Planting design - creating structure

Planting Design - Creating Structure

After you've created your borders and planted any trees, then it's time to create your structural planting, including your shrub layer. This is where designing your garden starts to get really exciting because there are so many possibilities.

Structural Planting

Your shrub layer offers a wide range of possibilities in your garden and is an area where you can start to bring flowers and scents into your space. Shrubs tend to go in and out of fashion, but they really shouldn't be overlooked as they are suited to all gardens, with some liking sun while others are shade lovers.

Using Climbers

Climbers are excellent for covering boundary walls, fences and trellises and are essential in city gardens if you want to create some sense of privacy from neighbours and overlooking buildings.

Some of my favourite climbers include:

• Ivy - great for nature and provides late pollen for insects.
• Trachelospermum jasminoides - provides incredible insulation for a building, though it does need wires to climb up as it's not self-clinging. Birds love to nest in it
• Climbing hydrangea for a north wall
• Akebia quinata - great on a north wall
• Wisteria sinensis - produces flowers before the foliage, but also needs wires to support itself. They grow a lot every year, so they will need pruning twice a year in order, in February and during the summer

Structural Planting

When it comes to creating structure in my garden, I'm a big fan of clipped shapes. I have eight yew pyramids currently. These used to be box pyramids but I switched to yew because of the threat of the box caterpillar.

Yew is very easy to maintain and doesn't require any maintenance other than clipping once a year. Other shrubs that work well as clipped shapes include Fagus sylvatica, Carpinus betulus, Ilex crenata and Pittosporum.

Clipped shapes are wonderful for adding form and structure to any garden and really come into their own in winter when the garden is pared back.

If you want to create a border or avenue of clipped shapes in your garden then make sure to measure your space accurately so that they are evenly spaced, and also symmetrical if you are planning to plant them opposite one another.

Paying attention to the lines in your garden is very important. While they can be subtle, your eye will be drawn to them, whether they are straight or horizontal. Play with symmetry and asymmetry in your garden, and particularly around doors, to see what works well for you and your space.

Some of my favourite Roses are:

The Lark Ascending, English Shrub Rose (not good for cutting)

Desdemona, English Shrub Rose

Claire Austin, Climber

Tuscany Superb, Shrub Rose

Mary Delany, Climber

Emily Bronte, Climber

Gertrude Jekyll, Shrub

Scepter'd Isle, English Shrub Rose (not good for cutting)

Francis E Lester, Rambling

The Lady of the Lake, Rambling Rose

Bathsheba, Climbing Rose

The Lady Gardener, Shrub Rose

Summer Song, Shrub Rose

Lady of Shalott, Shrub Rose