First and foremost a plantsman, I have always been lured by rarity, charmed by botanical minutiae and mesmerized by novelty. As I turned my attention to design and art, I learned to look at and think of plants in broader terms — shape and shape, opacity, durability and so on — qualities which produce a plant soda, or not. When you’re conceptualizing a new landscape, bolder, structural plants would be the primary ones to bid on. Let’s take a peek at five telling examples.
CYAN Horticulture
It is in the famous lake gardens of Northern Italy that I fully realized the crucial importance of structure by plants. Occasionally to extremes, traditional Italian gardens depend on hedges and topiaries of all types to impart rigidity and extract equilibrium. Despite this grand example, yes, this particular strategy can easily be adapted to the smallest lot.
Verdance Landscape Design
Dwarf Italian Cypress
(Cupressus sempervirens ‘Tiny Tower’)
Presented using a little area — an urban courtyard or a roof patio — I constantly devote considerable attention to plants that are structural. With solid bones, such a little space will come to existence and endure. Within this charming example, pencil-shaped dwarf Italian cypresses (Cupressus sempervirens ‘Tiny Tower’) direct the way.
USDA zones: 7 to 10 (find your zone)
Water condition: Well-drained dirt
Light requirement: Total sun
Mature dimensions: 30 feet tall and 3 feet broad
Seasonal attention: Year-round
When to plant: Anytime
CYAN Horticulture
Globosum Norway Maple
(Acer platanoides ‘Globosum’)
This globular maple (Acer platanoides ‘Globosum’), while including more a giant lollipop than any Canadian icon, is perfect for smaller spaces. Isolated on a yard, lined up with a tight driveway or dotted during a parterre, it will unmistakably satisfy.
USDA zones: 4 to 8
Water necessity: Well-drained to moist soil
Light requirement: Total sun
Mature size: 16 feet tall and 13 feet wide
Seasonal attention: Spring to fall
When to plant: Anytime
Blasen Landscape Architecture
Boxwood
(Buxus spp and cvs)
Far from dull, fancy maples and lanky cypresses are nevertheless outshone by the king of all of them, the boxwood (Buxus spp and cvs). Its obviously dense and rounded growth habit, as well as the little, leathery and dark green leaves, make the boxwood a tremendous choice for structure. Especially hardy and trouble free, boxwoods of all types are formed into balls and tiered topiaries, spirals and even animal contours.
Land Architects, Inc..
Boxwood is also the de facto tree for complicated parterres, acrobatic knot gardens and border trims. It can take to incessant clipping like no other. Therefore, it’s among the most useful live construction blocks accessible to designers.
USDA zones: 6 or 5 to 8
Water necessity: Moist soil
Light requirement: Full sun to dappled shade
Mature dimensions: Very changeable
Seasonal attention: Year-round
When to plant: Anytime
CYAN Horticulture
Bay Laurel
(Laurus nobilis)
In the mild climes of the U.S. West Coast or in massive tubs to be wheeled indoors when sunlight comes everywhere, bay laurel (Laurus nobilis) brings itself into pruning especially well. With its thick, aromatic, dark green foliage, bay laurel is an unparalleled backdrop for flowery compositions. Ovoid to pyramidal, the contours it can be forced into really are a most useful structural tool.
USDA zones: 8 to 10
Water necessity: Well-drained to dry dirt
Light requirement: Total sun
Mature dimensions: Very changeable
Seasonal attention: Year-round
When to plant: Anytime
CYAN Horticulture
English Lavender
(Lavandula angustifolia)
As hardy as boxwood, and nearly as hot, is English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia). Of smaller height, with oil-rich needle-like foliage, lavender thrives in sun-drenched, drier lands. When it’s bloomed, each lavender plant has to be seriously clipped to a low mound. Set in geometric patterns or lined up together paths, this lavender can not be beat for neatness and affect.
USDA zones: 4 to 10
Water necessity: Well-drained to dry dirt
Light requirement: Total sun
Mature dimensions: 11/2 feet tall and two1/2 feet broad
Seasonal attention: Year-round
When to plant: Anytime