Layering Textures for a Lush, Dynamic Garden

Like pairing typefaces, layering clothing, or accessorizing a room, the secret to successful garden design is layering textures. Once you've mastered plant care, you can work toward a cohesive, visually interesting garden. Color, pruning, shape, size, and plant feel all contribute to your garden's style. Learn to play with textures to create a lush outdoor space with depth and intrigue.

What Does Texture Look Like?

When texture is layered correctly, you want to run your hands over the tapestry to feel the layers. Don't you want to touch that beautiful bed of blues and purples?

The combination of hostas, ferns, and grasses provides layers of texture that create visual interest even without blooms.

Combine Contrasting Plants

Start with one wide-leaf plant and one small-leaf plant and see how they look together. Spend time at your local nursery combining various plants to find complementary pairings.

The big, bold, shiny leaves of hostas make them perfect for beginners. They combine well with many plants but look especially compelling next to smaller-leaf plants with sharp tips.

Combining a plant with blooming spikes and another with foliage spikes creates an interesting play on form and texture. When out of bloom, textures diverge; when both bloom, similar forms are differentiated by vibrant purple colors.

This is what makes gardening an intense form of design—ever-changing, plants morphing season to season, a constant battle to keep them alive. Imagine if your area rugs needed water and food to keep up appearances!

Prune for Texture

Formal gardens rely on structure, but texture matters too. Smooth, shorn hedges contrast with blooming bushes and trees. Imagine running your hand over them: one feels light and free, the other straight and solid.

In modern settings, shorn evergreens and flowering trees achieve the same effect.

Stick With One Undertone

When combining textures, start with plants sharing the same undertones. Mixing blue and yellow undertones is tricky; stick with one. This combination offers textural differences with a yellow undertone.

For blue undertones, try brunnera (center), blue hostas, and blue fescue.

A true green palette works too. This pairing is the exact same shade of green; out of bloom, only texture contrasts. Large leaves cascade like a waterfall against upright ferny foliage. Try geranium and chamomile for this look.

Another example: evergreen branches blanket sedum, creating a visually interesting effect.

This article barely cracks the surface of combining textures. Experimenting is the best experience for beginners—get out there and try designing with frilly foliage, slick leaves, and unexpected combinations.