Container Gardening Complete

Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete

700309 - ContainerGardens_001-272_FINAL.indd 66 5/24/17 11:04 AM
Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete
Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete

700309 - ContainerGardens_001-272_FINAL.indd 67 5/24/17 11:04 AM

66 chapter 2

Flat-backed Style

This design technique is perfect for containers

that are tucked against a building, fence, or pillar

and are meant to be viewed only from one side.

Rather than using horizontal layers, flat-backed

style adds layers from back-to-front. This is one of

my favorite container design techniques, because

if you combine the right plants, it creates a very

stylized planting.

Begin by selecting a tall, upright, narrow plant

for the back of the container—one whose mature

height fits the rule of thirds. Position it a little

off center in the very back of the pot. If you’re

designing two symmetrical, flat-backed planters

to flank your front door, for example, put this

tall, narrow plant slightly to the left of center in

the back of one of the pots and then slightly to the

right of center in the back of the other pot.

Once you’ve planted this backdrop plant,

select a slightly shorter plant to create the other

half of the back layer. This plant should be more

branched and less upright than the first plant. It

adds density to the back layer but also keeps some

height. If you have a very large container, choose

two of these plants to finish your back layer.

After the back layer is selected, create a

second layer of plants just to the front of it. The

plants in this layer are slightly shorter than those

comprising the backdrop; they should be between

one-half and three-quarters of the height of the

back layer. This mid-layer is where I love to use

plants with interesting foliage colors and textures.

My favorite flat-backed containers combine

three foliage plants in this mid-layer, each with

complementing foliage colors but with varying

textures. I often pick one with soft, fine foliage,

another with big and bold foliage to serve as the

container’s focal point, and one with narrow,

upright foliage. But, there’s lots of room for

flexibility here; this mid-layer is also a great place

to include flowers, too.

The third and final layer of a flat-backed design

is at the front edge of the container. It consists

of one to three plants that are small-statured

and may cascade over the lip of the container,

if desired. I try to stick to just one type of plant

for this layer to prevent the design from looking

Flat-backed style containers like this one are ideal for

places where they’ll only be viewed from one side.

Layer the plants so the tallest ones are toward the back

and the plants in the foreground are low or cascading.

Text Black Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete#175 Dtp: 229 Page: 66^

700309 - ContainerGardens_001-272_FINAL.indd 66 5/24/17 1:07 PM

Designing and Planting Your Containers 67

too busy, especially if you used multiple types of

plants in the mid-layer.

When planting a flat-backed design, don’t

keep the plants in three perfect rows. Instead,

stagger the plants in each layer, stepping some

slightly forward or backward. Doing so adds

depth and dimension to the planting while still

maintaining good balance.

For small containers planted in this style, each

of the three layers might only consist of one plant.

But even with just three plants, this style creates a

beautiful effect.

Featured-specimen Style

This design technique is the perfect way to feature

a single, unique, large-statured specimen plant,

such as a big tropical banana, plumeria (Plumeria

spp.), hibiscus tree, or perhaps a small shade tree.

What I like to do is place the large-statured plant

smack in the center of the container, then I put

the icing on the cake by surrounding it with a skirt

of plants that complement it without distracting

from its beauty. These plants keep my vertical

balance in check by making the container look

more visually weighted.

This autumn container is in a flat-backed style. Rather

than using a plant as a focal point, it uses a collection

of interesting gourds.

In this container, the featured specimen is a red-leaved

banana (Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’). Its bold foliage

is highlighted by a “skirt” of bronze-leaved oxalis

(Oxalis vulcanicola ‘Zinfandel’™).

Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete#175 Dtp: 229 Page: 66 (^) Text Black Job:06-700309 Title: CPS - Container Gardening Complete #175 Dtp: 229 Page: 67
700309 - ContainerGardens_001-272_FINAL.indd 67 5/24/17 1:07 PM