Do you want a herbaceous garden plant? You can get the right height, size and shape

You must be able to plan your planting well if you are going to get a wonderful design. Consider the following:

  • The shapes of growth of the herbaceous plant. Low growing groundcover and cushion herbaceous plants should be placed in front of the design while the taller ones are placed in the background

  • The herbaceous plants that flower early such as poppies (Papaver) and bleeding heart (Dicentra) should be placed in the background.

  • Colours of herbaceous plants must be combined in a manner that creates a beautiful splashy design. Its best practice to have the design plan on paper before taking it to the garden.

When planting always bear in mind the needs with respect to the position of the individual plants.

Making a planting plan

Create a scale drawing on a piece of graph paper of the area to be planted. Areas that are shaded by trees, walls or bushes should be marked in a dark colour such as grey. Fill in the area you would want to plant the herbaceous plants using a colour similar to the colour of the particular plant.

Getting the height right

Construct a plan for heights and groupings depending on the shape of the bed and based on your special preferences. Perspective design is ideal for a bed that is only viewed form one side. Low growing plants must be planted at the front while taller ones are placed at the back crating a design which has a height increase from the front to the back.

Cone shaped, staggered growth is ideal for island beds. The tallest plants must be planted in the middle of the design. From the middle of the design, gradually decrease the size of the plants. Tall plants in the middle will prevent the onlooker from looking through it.

Plants with equal heights should be planted on a sloping position. Plant areas of 0,3 - 0,5 sq m with one species of the same low to medium tall herbaceous plants. The flowers in this design create unique (splendour) patterns of colour.

Designing with groups of herbaceous plants

A design with alternating plant heights is eye-catchy and can be created by combining groups of taller and low growing plants. Its good planting practice to set 3 or more plants on one species together in groups.

Leader plants

The choice of colour and flowering will be greatly influenced by the tallest species. The leader plant (tallest species) must have large flower shapes and stunning colour.

Companion plants

These are very short and must be mixed according to their flowering time and flower colour with the tallest species. Combine various shapes of growth for example overhanging and upright clumps, in one group of plants. Different leaf structures will also ass life to the plant arrangement. Surround a leader plant with 3-5 species of companion plants.

Filler plants should be added to the above plant arrangement and must be able to blend well with both the leader and companion plants. Small flowered herbaceous plants and those with leaf markings are best for this design.