Michael Spencer

Michael Spencer

This landscape has a mix of colors and shapes even within the foliage: large, crinkled rhubarb-type leaves, grasses, variegated green-and-white leaves and blue-green foliage. Note that each color has a sizable enough spot to make it a minor focal point.

Michael Spencer

This photo from the Denver Botanical Gardens shows how small, low gardens can be mixed with tree groupings. The important thing is to keep it soft-edged, with curved beds and an undulating walking path.

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Clients often ask me for some tips on creating a beautiful garden, and I am happy to do so. We know that it is the “design” of the garden that lends it quality and emotion, and that the plants are there simply to support the feeling. Just as importantly, we want our plants to fully express the form we love in each species so they can contribute to the overall garden.

So, here are 10 rules that the home gardener will find useful:

First: start with good soil.

It’s not easy, I know, to spend money on soil. But soil isn’t invisible! Beautiful plants are simply not possible without attention to the soil. There are many sources of information on this, including a future column here; start with the University of Florida.

Second: Design and build a quality irrigation system.

Many feel that irrigation is a good place to cut corners; after all, don’t we want to use less water? We do want to conserve water, and that’s why it is important to have a system that is easily controlled and applies predictable water in known patterns. Don’t skimp on this.

Third: Select plants carefully.

Choosing plants is in many ways a huge task, but there are a few ways to break down the process. Remember that the unit of planting design is the planting bed, not the plant. Think of it this way: Who wants a sea of mulch with episodic plants? We want drifts of plants, and very often we want drifts of monocultures.

I will take some heat for this, I know, but I stand firm: The structure of a garden depends on sturdy mass planting to create garden spaces and microclimates.

Fourth: Determine spacing.

Plant spacing gets people in trouble, when actually it is quite simple. Remember that during your design process, you chose plants with a desired height and spread (didn’t you?).

Be sure you know how big each plant will be at maturity. When you plant them from containers, you space them as if they were full grown and barely touching each other. For long-term planting, the size of the initial plant has no relation to spacing.

And don’t forget that when adjacent beds have dissimilar plants, leave an appropriate amount of room between the beds. Spacing is especially important when your plants are adjacent to buildings or sidewalks. A good rule of thumb here is to add 12 to 18 inches as an additional space between the full-grown bed and the adjacent building; individual situations will govern here.

Fifth: no single rows.

This is related to plant spacing. A bed simply cannot create mass without at least two rows of plants in the bed. If you don’t have room, re-think your bed layout.

Sixth: Don’t overpay.

We always use the larger commercial landscape construction companies because they are open to unit pricing (you get a price for each type of plant, and you can add or deduct based on this price).

Some rules: plants are offered according to the container size. When the plants are provided and planted by your contractor, expect to pay about $3.50 to $4.50 for 1-gallon containers. Three-gallon plants will be $8.50 to $12; the range depends on the growth rate as well as supply and demand.

These prices include the normal 90-day guarantee and will be fertilized. Mulch will be extra. And there’s this: these prices have not changed in the years that I have been in Florida.

Seventh: Put tall plants in back and the small ones in front.

Sometimes it is important to state the obvious. This is a common mistake driven, possibly, by incomplete knowledge about the mature height of the plant.

Eighth: Don’t mix plants with different water needs.

Water conservation, of course, is a big issue these days. Recent columns have talked about grouping plant material by water requirements, but it bears repeating: never mix xeric and hydric plants in the same irrigation zone.

Nine: Start with healthy plants.

It’s simply true that you cannot make a Grade A plant from a cull. Both of these are terms used by the state of Florida in grading plant material: a future column will explain this in more detail. For the moment, stick with the admonishment to look for Grade A plants.

Ten: Finally, have fun!

Michael Spencer has been practicing landscape architecture for 25 years and is president of MSA Design Inc. You can learn more at www.msadesign.com or contact Spencer at 598-2828.