Has your approach to garden bed design changed?

6 years ago

As spring starts to take shape in south central PA, there are a number of hostas I have that could benefit from dividing. When I planted the beds 11 years ago, I was very much into getting many different hostas so that each one was different from the rest, but I tried to place them so their colors would complement each other. In viewing some gardens online that have been featured on AHS garden tours and regional hosta society tours, it seems like they all do multiples (3-5) or even swaths of the same hosta for a visually pleasant effect. This year, I have the opportunity to re-plant divisions either close to the original plant to try and start the "multiples" look where I have room, or I can continue to move the divisions around the garden, which would create some repetition for the eye but only still in single plants. I would like to hear from you - what garden design style do you have? Do you want to tweak it, and if so, in what way?

Featured Answer

Missi (4b IA)

6 years ago

Our style is..

1. here's a bare spot, let's put it there

2. Um..let's just stick it there for now

3. Put in a bed. Decide to change the bed. Which then means another bed needs to be tweaked. So probably then this other bed over here should be expanded. Now we have moved some of these umpty dozen times and there's more babies growing underneath, we need another bed..but until then--refer back to numbers 1 and 2..

4. what did we plant here?

5. did we plant something here?

6. I don't remember this being here.

There is neither rhyme nor reason to the Rogge Landscaping (cough*lack of*cough) Design Style.

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Comments (40)

peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I think a lot of us battle the collector versus the designer in us. I am a bit of both. I say my style is an organized riot. Ultimately our eye will tell us what is pleasing to us as individuals. Is the property with huge swaths of the same Hosta restful or boring, lacking design or carefully thought out? Each to their own.

I love giants and see no need to have swaths of the same but I think I will move some minis that seem a little lost with the big boys. I try to do 3 or more of the same mini together when possible although I have one bed with many different ones mixed because yes, I still want more, more, more!

I put a rough circle of 5 Lemon Lime at the edge of a bed and they have filled a huge section and are now dwarfing the 3 June behind them. I think it looks out of proportion now and will (should) minimize the size.

I have a very old patch of F. Albomarginata that does not need to be 8-9 ft. I could use some of that room for new plants that need to get into the ground. I could go on and on....

I hope you keep us updated on what you decide to do!
threedogsmom thanked peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada
dhaven
6 years ago
Very nice thread, I'd love to hear what others are doing with their gardens.

My original hosta beds are very much specimen beds, with one plant of each variety. Every plant has it's own space, and the entire bed is planted in such a way that it's very easy to see each individual plant. I think most people start this way, at least in part because they want a variety of hostas, but also because it's more economical to buy one plant of each variety, then as it grows, divide it into multiples as desired.

I've always tried to maintain a ratio of approximately 3 solids for every 1 variegated hosta for several reasons. First, it's my natural inclination, as I find the solids very appealing. They are a nice showcase for plant form and habit, leaf shape and habit, and leaf texture, as well as color. These things are often ignored with a variegated plant, which is grown mainly for it's multiple colors.

Secondly, in a bed that's 75% solids, the variegated plants really stand out. A common issue I see in hosta beds is too many variegated plants, all competing for attention, and making it difficult to focus on any one plant. It's easy to look at a bed with mostly variegated plants and zone out, not knowing where to look, and not being able to appreciate the individual plants. This issue is made worse when all the hostas are of a similar size.

Thirdly, I find the solids to be a more serene and natural look, not too busy but rather quite calming. Instead of variegation, I get a unique look by choosing solids that have interesting and unique forms, sizes and textures, and I have a wide range of solid colors. I always have to smile when I hear people speak derisively about green hostas as though there is only one color green, and that it's a second class color--I have a huge range of green colored hostas, and they are all slightly different. Yellows and blues also have a wide color range.

I also like a wide variety of sizes in a hosta bed. Most of my beds are island beds, and I take that into account when I plant. Larger and taller plants are mainly in the center, then mediums, then smaller varieties. Other beds have all large plants, giving them the look of an island with cliffs on all the edges. The beds are all curved and appear to be randomly shaped, no long straight lines, simply because I have a preference for a more natural shape.

My more recent beds are quite different. As my hostas matured, I dug and divided many of them. Quite a few were sold, a great many were given away, and some went to various charity plant sales. This still left me with goodly numbers of divisions to replant. So while my upper garden is mainly specimen beds, my lower garden is a more composed area, with a somewhat landscaped look. The beds have swathes of plants in addition to single specimens. There are more non-hosta plants, with astilbes, bleeding heart, and oriental lilies in most beds, as well as the occasional ligularia and other shade tolerant perennial.

My favorite newish bed is not overly large, perhaps 30 feet long and ranging from 6 to 12 feet across. The entire outer edge is planted with swathes of minis, staggered 2 deep and ranging from 4 to 6 feet in length. Most are solid or only slightly variegated, with Baby Bunting, Allan P. McConnell, Purple Lady Fingers, Grand Prize, Lemon Lime, Tiny Tears, Wiggle Worms, Camelot (not really a mini, but it works), Blue Mouse Ears, and several other varieties. Inside those is a curving, wandering band of 30 June. I've always wanted a large planting of June, and these are very nice. A friend was digging out and dividing his 3 mature clumps of June, keeping only a double division from each to replant, so I got the rest. In the 30, there are 3-4 sports and an amazing range of variegation. Inside the June, there is a fairly narrow strip that has oriental lilies and some very upright ligularia.

Another newer bed incorporates a wandering line of Great Expectations, 14 in all, with a few Phoenix in front of those, and the whole fronted by swathes of Blue Boy and some astilbes. The rear of the bed is oriental and orienpet lilies.

For those of you who are grumbling that you could never afford to buy that many plants, everything in these gardens (except the gifted Junes) came from divisions of plants I already had. When I plant a bed like this, I put out single or at best double divisions. Within a year of two, the plants will multiply and fill in the spaces very nicely.

Egads, I've written a book! Apologies for the length, but once you get me started writing about hostas, it seems inevitable that I will go on and on.
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threedogsmom
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks to you both! Dhaven, I need to look at past photos that you have posted to see the evolution of the beds you described. I feel like I can learn a lot from your methods. Peren.all, I enjoy mixing other shade perennials among my hostas so I don’t want to give that up. Regardless. I am looking forward to the spring and seeing what opportunities it may have for dividing existing plants to fill in bare spots. I still love acquiring new hostas, in fact saw a Yellow polka dot bikini Hosta the other day and got it locally. It had 5 eyes so I can either plant it as 1 or 2 plants. It’s hard to convince a “collector” to change styles....
zkathy z7a NC
6 years ago
My style ranges from a carefully planned sculptural bed (which is not doing anything I expected) to wandering around with a newly arrived Hosta saying “where am I going to put this one?” I like designing the beds and building the garden as much as I like the hostas.

in my next lifetime I’m going to be a civil engineer who collects arrowheads.
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nicholsworth Z6 Indianapolis
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I enjoyed everyone's thoughts (and dhaven's book lol)..I'm a big fan of solid hostas..I love mass plantings..I usually buy in multiples..I had a lot of ground to cover..now I need edging, rearranging and accessorizing..I love pots of summer color among hostas..maybe I can actually try it this year!..looking for a gazing ball and a turtle sculpture..love the creative planters I've seen on this forum..wooden boxes, whiskey barrels, driftwood etc..I also have ferns, epimediums, heucheras, brunneras, hellebores and astilbes planted with hostas as all of you do..I'm looking forward to sharing pics!.

threedogsmom..in answer to your post question "no because I'm still flying by the seat of my pants!" Lol..
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Karin Black Cat
6 years ago
Missi, that's exactly how I do it :-) and I love it!
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stephanie_h12
6 years ago
Missi, that's how I do it! lol

And a lot of this may look better over there, and this here and before you know it it's totally different ;)
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Missi (4b IA)
6 years ago
Hahahahahaha glad I'm not the only one just flying along by the seat of her pants!

Exactly why I wish I could go back to when we bought the place in 2001 and take pictures *every* year to see the changes we've made. Actually, I'd also like to go back and "tag" some of our plants..like sharks..so we could track where they've been over the years.
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nicholsworth Z6 Indianapolis
6 years ago
I have lots of plants that have lived all over the yard..started in front..then the side..now the back..it's funny isn't it?
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StevePA6a
6 years ago
I pretty much do the same as Missi and others. As much as I love seeing examples of meticulously planned and executed landscapes, I would be instantly bored if I had everything in it's place. I need that bit of chaos in my gardening, to keep me going.
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Missi (4b IA)
6 years ago
That's nice to hear-especially b/c I see such stunning gardens and wish ours were so thoughtfully planned and laid out. Sometimes our good ideas get out of control and mostly we sigh and say aw crap.
steve duggins(Z6a) - Central Ohio
6 years ago
I want to be that designer that creates beautiful landscapes, but I'm the collector that wants one of everything (almost), but tries to plant them in attractive ways. So much so I've created an excel spreadsheet map with my plants so I can move them around on paper and look on the Hosta comparison website to imagine how they would look next to each other. Then once I'm fully satisfied, buy another plant and move them all around again.

I had a few on the property that I divided and planted in rows to create those swaths. They are going to be the first I rip up to plant something new and different this spring. I'm really thinking of just putting everything in pots to move them around easily. I've also gone to the extent of copying pictures side by side to see how they look. Although, I've only done that with daylilies as it's much easier with fewer plants, lol.
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Missi (4b IA)
6 years ago
This is how Rogge Landscaping (cough*lack of*cough) Design Style does it.
threedogsmom thanked Missi (4b IA)
peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada
6 years ago
OMG Missi you made my day!!! So funny!

steve that is awesome!

I fall between the two of you with my organized riot.
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Shadow -4A-NB Canada
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
LOL Missi Rogge. Thanks. I totally get your design. You got skills!!! I really like the map where you are standing here and I am standing there. Precious!!

My garden is what Missi rogge said. I do do the "Ken" thing, where I dig the hosta up, decide I have to do something else and leave it in the wheelbarrow for a long period of time. Then decide to put the dug up hosta in the shade , under the trees in the far back of the garden. Then from out of the blue, it's the fall and I have several dug up hostas that need a new home. Hence ,The second diagram comes into play. Literally
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beverlymnz4
6 years ago
This is a great thread.

I do plan, "design", in drifts or in clusters. Sketching out beds to scale so I can see how many hosta will fit. Then I plant, meticulously measuring to the nearest inch to get the correct spacing for the projected size of the plant. My neighbors seem to get a kick out of watching me mark where the plant will go, measure and remeasure.

Within a year I start to reconsider. After two years some of the hosta have grown much faster than I anticipated where others have hardly grown at all. Their colors, heights and habits can be more easily seen. Some combinations are meh and it becomes clear that this one would look much better next to that one. While this group will never fill this space, those over there are already running into to one another. Then that fall or the following spring the moving begins and I repeat the same process.

Every year I dig up and move plants around. My husband just puts his hands on his hips and says "here we go again." However, I have to say every year my garden gets better. So you see, even if you do plan, you will have to fix it later. For me, that's half the fun.
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nicholsworth Z6 Indianapolis
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
steve..I wish I knew as much about my garden as you do yours..I intended to create a garden "guide" for myself but it hasn't happened..

Missi..NOBODY can say that your garden wasn't planned!..you have concrete proof!..here's your plan in black and white!..or rather green, blue, gray, purple, peach, orange, red, turquoise, yellow, pink, burgundy etc..do you mind if I steal your plan?..I'm already halfway there haha..
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windymess z6a KC, Ks
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
This is great thread... I too love to see/hear what others are doing to design/arrange their gardens. Every property has its challenges.

dhaven- I’d love to see some photos!

beverly- I’m probably in the same camp as you for design approach. I make a plan, then it evolves.

I loved the big old trees we had on the lot when we bought it, so we kept some of them. I didn’t know about silver maples though, and within a couple years it was obvious that they had to be removed. Money and wasted time - time that I could have have something else starting to grow. Oh well - live and learn.

We also have a slightly sloping property, and that has been a continuing challenge - trying to deal with the water, and “control” how it runs. And it’s a very odd-shaped lot - kind of an elongated wedge - so, how to make sense of that.... And then, since it’s your basic 1/4-acre suburban lot, there’s the issue of trying to create a greater sense of privacy with the plantings. We’ve only been in the house for 7 years, and it’s definitely still a work in progress. But I believe it’s coming together.
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Missi (4b IA)
6 years ago
bhahahahaha nicholsworth55, you go for it! Do yours up all nice and then let's compare!
steve duggins(Z6a) - Central Ohio
6 years ago
Well I obviously need to add some color to my garden maps.
Missi (4b IA)
6 years ago
all the cool kids are doing it!
miles10612
6 years ago
Missi, love it!! We once had a landscape architect over when we were very young and he had a beautiful plan with 3 of this and 5 of that--but reality set in and then we started just buying at nurseries. Soon we got to know daylily hybridizers and found that dogwoods shouldn't be "annuals" in the yard--we had 3 sets of them and only 1 survived after we dug out craters for them and filled them with all kinds of good, expensive stuff. We learned that our clay just won't tolerate some trees, shrubs and plants--even though the guy on the next street has them in his yard, etc. So now we are trying to pull back from our philosophy of "there's got to be room for one more plant!" We are actually doing a lot more dividing and giving plants away to relatives who want them. Yes, we would really like to have a plan and stick to it but that would only work if we had about 10 acres.
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windymess z6a KC, Ks
6 years ago
I hear you, miles. I've totally given up on dogwoods, rhodies, azaleas, and some of the hydrangeas - anything that really needs acidic soil. Mine is alkaline and nothing is ever going to change that. I also have heavy clay, but that we have improved with amendments, etc. I could not even put a shovel into the soil in our backyard when we moved in - truly. And now it's very workable for me.

I've also learned that the rabbits are probably going to eat almost everything I plant - in spite of all the sprays, etc. Those were just like adding dressing to their salad! So I've put chicken wire around the perimeter of the yard, on the inside of the fence, and what an improvement. I realize that doesn't work in all situations though. And I'll consider taking it off when the shrubs and hostas, etc. get big enough that maybe those lousy rodents won't completely destroy them.
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Missi (4b IA)
6 years ago
We had to change our approach as well. My parents have three acres and it was pretty much bursting w/flower beds, and I didn't want to have that much work at our house. It did eventually start morphing tho after we realized how much we enjoy our plants. Sooo since we don't have a super huge yard, we just decided we really don't need grass.
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dhaven
6 years ago
Missi--so true that we don't really need grass--my place now has planted beds, mulched pathways, and not a single blade of lawn. The rest of the acreage is naturalized wildlife habitat and forest reserve. I consider lawn to be a green desert, and was very pleased when I got rid of the last of it.
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Missi (4b IA)
6 years ago
I'm pretty excited to get our back lawn finished being removed. It's taken longer than we'd hoped-planned to have it completely done two summers ago and of course now it's still looking like we'll have to put it off till next year. I'd like to just kill the grass and dig in some good stuff for the dirt and then mulch over it at least-we can plant as we need to but husband is thinking no.
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threedogsmom
Original Author
6 years ago
dhaven, do you have a fenced in portion of your acreage where the hostas are, or do you not have issues with deer or other critters eating your hostas? Your wildlife preserve sounds dreamy. While I don't have that much land, I do make a conscious effort to plant flowers and shrubs for the pollinators, hummingbirds, butterflies, etc. That is my contribution to preserving nature :)
dhaven
6 years ago
I have about 1 1/2 acres with an 8 foot fence high deer proof, dog proof fence that I was able to put up myself (I am otherwise enabled, although reasonably functional). The majority of it is planted, but I still have about 1/4 of an acre of degraded pasture that needs to be reclaimed--it's got multiflora rose, nettles, thistles, and every biting and stinging insect and arachnid found in Iowa. I try to add between 600-1800 square feet a year, but don't always get that done.

The county in which I live has the second highest number of deer per square mile in the entire country. An adjacent county has the highest number per square mile, but not by much. Iowa City, which is the closest town to my place, has a major deer problem, and a number of years ago they hired sharpshooters to take out 500 deer within the city limits. The crew parked themselves at a golf course in the city limits and got 500 deer in 2 weeks. They returned every year for 3-4 years, and were told that they needed to cover all areas of the city. But I don't think it ever took them more than 2-3 weeks to fill their limit. All the venison went to local food banks.

Most winters I have between 20-30 deer winter in my east pasture, with a couple of bucks up in the northeast corner as well. It is an unusual day that I drive to work without seeing multiple deer. This morning it was four just on the south edge of my place, then 2 more about a mile down the road, then a couple more another half mile away. Without the 8 foot fence, I would have nothing but a few hosta stems in the garden.
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threedogsmom
Original Author
6 years ago
We have a 5' split rail fence backed with chicken wire to keep our dogs in the backyard, and that's where all the hostas reside. I have to put up a fence around the flower beds to keep the dogs out, but usually they are the worst offenders in the garden by trampling stuff. We also have quite a few deer in the adjacent properties and woods around our house, but not one has ever jumped into the backyard, thankfully. They have already mowed down the daylily foliage in the front yard, which is unprotected. And baby deer season is coming right up!
dhaven
6 years ago
Big dogs are a great deer repellent, the deer won't generally come into a yard with larger dogs. My pack tops out with a whopping 8 pounder, the deer are not impressed or in any way deterred. Years ago I had a 4 pound pure white cat that stalked the deer. It was very entertaining to watch, Chessica would sneak up, the deer would see her, she would freeze, the deer would go back to browsing, repeat until eventually she would get right up to the deer, they would sniff noses, and she'd wander back to the house.
threedogsmom thanked dhaven
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Missi, we are kindred spirits! Ha! I even took a course this spring (now that I am retired) to learn how to become more like Steve. DH printed out a plat of our half acre, so I could make a plan showing where everything is and where I want to add stuff, elevations, wet vs dry, light conditions. I was so inspired! Unfortunately, I have no idea where the blank plat is now. Sigh. I am trying to care, really I am. I want to be a better designer. Alas, I fear it is not in my stars.

i do love your plans, though. LOL
threedogsmom thanked cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
A thought just of occurred to me. Maybe I will just take pictures of every part of the yard at different times of day, print the pix, and put them all in a notebook with my notes and ideas that can be updated as I go along. Not quite like Steve, but I might actually be able to do it.
threedogsmom thanked cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
windymess z6a KC, Ks
6 years ago
cyn- I’m currently reading The Well-Tended Perennial Garden, and that is precisely what the author recommends: taking pictures of the property so you can assess light, etc., in making your plans.
Annette Holbrook(z7a)
6 years ago
I have 12 acres, but only about 3/4 acre right around the house is a garden. The rest is old pasture and woods. At one point I had a collection of about 50 different hostas. For the first 15 years we lived here I had no trouble with wildlife. As developments have sprung up around me the deer have run out of space and have become very bold. They and the rabbits have eaten all of my hostas in the past few years. So I had to start over and put everything in pots right up against the house. The good part is that this makes it easy to rearrange!
threedogsmom thanked Annette Holbrook(z7a)
steve duggins(Z6a) - Central Ohio
6 years ago
Well, I've got a Hosta coming up where I have no Hosta on my map. I vaguely remember putting something there at the end of last year. Perhaps to survive in the ground instead of a pot, but its all a bit fuzzy. So, no method is fool proof - and I'm just the fool to prove it. OTOH, I'm excited to see what comes up! I may just do this again next year.
threedogsmom
Original Author
5 years ago
I came across a really good article online (fine gardening magazine, I think) and it was about creating cohesiveness throughout your gardens by using color as a repetition as well as plants. For example, if you divided up a long bed into 3rds, you might have gold hostas, tall purple astilbes, and pink daylilies in the first third, then the middle third may be variegated blue and gold hostas, taller goatsbeard, shorter pink astilbes, and purple daylilies. The third section may have large blue or green hostas, gold heucheras in front, different pink daylilies, purple bellflowers or purple astilbes, etc. The point being that you can mix different types of plants and different varieties of the same plant when united by repetition of color. So for example, your eye lands on golds throughout the bed with the gold hostas, gold heuchera, perhaps a gold hakone grass, etc. The form of the daylilies and astilbes are repeated throughout, but the colors of the flowers and height can differ. At any rate, I am trying to use this technique this year to fill in some spots in the garden. Last night I divided some of my existing daylilies and placed the extras among some established hostas, I also divided a Liberty into 2 additional pieces and planted those in areas that needed the pop of gold. As everything leafs out, I will re-evaluate and continue to add more companion plants at the end of May.
DelawareDonna Zone 7A
5 years ago
I call it "echo" gardening when plants and colors repeat throughout the garden.
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whitewatervol (Z 8a/7b Upstate SC)
5 years ago
As my collection has grown, careful planning has given way to a new item:
threedogsmom thanked whitewatervol (Z 8a/7b Upstate SC)
threedogsmom
Original Author
5 years ago
Hey whitewatervol, shoehorning just means less mulch is showing! That’s a main goal in my book!