Design Principles

2018 Wisconsin Master Gardener State Conference note highlights from Sue Reinardy, UW-Extension Master Gardener Volunteer.  These are my notes from a keynote speaker, Ben Futa, Director of the Allen Centennial Garden at UW-Madison.  His talk was titled “Principles of Planting Design with Perennials”
 
In this talk I learned a new gardening word, “cespitose”?  It is a botany term meaning “forming mats or growing in dense tufts or clumps”.  Ben Futa used it to describe tight clumping grasses that will stay where you put them.  Non-cespitose grasses will spread overtime, mingle freely, and tend to die out from the center.  As gardeners we like the tight clumping kind.  Doing some research before planting will decrease disappointment in the future.  

Also in this talk got the best quote of the conference: “Gardening is the slowest of the performing arts.”   According to  quotegarden.com the author is unknown.  But it is a reminder that we are all artists. 

Here are the tips on creating composition:

1. Find inspiration (a picture, an object, a song, idea, a story, building) and it can be non-garden related.
2. Gather plant images that reflect the inspiration from catalogs, online resources, books.  P.S. You don’t need to know everything, just know a few dozen plants that can do very well for your garden.
3. Separate into four seasons and divide plants into seasons of interest, lets you see where the gaps are.
4. Go back to fill in gaps.
5. Use eraser, color pencils, camera to document on paper the draft design.
6. Map out plant placements (color reinforces placement, one map per season.) For information on how many plants are needed for a space go to the online Midwest Groundcovers Plant Calculator.   For inspiration can also go to the Allen Centennial Gardeners Plant Finder tool which includes gardeners notes and pictures.

 
To achieve cohesion in your garden the goal is to make it look intentional.  This can be done with (a) repetition and pattern, (b) a focal point where the eye can land that can be either a plant or structure or art, (c) creating balance that is a comfortable arrangement of things, and (d) creating contrast between things.