Understanding plants and their relationship to each other makes for a more formidable attack to gardening . Traditional horticulture has often reckon plants as components of a composition without acknowledging compatibility beyond purely cosmetic qualities . ecologic horticulture embraces commute at the beginning , with an understanding that a garden is n’t just a clustering of postal card - caliber vignettes but is also an experience through fourth dimension of the fertility of life that it foster . The garden becomes a live system of rules rather of a multi-color assortment of precious things . Here are three things to keep in idea when build industrial plant community .
1. Know how a plant grows
This is more important than its flower or leafage color . Ask yourself :
As a gardener , you have no doubt observed ( or can reckon ) what happens when a vigorous runner catch up to the slow clumper .
2. Ecology will happen, no matter what
Plants are alive and grow in your garden whether you ’re aware of the nuances of their liveliness cps or not . An bionomic garden take the nature of flora as a ground dominion . If plants self - sow in place you had n’t expected , this is something you ’ll take to embrace , not just take .
3. This concept isn’t limited by size
Even in small gardens , plant communities can make an ecological remainder as another green stitch in the environmental quilt .
4. Appearance still matters
In a cultivate space , you ca n’t completely brush off esthetic . I suggest taking a cue from nature by amplifying your plant groupings for even more dramatic effects . Those mental shot of wildflowers robe a hillside are memorable because of the multitudes of plants they contain . This get the received garden groupings of three to five plants front a little inadequate . While you may not have a hillside for a thousand daffodils , you should credibly turn up the volume beyond the package of 10 sold at the garden inwardness .
Kelly D. Norris is the author ofNew Naturalism : Designing and Planting a Resilient , Ecologically Vibrant Home Garden .
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Stay curious, and pay attention to the wild plants you love.The patterns and plant combinations you enjoy in the wild will give you ideas that you can interpret and adapt for your own garden compositions.Photo: David McKinney
