A garden is not just a collection of plants with one of this and one of that — random polka-dots of plants. There is a garden design dictum that specifies that perennials must be placed in groups of three of a kind. I don’t like to impose rules on gardeners; I don’t even want to hear them. What about the isolated specimen, the small rare tree, or a pair of evergreens marking the entrance to the garden path? If three of one plant is good, maybe ten is better. The idea of three or five, for that matter, is to make the installation of new plants look most natural. Plants in nature rarely follow rules, but they are even less likely to come in symmetrical pairs. Try it next time you shop. Buy three.
Left: Chartreuse Alchemilla mollis along the foreground of the crescent border in the new Jersey garden repeats to create a cohesive element.
Of course, more than three can produce a natural look. That’s the idea of drifts of color. For example, if you picture a sea of blue washing across your woodland garden highlighted by the precious wildflowers you grew from seeds, then you can propagate a few plants of Phlox divaricata to create the quantity you need. The idea of weaving a unifying thread of golden foliage through your perennial border may be achieved by propagating plants you already own. These plants must be multiplied to produce sufficient numbers to elaborate your scheme. You may have to plan, because you are going to need quite a bit of fresh material from which to propagate for this effect.
Repetition also helps to visually bring a planting together. A ground cover weaving in and out in the foreground — along the edge of a planting — helps your eye travel down the border — to smooth and connect the planting.
Left: Purple tulips carry the eye along a border planting of these spring bulbs.
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