Contrast - Part 1
When creating a floral design it is fairly easy to see the entire design as a complete picture; we need to see our gardens in the same way, even though the scale of the picture is much larger. It is not necessary for every plant within a garden to contrast with its neighbors, but a garden without contrast will be very uninteresting.
If a garden has mature trees it will usually have contrasts of light and dark areas unless the garden is totally shaded. Most of the gardens that I have seen which really lacked contrast were informal gardens of herbaceous plants. One of the most popular British styles during the past century has been formal gardens which are informally planted. The combination of geometric planting beds which are informally planted sets up an immediate contrast on several levels. The most obvious contrast is between the symmetrical layout and the informal planting of the beds, but there is also a contrast between the paths, which usually are all the same texture and the varied textures of the plants within the beds. This particular style of garden is almost always going to have enough contrast to be interesting.
Formal gardens in which the beds are planted as symmetrical patters of color often do lack contrast if they are not near mature trees or at least surrounded by pergolas to provide a much needed contrast between light and shade. As long as a formal garden has that amount of contrast, it will probably be visually stimulating. A formal water feature will also add a great deal of contrast, especially if the garden has stone or gravel paths.
Formal gardens are closely related to architecture, so proportion and scale play a very important role. I touched on this when I said that the central part of my garden is like a huge mixed border. That part of my garden has formal lines, but the trees and shrubs in the background are informally planted. The surrounding forest sets the scale for that composition. Those trees are second growth and the oldest are no more than sixty years old. As they continue to mature, everything else in the garden will seem to become smaller in comparison with them. None of my exotic trees are likely to grow as tall as the natives. Even in the most formal gardens, scale and proportion are usually much more difficult to control than in
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