Hey Good People!
Once the permanent framework of a garden—established by hardscaping and the fixed shapes of structural plants like evergreen hedges and trees—is in place, the next core design element is the softscape layering of seasonal plants to introduce dynamism, color, and texture. This process involves filling the spaces defined by the “bones” with a succession of flowering perennials, annuals, and bulbs that provide interest from spring through winter. The goal is to artfully soften the rigid lines of walls or paths with cascading plants, use medium-sized shrubs and large perennials to create a full, layered middle-ground, and then incorporate drifts of shorter, colorful annuals and bulbs at the front to achieve a continuous flow of changing visual impact throughout the year, ensuring the garden is never dull.
So when I mention structural integrity, it literally means structural like these uh walls and it also includes shrubbery like the evergreen boxwood that you see in the background. From that structure then we can integrate deciduous plants and those perennials that may die back during the winter time. The roses, the hydrangeas, the sumac, the ornamental grass are all great examples in this garden of those kinds of things that are going to be giving us dynamic change throughout the year. We’re going to get the bloom of the roses throughout the year. The sumac is going to be green until fall comes and then it puts on its fall color. Very much the same thing with the ornamental grass.
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