osprey94's Blog

rule of thirds
Apr 2, 2008 | 11:55 AM PST

I'm trying to apply Anne Lovejoy's informal "rule of thirds" to this new bed I'm planning to see if it qualifies. Anne says a garden should have approximately 1/3 evergreen, 1/3 structural deciduous and the last 1/3 seasonal color. I like that idea because it seems more balanced than all structure and no color or vice versa. It also ensures that I will have a pretty good-looking garden, even in the winter.

So, in my plan, I have a total of 12 kinds of plants. Here they are, listed with the amounts of each and an "E" next to the evergreen plants, a "D" next to the structural deciduous plants and an "S" next to the seasonal color plants.

(D)japanese stewardia 1

(D)japanese snowbell 1

(E)mexican orange 5

(E)'spring boquet' viburnum 4

(D)compact korean spice viburnum 4

(E)'springwood white' heath 20 (never was a big fan of heath - I want to find a different groundcover w/ similar properties)

(E) Clematis 2

(D)peony hybrid 3

(D)fountain grass P. setaceum 20

(S)'monch' frikart's aster 6

(S)'bright star' coneflower 6

(S)Stella d'Oro daylilly 15

 

That seems relatively well-balanced.

The next thing I want to examine is if any of the plants in this list could be swapped out for an something better or more available. For example, I don't know anything about peonies. I think they're gorgeous, but maybe something else would be better, who knows? Also, I just took a trip to Walmart and Home Depot and so far, was able to find the viburnum and the heath and that's it! I really like mexican orange plants, but what if I can't find them? I really want the stewartia, but again, what if I don't have any luck finding it? What would work well in it's place? A flowering crabapple? A japanese maple? What?

And another also. I have quite a few plants that I want to move eventually that I could incorporate into this bed, but aren't in this list. Like, the azaleas that aren't happy over by the shed and something called a "beauty bush" I bought at the farmer's market and just planted without any thought in a spot I want to completely redo. I also have a couple lady's mantles, a climbing hydrangea, and a three butterfly bushes I could use for this bed. But, will they all do well together? Will they like the spot? Agh. It's too much information to keep straight. That's why I initially went right for a plan someone had already made up. They'd done all that planning already and all I had to do was buy the plants and stick 'em in the ground.

And yet another also. I would REALLY like to include some plants that will entice the hummers to the deck, so putting the azaleas and butterfly bushes in there might be the way to do it.

Sigh. I'm going to pore over my big stack of gardening books and see if I can come up with a new plant list today. Then, I'll have to start checking out a few local nurseries and see what I can get there.

Anyone out there have good luck with online nurseries?