Kamal Ghorui
Mixed garden borders often look stunning during spring and summer. However, the same plants can fail to create a proper design when they stop flowering. Horticulturists claim that one of the main reasons for this is insufficient evergreen structure. Unlike flowering plants, evergreen shrubs retain foliage all year round. This means that despite any flowering plants used, evergreen species tend to be the basis of garden borders as they create structure and shape in cold seasons. Gardeners don’t mean to do away with flowers. Evergreen shrubs are used to create an everlasting framework that keeps garden borders looking good no matter what time of the year.Evergreens give shape to garden bordersAccording to the Royal Horticultural Society, evergreen shrubs form the backbone of many gardens since they offer structure throughout the whole year. Without a doubt, flowers give garden borders a unique look. However, when blooming stops, it is the evergreen foliage that keeps the shapes of planting beds intact.Noel Kingsbury, a landscape designer who concentrates on sustainable planting, claims that structure in garden design should be regarded equally with colours. In his collaborative work with Piet Oudolf, such as Designing with Plants and Planting: A New Perspective, Kingsbury revealed that permanent plants make gardens look more solid by creating a framework under constantly changing seasons.In addition, evergreens can help in organising the overall composition of the garden. The round shape of the shrubs, vertical foliage, and green colour create calm zones that will make flowers appear more noticeable. The contrast between greenery and flowers becomes extremely important during seasonal transitions.Why are evergreen shrubs crucial for around the yearOf course, flowers are important, but they need a framework. It is essential to remember that flowering shrubs play an important role in the development of mixed borders. Plants with different blooming periods should be chosen accordingly. Such a strategy will prevent all the colours from appearing at once and disappearing soon.A garden created without taking care of the structure will be able to show its maximum beauty only during a very limited period of time. Evergreen shrubs are the solution to that problem.Other evergreen shrubs also flower, bear berries, or have brightly colored leaves. It means that their contribution goes beyond the mere addition of greenery only. There are varieties that offer wintertime berries, springtime blooms, or interesting foliage that provides interest even in quieter seasons.
Why do garden borders look empty without enough evergreens? Image credit – Wikimedia
Why there is no perfect evergreen-flower ratioAny horticulturist or floriculturist does not suggest using a specific evergreen-flowering percentage in all borders. Specialists emphasise a balance between both types of plants.A shortage of evergreen shrubs makes a garden look lifeless in wintertime. Conversely, an excess of evergreen shrubs results in a lack of diversity and heaviness of the planting area. The optimal combination of evergreens and other plants depends on the garden size, climate conditions, availability of sunlight, as well as plant characteristics. It is common practice for landscape architects to plant evergreen shrubs covering approximately one-third to one-half of a home garden’s permanent planting design. The rest of the plants should be flowering shrubs or perennial plants. This way, the border remains legible but diverse seasonally.Plant selection should be based on the real siteRHS suggests considering the availability of an ample amount of light, soil type, full-grown size of the plant, and the micro-climate when choosing shrubs. This is important since even a balanced planting design may prove unsuccessful if plants become too big for their allocated space or have trouble thriving in their environment.While some shrubs may flourish in sunny areas, others can grow well in shaded spots. Moreover, rapidly growing plants may overshadow nearby flowers with time.In many interviews, Piet Oudolf has also pointed out that a good planting design depends on how plants interrelate during different times of the year and not their isolated beauty within garden centres. It is essential for mixed borders.Effective planting designs are mostly based on what the garden looks like during all four seasons and not just its best period.Evergreen shrubs have additional advantagesEvergreen shrubs have more qualities than ornamental value. According to the RHS, they provide shelter for birds and wildlife. They also reduce the frequency of annual seasonal replacement.Evergreens are particularly helpful because their presence does not change throughout the year, which means they provide stability in terms of design. At the same time, they do not require much care. This makes them an ideal choice for modern gardening when the desire of many people is to have beautiful planting that does not take too much effort to maintain.Small evergreens can be used even when there is limited space available. Gardening enthusiasts do not have to use huge specimens to add some structure.Why structure is more important than non-stop flowersThere is one major thing to learn from gardening professionals, and this is the fact that great borders have much more to do with structure rather than flowers.While flowers make borders exciting, it is structure that provides consistency and allows for gradual transformation of the border throughout the year without ever leaving space empty. Such borders look much more appealing during all seasons but summer.
