Plants which are well suited to extreme conditions tend to harmonize with other plants which are suited to the same conditions, even if they are from opposite sides of the earth. If you only grow plants which do well in sandy soil, chances are that your garden will look unified. Lack of unity tends to become a problem when environments are artificially created to extend the range of plants which can be grown. It is easy to create a pond in sandy soil using flexible liners, but a pond surrounded by plants which will rot in wet soil will look unnatural and out of place. A water garden in sandy soil will be easier to accept if the shape of the pool is formal, obviously created by humans. When you combine moisture loving plants with plants which need good drainage, the garden loses unity, it then becomes necessary to unify through color, texture or some other design technique.
Traditional Islamic gardens are in contrast with the surrounding environment, they are about shade and water in climates where shade and water are uncommon. They are unified by geometric patterns and by the theme of shade and water, nothing is allowed to conflict with that theme. The water is in formal pools and is the obvious source of moisture for the trees.
While it is possible to create a unified garden which contrasts with the surrounding environment, it is usually best, both from an aesthetic and an economic point of view, to accept what nature has given you.
Wind can have a unifying effect on the garden, both by the natural selection of wind tolerant plants and by the wind shaping the plants. Plants which are exposed to the full force of a strong wind will be sculpted into similar shapes.
Plants in coastal gardens often have to cope with salt spray as well as wind. Salt can have a unifying effect because plants which are salt tolerant often have similar characteristics, such as gray leaves.
Shady gardens also tend to be unified because plants which do well in the shade tend to have similar characteristics. Almost no gray-leaved plants do well in the shade, a shady garden is a garden of green and variegated leaves. Plants which do well in the shade often have large leaves, this allows the leaves to have as much access to the limited sunlight as possible. In contrast with shade loving plants are desert plants, which tend to have small leaves.
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