Foliage In the Garden: Contrasting, Textures, and Colorful Foliage

From In the Garden

Gardening is more than just flowers and vegetables. It is also about the foliage. Foliage is something that will be present all season long even when the flowers are gone. If you chose wisely you might have foliage in the garden all year long so you need to consider foliage for three big elements; texture, contrast, and color.

Trees and shrubs are the most obvious forms that provide us with foliage. Lots and lots of foliage which is a major player in the garden in the form of leaves. Not all trees and shrubs have the same foliage. Just look at the 'Sango Kaku', red cedar, and mature oak trees in the above picture. The foliage of these three trees is completely different and that is what makes the combination pleasant. Their foliage contrasts pleasantly and the color changes make a big impact in the garden.

From In the Garden

Another source of contrasting textural foliage with interesting color changes are the perennials. A good number of perennials disappear during the winter season, but boy do they add so much to the garden during the growing season. I have a lot of shade here in my gardens so I've had to learn to work with it. Heucheras, hostas, Japanese maples, hellebores, astilbes, brunnera, goatsbeard, forest grass, and penstemons all work well together and play off from the contrasting and textural foliage of their neighbors and all require the same or similar growing conditions. The overall effect of a mix of perennials with different textures, and contrasting colors is greater than each plant can provide individually in the garden. No flowers required.



Lastly, we'll look at how color can affect the contrast of plants in the garden. The smoketree/bush is a wonderful accent shrub for a garden. They come in all sorts of cultivars and types. The two pictured above are 'Royal Purple' (on the right) and 'Golden Spirit' on the left. I paired them together specifically so they could play off from one another and what a play! Even though the texture of the two smoke bushes is similar, the colors make each shrub pop all on their own. The bonus of a backdrop of 'Annabelle' hydrangeas in green helps to set off these brilliant colors. Foliage with different colors and tints makes a big impact.

Try to consider foliage when planning your garden and not just flowers and flower color. If you plan for texture and contrast you will have interest all year round....

in the garden....