Mass for Maximum Impact

Plant masses are powerful.

While a flower or two would be lost in all this green,

these Mums stop you in your tracks.

Massing, or grouping like plants, helps create

order and emphasis in the landscape.

While the Begonia's above are the same plant,
their alternating colors create an unsettling composition. 

Your eyes can't find a place to rest. 

The grouping of like colors above, however, 

provides a stable base where

the eye can comfortably rest.

Groupings of 3 or more plants

are pleasing to the eye -
odd numbers are best.

The number of plants you use

depends on the scale of the area to be planted.  

Plants should be spaced so they will 

grow together and "read" as a mass
but have room to spread to their ultimate size.  

Planting too far apart,
or pruning each shrub into a separate ball
detracts from the cohesiveness of a design.

This simple planting,

resting beneath a canopy of trees,

creates a bold impact
even from a distance.

Ground covers make the perfect foil to

highlight a climbing Clematis.

Uniform height helps them read as a mass

in spite of their varied foliage.

Bright color masses,
juxtaposed,
make a dynamic composition.

 I group my flower pots to make a

bigger impact than scattered containers would.

By the end of the summer,

the plants grow together and

create the illusion of a planting bed

on the corner of our deck.

Read here about another important
aspect of landscape design:
Line in the Landscape