13 Risks to Take for True Garden Rewards

When discussing new beds and planting schemes with clients, we inevitably reach the conversation about wanting a more natural look tying into the nearby environment. People are tired of linear edges, tiered systems of small plants in front and tall in back, and evenly spaced rows. Wonderful!

In 2014, I urge you to bend unwritten gardening rules, then break them with gusto. The advantage: more happiness, creativity, connection to place, and a better sense of wildlife and nature. Here are 13 strategies to reimagine your garden — just in time for plant catalogs.

1. Remove Lawn

I spend ~3x more energy mowing than gardening (and mow just a few times yearly). Lawns are water and nutrient hogs and wasted space for birds and insects. I like lawns as pathways and sometimes for negative space — a place to rest the eye — but beyond that they do little for garden making.

2. Vary Heights

Put plants wherever you want, provided proper soil and light. Blend short in front and tall in back — mix it up for visual interest and welcoming habitat for insects and birds; hit two birds with one stone. (Don't throw stones at birds.) Put tall plants up front — be a rebel!

3. Vary Textures

Here's an image following the rule of threes, but also a nice juxtaposition of leaf texture and plant structure. Exciting angles and neat space use.

4. Use More Drifts and Massing

Don't you feel sorry for plants separated from their family? Think drifts of the same plant. Works in large or small spaces — smaller spaces need less variety to avoid visual overload. Curb variety and mass with few species; isn't the garden suddenly more tranquil?

5. Plant the Hillside

Who says you can't? Who says you need retaining walls? Choose plants with fibrous roots or aggressive spreaders like native sedge — soil won't go anywhere. Result: more interesting landscape.

6. Don't Evenly Space Plants

If you like lining up plants like a cadet review, go for it — it's your landscape. But go bold and emulate nature by staggering: two close, third twice the distance. First time I did this, I thought I'd discovered a fourth dimension — very eye-opening.

7. Use More Ornamental Grasses

I think ahead to winter — for an interesting winter garden, you need more grasses. Grasses in summer address previous points too. Top landscape blunder: not using enough grasses, or cloistering them in their own area. Grasses shade soil, provide habitat, outcompete weeds.

8. Block the View and Create Rooms

With a few hundred square feet, create a private sitting area, sculpture/fountain space, or garden vantage point. I like plants blocking my view at turns or mid-bed — surprise me, make me work to see what's hidden. Put Baptisia or Joe Pye Weed in my way so I'm startled.

9. Make Beds Curvy, Even Jagged

Don't fear seductively voluptuous or unexpectedly sharp borders. Make foundation beds deep — they'll look more interesting and give room to breathe. Biggest problem: foundation beds too narrow, only a few feet from the wall. Have them come out 6, 8, 10 feet to curve, stagger plants, create sitting areas, remove lawn, and make me happy.

10. Incorporate More Native Plants for Wildlife

Insects need native plants to lay eggs so caterpillars have food. Suggest milkweed — 144 native to North America.

11. Water for Life

All insects, birds, amphibians will use almost any water feature. If it doubles as sculptural element, even better.

Before Photo

12. Ask Where Your Plants Come From

I keep local nurseries on their toes, asking where plants come from and how grown. Many have pesticide residue on blooms and leaves — especially bad for butterfly larvae (big-box stores especially).

Other plants, like trees and shrubs, come from very different regions. A maple grown in Texas might not establish as well as one from a northern state.

Best: buy natives grown locally and organically — best adjusted to your climate.

Shown: Midwest native plants including little bluestem, columbine, bergamot, purple coneflower, sky blue aster, harebell, and orange coneflower, about to be planted in northern Wisconsin.

13. Break All the Rules

There are no rules. There are some rules. It's confusing. Try this for one year: Do nothing in your garden in 2014. Leave it alone. Don't add or subtract. My bet: you'll see and feel things more clearly, become more aware of what's outside as you make a concrete plan.

Just watch, listen, and be in the garden to learn what it is, what the place offers, how it connects beyond your lot line. Example: I have a bird flyway along a tree line linking to a small wood, so I planted more trees to fortify that line with berry-producing shrubs like viburnum and serviceberry. Good luck!