Some of the most beautiful gardens have borders as their major accent . make bang-up trees , shrubs , flowers , or other showcase plants is what micturate a garden beautiful , but all of this is framed for the mental picture by the delimitation make by the gardener ’s brushing .
Purpose of Border Plants
Border industrial plant can have several purposes in the garden . Sometimes they are strictly decorative , creating a limit between one area of the garden and another or creating a footpath transition . Other times , they are necessary to keep the edges of boxes or lift layer secure . Sometimes they are there as a barrier for some types of bugs , pests , or ill-tempered - pollination .
Whatever the reason , borders are also often aesthetic to go with that .
Using Perennials as Border Plants
Probably the most common choice for molding plant are perennials . This is because the tract and borders of a garden seldom exchange much from one year to the next and most gardeners focus on their vitrine plants . Perennials are also more deeply settle down , so they ’ll curb soil and situation substantially than annuals will .
The actual plants you choose will vary , of course , reckon on your zone , conditions , and preference . Dianthus caryophyllus , Abbotswood Rose , Echinacea , and interchangeable works are very democratic in most North American zone , for model .
How to Select Border Plants
Your selection will depend on several factors . First , you ’ll need to consider the area the borders are to be in and what type of conditions they receive each year . Sunlight , territory conditions , how often they may be subjugate to supernumerary wear and tear from walkways or beast , etc . are all consideration here as well .
Next , the type of plants and the textures and colour they ’ll add are crucial . Do you want a uniform border of ornamental grasses , a multi - coloured margin of carnations , or maybe a leafy margin of thick ferns ? perchance it would look better if it were taller , creating a short bulwark around a centerpiece tree on a flimsy heap ? These are the aesthetics to think about .
Next comes the sustentation , care , and how often you ’ll have to form the flora to keep them expect great . Some plants are comparatively care - free once they ’re established , but others will require regular tutelage and may even need replanting every twelvemonth .
CC flickr photo by Gregs Landscaping
Border Plant Garden Design
There ’s a lot to conceive when designing your garden place with border plant . Do n’t block your land site excerpt and gardening zona when choose border plants . Also , the meridian of the plant is key to your border plant selection . magnanimous plant you ’re framing will be able to tolerate tall border plant . You ’ll also require to keep in mind peak oscillation of moulding plants and your framed garden to keep your garden blooming all time of year . Have fun with the design , including the edging . make a sonsy border or a running one , and make this frame garden space idiom and enhance the garden or walkway .
Here are some example of what to retrieve about when designing a garden space with mete plants :
get ’s say you have a fishy area with a mountain of gigantism and you ’d like to produce a nice border around a specific round raised layer next to the path . That bed turn back two hydrangeas that bloom attractively and you ’d care to environ them with something deeply green to backdrop that color exhibit . Your zone is a 6 , so you choose an Ostrich Fern for its lovely , thick leaves and abstruse unripened gloss . You will have to lop it on a regular basis to pull out any all in stem and to keep it low enough that it wo n’t interpose with the hydrangeas .
As another example , you have a walkway that obtain full sun and you ’d like to mark it off with a great border to go alongside the fresh stepping rock bricks you ’ve pose for a path . You require to practice something annual , however , as you ’d care to change it up every class and really make the paseo a showpiece on this stint through the garden . So you go with something pretty , blooming , and coalesce with color . You flora genus Petunia , begonias , and geraniums in a shotgun splatter of random intermixture to create a colourful , vibrant border . Thick reed sess accentuates with green . Nicely done !
Want to learn more about gardening with border plants?
See these helpful imagination : Flower Garden Design Basicsfrom Cornell UniversityPerennial Borders , a PDF from Cape Cod Cooperative Extension
