Creating a planting plan from scratch part 1: Layering the planting

Creating a Planting Plan from Scratch Part 1: Layering the Planting

Over the next four lessons I'd like to share how we build up a layered planting plan from scratch, starting with an overview of the steps involved in planning a new border and how to go about researching, evaluating and creating a plant list.

Taking the Time to Consider the Planting

• At the time of planting, you might not even use the plan, but the time you've put into thinking about it beforehand is still useful.
• Planting is a huge signature of you and the place. It sets the tone of the experience.
• Evaluation and research comes first. There are so many ways to get information:
• visit gardens, maybe once a month, to see the succession in the planting and making notes about what's flowering
• tear sheets from magazines
• look in books
• use RHS Find A Plant.
• Gather ideas and use that as background information to think about what plants you want in your border or garden.

Making a Plant List

Make lists of all the plants you'd like.

• This may start quite long, but then you edit it down according to what plants will work in practice (right plant for the right place – e.g. light, soil type, damp/dry).
• Evaluate your site and use RHS Find A Plant to check each plant's growing conditions.
• This practical starting point will dictate which plants might be suitable.

There are two common mistakes when making a plant list:

1. Scale – e.g. groups of plants are too small
2. Including everything that's available. Pairing back and simplifying your planting design often has a much more successful end result.

Look at your garden and the plants you've already got first.

• Observing when your existing plants emerge and flower gives a more accurate and bespoke timeline than looking it up in books.
• This helps you establish what you can pair your existing plants with to fill in the gaps in flowering time.

Orientating Your Border

• Come back to the dimensions and rough plan you drew with bamboo sticks at every metre to establish where existing plants are, and draw this up to scale. You'll get a half-filled planting plan with gaps that can be filled.
• I use A2 paper; you can plan sections of the border at a time if the whole border doesn't fit on the paper.
• Leaving the dimensions and grid on there is a useful reference. Note your scale.
• Note the orientation – where north is and how the light will change as the sun travels round from east to south to west.
• Orientation is crucial. Think about what plants will not only like those conditions but also look good in any backlighting.
• E.g. Cotinus (smoke bush) and grasses look lovely with light coming through.
• Whereas Cornus (dogwood) looks best with light hitting the colourful stems front on in winter.
• Think about which plants on your list you can use in this space.
• If you have a wall, then you'll probably want to use climbers.

Categorising Your Plant List

Divide your plant list into six categories:

1. Woody plants – trees and shrubs (note whether deciduous or evergreen)
2. Climbers (note whether deciduous, evergreen)
3. Perennials – these all have different habits and roles in the scheme, so to avoid putting all similar habit plants together, sub-categorise them on your list:

• emergents (spires) for vertical energy
• mid-layer, which you can break down further:
• plants with broad leaves
• plants with linear leaves
• plants that form a rounded mass, etc.

1. Biennials – these are underused, but I'd always urge you to use them, as they add so much value and flower at a really useful time. E.g. sweet rocket, foxgloves, wallflowers
2. Annuals – break down into:

• those that deliberately sown and planted
• those that have been allowed to self-seed.

1. Bulbs – introduce these after planting – let your bed settle for a year first. But think about them at this stage and where they might fit.

I have an additional seventh list, for roses.

Creating some mood boards from your plant lists can be useful as a visual reference of what the plants look like.

Your Assignment

Have a go at coming up with plant lists for three imaginary 3m x 8m borders:

1. a border for a shady situation
2. for a sunny situation
3. for someone who wants a low-maintenance garden.

Fill out the table with your plant choices. Remember you can get inspiration from visiting gardens, looking through books or magazines, using the filters on RHS Find a Plant, and browsing the RHS pages below:

• Shade planting: annuals, bulbs and perennials
• Climbers and wall shrubs for shade
• What can I grow in a dry, shady spot?
• Climbers and wall shrubs for sun
• Planting inspiration for sun-baked gardens
• Low-maintenance gardening
• 10 award-winning (AGM) low-maintenance evergreen plants
• 10 award-winning (AGM) low-maintenance flowers to grow for colour

Then check your plant choices against their page in RHS Find a Plant to confirm they're suitable for the conditions you've assigned them to.

Glossary

Basal leaves

Leaves that grow from the base of a plant's stem, often forming a rosette or cluster at or close to ground level.

Linear leaves

Long, slender, strap- or vein-like leaves, such as on irises, agapanthus, grasses and yew.

Emergents

Individual plants that are prominently taller than most of the surrounding plants.

Plant Directory

Baptisia species and cultivars

False indigos

Hardy herbaceous perennials

Fabaceae

Cornus species and cultivars

Dogwoods

Hardy deciduous shrubs or trees

Cornaceae

Cotinus species and cultivars

Smoke bushes

Hardy deciduous shrubs or small trees

Anacardiaceae

Delphinium species and cultivars

Larkspurs

Hardy herbaceous perennials or annuals

Ranunculaceae

Digitalis purpurea and its cultivars and forms

Foxgloves

Hardy herbaceous biennials or short-lived perennials

Plantaginaceae

Erysimum species and cultivars

Wallflowers

Hardy or sometimes half-hardy annuals, biennials or woody-based perennials

Brassicaceae

Iris germanica species and cultivars

Bearded irises

Hardy herbaceous perennials from rhizomes

Iridaceae

Hesperis matronalis

Sweet rocket, dame's violet

Hardy herbaceous biennial or short-lived perennial

Brassicaceae