Minimal space, maximum effects - gardening in small spaces - Brief Article

It starts with good backbone plantings

* Every successful border starts with the right foundation plants. No exceptions were made for the border pictured above, in the small California garden owned by Margo Cormier and Nesip Tarcan. "It's natural to want to dive right into color," says Sandy Atherton, of the garden's design team Atherton and Lewis, "but you need to establish the background first, even when you're working with a garden this small."

Since the bed shown at top is only 3 feet wide, the designers chose the slenderest shrubs they could find that would still provide enough height to give the homeowners privacy inside their courtyard: Ilex vomitoria 'Will Fleming' (which grows to 10 feet tall) and Pittosporum tenuifolium (to 15 feet).

For more foliage interest, the designers added 'Tuscan Blue' rosemary and bronze flax (both mostly vertical), plus lavender, thyme, helichrysum, lamb's ears, and other plants with a more mounding habit. Only then did they turn to color, using purples like heliotrope and verbena to complement the flax, and soft apricots like 'Terra Cotta' million bells and 'Sunset Celebration' rose for gentle contrast.

For continuity in the courtyard (above), Atherton and Lewis used many of the same foundation plants. But for variety, they added different secondary plants, like Loropetalum 'Razzleberri', purple-leafed heuchera, and 'Vancouver Centennial' geraniums.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Sunset Publishing Corp.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group