A discovery of structure in the garden
/As a beginner, I initially viewed gardens as a whole. I’d take in the big picture and it either felt appealing or not. It was only by visiting gardens throughout the seasons that I began to see past my favourite bits (the soft, floaty and floral!) and appreciate the grounding features that prevented the planting from reading as a Liberty print!
It slowly dawned on me that a garden struggles to take its viewer on a journey without the helping hand of structural elements. Strong, solid accents that anchor the seasonal party plants to a space and offer us visual pleasure even when the floral and soft have gone to bed for the winter.
The structural elements of a garden could be considered its bones.
Man-made pieces like paved or dressed pathways, raised planters, solid bed edging, trellis, arches, fences or pots, or natural features like hedging, topiary and trees. These are the constants of an outdoor space, the bedrock essentials that exist all year round. During the growing seasons, many might disappear into the background like rose-smothered arches or topiary balls dotted in perennial planting, only to become the stars of the show in the winter months.
When I recall our inherited garden on the first day we moved in five and a half years ago, really it was only about structure. With little perennial planting, the previous owners had focused on strong evergreen options that were mostly static year-round, with very few seasonal surprises. With a heavy hand I removed much of this, and in hindsight, think it was only luck that I didn’t squander all of the slower-growing plants that have proven vital in the overall “experience” of my garden now!
As I have flooded every inch I can with my collected perennials, I have also found myself adding strength back in too. The raised brick planter at the end of the lawn was built to capture the sun and retain a new bed for planting. Most recently we have not only added a second raised planter but also newly expanded beds edged in brick, using this subtle material to lead the eye through from the brick paved back porch and connect all parts of the garden. Brick was a natural choice given my husband is a bricklayer, but its repetition is intended. By keeping introduced materials to a simple few and repeating their use, I’ve been able to create a visual story that threads through this little space.
Winter is a good time to take stock of the permanent features of your garden - this is the backbone that supports your seasonal planting and changes.
When considering structure in my garden now, I find much of my focus is around juxtaposition.
Hard vs. soft, smooth vs textural, uniform vs organic.
When my garden is in full bloom, the solid elements of the fence and raised beds create separation for the somewhat wild planting. The simple wooden fence, topped with trellis is stained dark, drawing attention down from my neighbours’ roofs and providing a dramatic backdrop through the seasons, highlighting glossy greens, floral colour, fiery autumn leaves and wispy seedheads. Had the fence remained natural in tone, the drama would most certainly be missing as would the sense of dimension.
Using the brick repetitively pulls the eye into the garden and creates a visual story.
The value of a lawn as a structural element could probably be argued, but with a few tweaks to its shape, I believe it has transformed how my space is both viewed and experienced. Initially, all beds were mapped out around the edges of the yard with traditional straight lines and a fairly standard balance of lawn outweighing garden. However, with our recent changes of reclaiming lawn by expanding beds and defining them with swooping strong edges, the remaining grassy space now has a sense of flow. Its soft curve pulls you off into the garden where it pools in a wider space under the cherry tree before circling off around the central raised planter at the end. The lawn is now here to work for the garden, instead of the garden politely keeping guard at its edges.
By pulling the garden into the lawn, it now creates an element of interesting structure itself. Working for the garden, instead of the planting politely standing guard around its square edges.
When it comes to organic structure it’s easy to instantly think hedges!
My own inherited buxus hedging at the front of the house is coming out this winter as I continue to chase the urge to be a little more playful with my permanent plant features.
Topiary balls have become a firm favourite of mine, with their smooth surfaces adding an interesting contrast to the rigid edges of the brick elements and the softness of my seasonal planting. I have dotted them through the beds like comical full stops, or at the very least, a moment for the eye to rest amid the sparse winter or chaotic summer. I’ve even let one bounce out of the garden to perch on the lawn, breaking up for a moment the smoothing leading lines of the bed edges and green of the grass. The collection is mostly made up of excruciatingly slow growing (and expensive), commonly used Buxus sempervirens balls which I mixed with the faster growing (sometimes annoyingly so!) Lonicera nitida. They have all been moved around the garden multiple times and continue to thrive with no trouble.
My small topiary balls will all but disappear in the height of summer flowering, but are important support acts in winter and spring. Bouncing one ball out onto the lawn breaks up lines and is something playful ( I hope!).
And then there are the trees.
Despite removing many over the years, the trees I have retained now have room to breathe and space to shine as important structure in my space. Just this afternoon I was admiring the large old cherry and the intriguing twisted shadows it leaves across the lawn in the low winter sun. In spring it brings pom poms of popcorn blossom, in summer grateful shade under which we gather constantly, and in autumn its large broad leaves burst into flame. It is perhaps the most important and engaging element of organic structure on the whole property.
With more trees to purchase and plant, I am on a rabid hunt for specimens that offer both seasonal interest but also a natural maturing form that I feel will complement the vibe of what I am creating out there.
So, I urge you to take this wintery opportunity to gauge the effectiveness of the structure in your own garden. This is the time to consider how you might improve the hardworking skeleton of your space, stocktake your mix of materials and look for spots you can boost interest.
The large cherry is a strong structural element in the garden, but equally it is not static like others, instead offering an entirely different shape and accent throughout the year.
This is an expanded version of the article featured in my Stuff ‘Homed’ gardening column for beginners , The Press, Dominion Post and other regional papers on August 4th 2022
All words and images are my own, unless otherwise credited.
