Planting Plan for a Geometric Garden

I Bagicha Bazaar Article of issue 210, Geometry makes a garden better., landscape designer Warren Leach walks us through the process of designing a small garden for Peter and Shirley Williams of North Grafton, Massachusetts. Warren had a challenge tackling the site, as it was a small area with stone walls on three sides and a pond on the other. The place was also far from the center of the pool. To remedy this, Warren created a circular bouquet of Sugar Time® crabapple trees that ran along the center of the pool. This line of sight then became the center of the garden.

Two large island beds were planted to the right of the trees. They are irregularly shaped with angles and curves that allow unique perspectives from which to view different planting combinations and allow for straight and curved walkways between beds. To the left of the Cryabplus is a long bed with angular borders that form a zigzag pattern. This bed is full of colorful plants with wow-worthy foliage and is one of the centerpieces of the garden. Passing through this bed, you will enter a circular lawn space that continues the theme of strong geometric shapes. The lawn space is bordered by curved borders with a number of garden beds. In the back left corner there is a small seating area in some shade where you can look out over the garden while listening to the nearby fountain. On the other side of the lawn is a circular raised bed that serves as a moon garden with many plants with white or variegated foliage.

Below, you’ll find some plant identifications for two important areas of the garden: the pool, and the zigzag border bed.

Pond

1. Goldmoss sedum (Sedum Acreszones 4-9).
2. ‘Album’ Autumn Crocus (Colchicum speciosum ‘Album’, Zones 4-9)
3. ‘Hameln’ fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Hamlin’, Zones 5-9)
4. ‘Elijah Blue’ Blue fescue (Festuca glauca (‘Elijah Blue’, Zones 4-8)
5. Butterfly grass (Asclepias tuberosazones 4-9).
6. Desdemona® rose (Rosa ‘Askandling’, Zones 5–11)
7. Flower of seven sons (Heptacodium myconides(zones 5-9)
8. Sugar Tyme® Shrimp (Malas ‘Sotism’, Zones 4-8).
9. ‘Elizabeth’ Magnolia (Magnolia ‘Elizabeth’, Zones 4-8)

Zig Zag bed

1. ‘Tell me what’ Peony (Paeonia lactiflora ‘Do Tail’, Zones 3-8)
2. Siberian iris (Iris siberica cv., zones 3–8).
3. ‘White Cloud’ Calamity (Calamintha nepeta SSP Gland ‘White Cloud’, zones 5-9)
4. Little Devil™ Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius (‘Donna May’, Zones 3-7)
5. ‘Chocolate’ Joe Pieweed (Eupatorium rugosum ‘Chocolate’, zones 4-8).
6. ‘Goldmound’ Japanese Spirea (Spiraea japonica ‘Gold Mound’, Zones 4-8)
7. Wine and Rose® Vigila (Weigela Florida ‘Alexandra’, zones 4-8)
8. A rose with red petals (Rosa Glaucazones 2-8).
9. Russian Sage (Salvia Yangi. Sync Parvoscia atriplexi folia(zones 5-9)
10. Golden Creeping Genie (Lysimachia nummularia ‘Oriya’, Zones 3-9)
11. ‘Royal Purple’ Smoky Shrub. (Kotense Kogegria ‘Royal Purple’, Zones 4-8)