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This article was featured in the June/July 2009 issue of Today's Home

Planting With Style!

Landscaping As an Art Form

The patio, walkways, masonry and water features are in place or at least designed. It’s time to ‘flesh out’ the garden with trees, plants, placement boulders and garden art. But before we start, there are relevant issues to be addressed.

In recent years we have seen a heightened awareness about conservation and sustaining the environment.  More immediate concerns about drought, water rationing, and the expense of garden maintenance have made us rethink how we build gardens in today’s climate and economy.

Scott Bradley, owner of Details Landscape Art, has been designing and installing fine gardens throughout the North Bay since 1991. "People are always asking us for low maintenance yards", says Scott.  "Can you guess what the highest maintenance plant is?  Grass. It is thirsty, and needs regular watering, mowing, weeding, feeding, and edging.  In addition, it is seriously uninteresting.  Details Landscape Art encourages water conservation, and recommends small lawns or no lawns.  The resulting gardens are more visually appealing and more water efficient.  The plants are irrigated by a drip system and programmed by controllers that regulate the duration and frequency of water application."

That having been said, minimizing lawn size, yields larger plant gardens, and the need for intelligent design is critical.  Scott has a great eye for color, texture and style. "Plant selection and placement is definitely an art form." Several simple landscape design techniques will ensure an interesting and visually appealing garden all year long.

• Mixing heights, textures and bloom seasons of plant material and planting in clusters creates visual interest all year long.
• Using both deciduous and evergreen trees and plants ensures that the garden is never bare. Even a winter garden can be interesting.
• Color in the foliage is a way to get color into the garden without the maintenance associated with flowers.
  
• Space is a key element in the garden.  Knowing the size of trees and plants at maturity is essential to the proper spacing of plants and plant groupings.
• Soft grasses, although not colorful, are natural, delicate and graceful, especially when waving in the wind. They are a perfect accent to dry creek beds and maroon foliage.
• Planting deciduous trees in the interior of the garden closer to the house can provide shade in the heat of summer and let in warmth in winter.
• Plants with soft background foliage make showy colors ‘pop’.  The key is not so much selecting plants as selecting plant combinations and groupings.

These ideas can work equally well with Asian style gardens, Mediterranean gardens, English gardens or other style using plant material suitable for this climate.

And please let’s avoid the common planting mistakes: sun plants in the shade, shade plants in the sun, over-planting, too many junipers, etc. etc. And aren’t we weary of trees planted in lawn areas, relying on lawn watering to water the trees? The roots chase the shallow irrigation water and emerge on the lawn surface, lifting sidewalks as well as killing the lawn.

It costs no more to have a vision and design an exciting planting scheme that works, and matures to the proper size and scale…it’s ‘planting with style’!

Details Landscape Art is licensed, bonded and insured, and is a member of the California Landscape Contractors Association. Visit www.detailslandscapeart.com to see an extensive portfolio of photos or call (707) 769-1600 for a free consultation.