, about ten percent of two others, and the remainder equally divided between two or more minor species.
A mixture of deciduous, coniferous, broadleaved evergreen, flowering, berrying and autumn-colouring trees should be used to provide interest, better shelter and more food for wildlife. The shelter effect is between five and ten times the height of the trees; good shelter for five times the height, some shelter after that. Shelter trees also provide background greenery in large gardens.
Climbers and creepers are woody plants that use trees, rocks or buildings for support. The most vigorous kinds can reach twenty five metres.
Climbers, such as wisteria(as shown), ascend by twining their stems, leaves or tendrils around an object. These cannot climb a flat surface like a wall without additional support. Creepers climb by clinging apparatus such as aerial roots or special tendrils. They can climb a wall without extra support.
Climbing Plants
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Climbing plants can be used in a variety of ways. They can be used to soften walls and fences, and to hide ugly objects such as dead stumps. They can also be grown over the branches of living trees and shrubs to provide extra foliage interest, or additional flower colour.
More unusually, climbers can be used to trail down over retaining walls; if they cannot climb, they trail. They can also be allowed to trail on flat surfaces. Ivy, honeysuckle and clematis are especially suitable for these purposes. Ivy is often used as ground cover in shade.
Climbing Plants
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Being native to woodland, many climbers are shade tolerant. However, many climbers fail to flower well unless they reach the light. The ideal is to start them in a shaded spot and allow them to climb into the light. Most climbing plants dislike exposure to strong wind – ivy and virginia creeper(as shown) are reasonably resistant.
Herbaceous plants do not have a true woody structure. The taller herbaceous plants, ranging from about twenty five centimetres to over two metres, are used as border perennial flowers. Pampas grass, goatsbeard, ornamental rhubarb and giant kale are all capable of over two metres.
Border Perennial Flowers
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Border perennial flowers are big enough for mixed planting with trees and shrubs, the smaller ones towards the front, taller ones to the back. There are perennial plants that tolerate the full range of garden soil and climatic conditions. There is a choice for every set of conditions, but the more extreme the conditions, the smaller the choice.
Herbaceous plants that like dry soil are best associated with trees and shrubs that like similar conditions. Often, they originated in the same plant communities. Apart from growing well, they also look well together because their special adaptations complement each other. For example, plants that like dry soil often have waxy or hairy, grey or silvery leaves; those that like wet soil tend to have lush, broad green leaves.
Using perennial flowers
In natural plant communities, herbaceous perennials form the ground layer of vegetation along with annual plants and bulbs. They can be used in the same way in the garden, filling in between shrubs. The tallest perennials are probably too big for small gardens, unless a virtue is made of their size and they are used in place of a shrub to lend dramatic effect.
Border perennials, with a few exceptions such as bergenia, acanthus, libertia and francoa, almost all die back completely in winter. This factor must be taken into account when using these plants to avoid having large gaps in a border during the dormant season.
Border Perennial Flowers
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For variety of size, outline, foliage, and flowers, border perennials easily outdo all other plants. They are at their best during the summer and autumn. Border perennials are softer in growth, more lush, and more graceful than woody plants. The two plant types used together create lovely subtle combinations of softness and strength.
Planting
In the same way as shrubs, border perennials must have the correct conditions. Some prefer dry soil, or moist soil, but most kinds do well in a sunny position in good soil. Some perennials, such as phlox, aster and helianthus, flower best if lifted, divided and replanted every few years; others, such as paeony, greatly resent being disturbed!
Some sorts will need to be supported with canes, or wire, in windy locations. However, if the most wind-prone sorts are avoided, and the others are given the shelter of shrubs, this problem will be lessened.
The smaller herbaceous perennials are suitable for the front of borders, for banks and low walls, and for rockeries. However, within the range of plants below thirty centimetres, there is great variation. The bigger kinds are much more robust and vigorous and can include plants that were woodland or moorland plants originally.
Small Perennial Flowers
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The bigger sorts such as aubretia, arabis, iberis, erysimum, small phloxes, certain campanulas, saxifrages and oxalis can be used in large rockeries where the ‘rockery’ is really just a flower bed with rocks. They are most successful used to trail over kerbs, low walls and banks.
They can also be used as front-of-border plants where the competition is less vigorous than further back, and to fill in the front of border space, providing useful colour in a key location.
The true tiny alpine plants are suitable only for a rock garden, scree beds and raised alpine beds. Where there is no competition, their lack of size will not be a problem. They also make very good plants for trough gardens and other shallow containers, including ordinary clay pots and bowls for the windowsill.
Many kinds of plants have swollen underground parts, corms, tubers, and rhizomes as well as bulbs. All of them function as storage organs to keep the plant alive during the unfavourable season – winter for summer-growing bulbs like lilies and gladiolus, summer for spring bulbs like snowdrops and daffodils.
Flower Bulbs
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Flowers buds are usually formed at the same time as food stores are laid down. This explains their quick appearance, once growth re-starts.
Uses
The woodland bulbs – snowdrops, crocus, cyclamen, eranthis, daffodils, scillas, wood anemones and bluebells – are used to provide drifts of colour in spring before the leaves appear on woody plants. The woodland bulbs do well in light shade.
Other kinds, such as tulips, gladiolus, galtonias, camassias, nerines and lilies, are plants of more open ground. They are best used in small groups in open borders among border perennials and shrubs. Some kinds like dahlias and begonias are damaged by frost and are best treated as temporary border perennials, brought under protection for the cold season.
Being quick to flower, bulbs are ideal for use in containers, especially the spring bulbs, which can give a succession of flowers from January to May. Tuberous begonias can be sued in the same way in summer containers.
Annual flowers germinate, flower, set seed, and die in a single season. In their native habitat, their plentiful seeds ensure survival of the species until next time conditions are right for germination. As a result, true annuals tend to be small, quick-growing, colourful plants.
Annual Flowers
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Some annuals are not damaged by frost. Called hardy annuals, they are sown outdoors where they are intended to flower. Frost-prone annuals from warm climates are termed half-hardy annuals. They can only be planted outdoors after the danger of frost has passed.
Many short-lived perennials that might live for several seasons, such as snapdragons, pelargoniums, bedding begonias, bedding busy lizzies and alyssum, are treated as annuals for garden purposes.
Uses
Annual flowers are used to give quick colour; some kinds will be in flower a few weeks after sowing. They are planted in flowerbeds on their own, or in small groups in front of shrubs and border perennial flowers to give spots of colour. They are most effective in new gardens, filling up gaps and providing colour until more permanent plants take over.
Annual Flowers
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Annuals make very good plants for window boxes, hanging baskets, tubs, pots and other containers because they come into flower quickly and produce a great splash. Summer annuals give colour from July to November and winter and spring bedding can provide colour from November to May.
Annual bedding plants are best used in simple complementary colour schemes, not a haphazard mix of species and colours. Some foliage plants should always be used with them, especially in containers to tone down the bright colour and set it off properly.
Fruits, vegetables and herbs have in common that they are edible plants. All sorts of plants are involved – trees, shrubs or bushes, herbaceous plants, bulbs. Every plant part comes into the reckoning – leaves, buds, flowers, stems, roots, seeds.
Kitchen Garden
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Although fruit and vegetables are usually grown in a separate kitchen garden, some kinds can be fitted into the ornamental part of the garden. There is no reason why an apple tree cannot be used as an ornamental tree in a mixed border, for example. Rhubarb or globe artichokes could be grown among shrubs or perennial flowers.
Although sometimes suggested, it is not practical to grow the ordinary vegetables, such as cabbage, lettuce and carrots, among ornamental plants. The competition is usually too great; they are not decorative and they are likely to suffer severely from snails. But, herbs such as thyme, sage, marjoram, chives, french tarragon and winter savory can be very successfully used as front-of-border plants.
Grass takes up the largest part of most gardens, covering the soil and leaving the space available for a variety of leisure purposes. But a lawn has a major decorative role too. A well-laid and well-maintained lawn is an ornamental feature in itself and it is a very fine foil for trees, shrubs and flowers in surrounding beds and borders.
Lawn and Meadow
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Fertiliser and lawn weedkiller are used to encourage vigorous grass growth in a fine lawn. Regular mowing achieves the smooth surface that is such an important aspect of the ornamental value of a lawn.
The shape of lawn can be very important. A lawn with straight edges or geometric curves gives the garden a formal appearance, while a lawn with sweeping gentle curves is more informal and decorative in a different way.
Where a more natural appearance is required, a wild flower lawn, or wildflower meadow can be grown. A wild flower lawn is one where the broad-leaved lawn ‘weeds’ are not killed with weedkiller but encouraged by little or no feeding, just an application every two or three years of high potash/low nitrogen fertiliser. Mowing is not carried out as frequently, giving the wild flowers time to flower between mowings.
Lawn and Meadow
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Best suited to large gardens, wildflower meadow is not mown at all until July and then just three or four times more; no fertiliser or lawn weedkiller is used. The first heavy mowing requires a rough grass mower or sickle bar mower, which can be hired.
With a flowering meadow, the aim is to reduce the vigour of grass growth and encourage wildflowers such as cowslips, clovers, birdsfoot trefoil, poppies, and oxeye daisies on dry soil; self-heal, bugle, cuckoo flower, buttercup and hawkbit on damp soil.
