Successful garden design includes many elements like color, form, sound, fragrance and texture of the plants. Adding texture to your garden, involves playing with the surface quality of plants. Although, the feel of a plant does add to texture, other elements such as light and shadow help to create a different look to a garden. Mixing textures is the key to creating a balanced garden and not a garden that is dominated by one plant or texture. Here are 3 categories of plants that can create texture in your garden.
Broad leaf plants – These plants provide weight to garden borders. They provide foil for plants that are feathery, spiky or delicate. Hosta is a great plant, that is inexpensive yet will give your borders a second level of texture. Other plant choices could include Petasites, Colocasia, Arum, Ligularia and Darmera (Umbrella Plant).
Finely textured plants – These type of plants give a sense of dimension and movement. However, add fine textured plants sparingly as too much can make your space look unkept. Fine textured plants are best paired with contrasting textures. Choose from Cosmos, Baby’s Breath, Asters, Boltonia, and Amsonia which all have pretty flowers to complement their fine foliage.
Fuzzy Textured plants – Usually fuzzy textured plants are grey in colour and they are a pretty backdrop to make your other plants more vivid. The best choices are fluffy Lamb’s Ear, Lavender, Santolina, Artemisia, Russian Sage and Yarrow.