Planning your garden | Ottawa Start

7 • POSTED ON April 29, 2005
Planning your garden
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Whether you are faced with creating a garden from scratch or planning a major overhaul of an existing garden, the trick is to operate methodically. Designing a garden can be overwhelming – especially if you are a “newbie” to gardening – but here are a few tips to make your life a little easier.

Our gardening column is published every Tuesday on OttawaStart.

If you – like me – have been driving around town this past week, you will no doubt have noticed that garden centers have started to put out their stock for the season. Although the time is not right yet for annuals, the first conifers, shrubs and perennials have appeared and therefore I feel it is safe to officially announce the new garden season opened!

The weather has apparently not quite made up its mind yet – last week we went from plus 27 one day to frost on the deck the next morning – but we have clearly left the worst of winter behind us. In other words, it is time to focus on another year in the garden. What will it be; same old same old, or will you be making some major changes to your property?

Either way, I bet you cannot wait to get your fingers on some of those plants that the stores have been putting out last week. Like most other people, you are probably waiting on the May 24 weekend but there is no real need for that. True, it is not safe to plant annuals just yet – winter might still throw some frost at us – but as long as you buy hardy (perennial) plants it is perfectly safe to plant now.

Think of it this way: garden centers would not be putting out plants if they were at risk of losing their stock BEFORE it was sold. Besides, all hardy perennials, shrubs and trees come with a one-year warranty (remember to keep both receipt and tag) so there is no real risk involved. The advantage of early plant shopping is that your purchases will benefit from all the spring rains that are yet to come and will be very well established before winter arrives again. With any luck - depending on the “plant-de-choix” - you may actually get to see some flowers this year!

Now, to get back to the question of what to do in the garden this season: if you do not plan to make any major changes, your landscaping life will be fairly easy. Just clean up your borders, keep your soil in good condition by adding lots of “good stuff” – compost, manure and other organic fertilizers – aerate and remove thatch build-up in your lawn, then sit back and wait for beautiful things to happen. Keep reading, though, because I am about to give the folks that are planning major changes some “homework” (don’t we all love to see someone else do the hard work?). If you plan on major renovations, also keep reading because I have some tips for you.

Whether you are faced with creating a garden from scratch (if you have recently moved into a newly built house) or planning a major overhaul of an existing garden, the trick is to operate methodically. Designing a garden can be overwhelming – especially if you are a “newbie” to gardening – but here are a few tips to make your life a little easier.

In order to make matters manageable, think of the garden as your house. If you were about to redecorate your home you would do the rooms one by one. Look at your garden in the same way. Think of areas in your garden as outdoor rooms. You may have a kids’ play area, an eating area, a flowerbed, etc. This approach also helps break what would otherwise seem as an insurmountable gardening project into manageable pieces. Each year you can start and possibly even finish another “room” of your garden.

Start by making a wish list of items you feel you should have in your garden and divide them into a “must have” and a “like to have” category. These items can be anything from a kids’ play area to room for storage, a patio or even a single tree. Chances are that you will not be able to incorporate all the items on your list, but it will help you fill in each individual “room” more easily.
Once you have completed your list, measure your garden and make a simple sketch; nothing too fancy, just a simple outline with measurements and sun exposure information. Try to fit in as many items from the list as you can – no doubt you will have to make some sacrifices, but decide what items are the most important to you and ignore the rest.

Watch out for traps. Do not plan a kid’s play area in a spot that is exposed to full sun all day; your offspring will not thank you if you do. Next, try to find a garden style – oriental, cottage, formal or whatever else appeals to you - that complements your house and stick with the theme. Do not make one of your garden rooms oriental, another cottage and another one formal. Having so many dramatically different styles will look messy and will give the impression you do not know what you like.

Trees and shrubs, in addition to hard landscaping (patios, fencing, decks), provide structure to a garden; much the same way bones provide humans and animals with structure and form. A large tree trunk or natural rock visually anchors a garden and provides a sense of permanence. As the seasons change and the perennial plants transform, the garden structure (in this example: the tree trunk and rock) remain relatively undaunted.

Siberian Coral Dogwood or Red Barked Dogwood Garden structure - or lack thereof - is most evident in winter when the eye is not distracted by foliage, flowers and fruits. The skeleton of the garden is revealed, with any luck providing winter interest and beauty. Some gardeners mistakenly believe a garden must be composed mostly of evergreens to have winter interest. However, a deciduous shrub such as “Cornus alba “Sibirica” – Siberian Coral Dogwood or Red Barked Dogwood – with its beautiful red stems that stand out dramatically in a snow-covered border will give you at least just as much winter interest (tip: the red colour is predominant in young shoots, so make sure to cut back older wood in early spring – right to ground level!).

Another thing you will have to think of is contrast. Many people think of contrast in terms of contrasting colour. However, contrast goes far beyond colour. It also applies to the size and shape of flowers, foliage, bark textures, stones and hard landscaping.

One of the best ways to determine if your garden has good contrast is to take a picture of it using black and white film. In a black and white picture you are not distracted by colour, therefore textural differences are more noticeable. If your garden looks like a sea of non-distinguishable gray, then you probably need to add some contrasting shapes to your design.

When you select plants for your garden consider the structure and characteristics of the entire plant, not just its flowers. Flowers only last on a plant for a few weeks. The plant’s foliage, its trunk and stems and, its dried seedpods last through the seasons. Attempt to select a variety of plants with varying attractive features that transcend the seasons

Next week, more tips on how to design a garden. Until then, happy gardening!

René Trim

TV Tip: Watch Rene on Rogers Television's daytime on Tuesday, April 26th. Rene shares practical tips for making your garden look spectacular. Click here for details...

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About René
René Trim was educated and trained in The Netherlands, before moving to Canada in 2000. After studying the differences in climate and season faced by Ontario gardeners he established Trim Garden Design and Rescue in May 2002. A gardener since the 1980’s, he has a wealth of knowledge and experience, a vast library of reference materials from which to draw answers to various garden situations as well as an enthusiastic and professional staff.