Theme Garden Design, part 3

Wiese Acres All Creatures Great and Small Garden

A garden theme can be anything you want it to be and expressed in any manner that is pleasing to you.  There is no right or wrong way to design a theme garden.  There are some rules that must be adhered to if you want to successfully grow plants in your theme garden, however.

Living plants have specific requirements for soil, light, water, and space for its mature size.  Some plants don't care if the soil is clay or sand or something in between.  Others are much more particular.  Plants are usually even more particular about water than they are about the soil their feet live in and if you give them either too much or too little water, they will fail to thrive and may even die from the incorrect moisture conditions. 

Light is another critical component and too much or too little is not good.  Read the plant label.  If it says "full sun", the plant will only do its best in an area where it receives at least six hours of bright, direct sun each day.  "Part sun" or "part shade" both mean four to six hours of sun or bright, indirect light each day.  If the label says "part sun", I opt for closer to the six hours.  If it says "part shade", I, and the plant, are generally happy with closer to the four hour side of the range.  "Full shade" means that plant never wants to see direct sun.  Dappled sun coming through the tree canopy, or early morning sun may be ok but anything more than that can burn the tender foliage of shade plants.

Space is a little bit harder to manage.  Most of us like our gardens to look full and lush, so when we plant a teeny, tiny plant fresh from the nursery, it's tempting to plant it very close to its neighbor to fill the garden a little faster.  But, if you don't pay attention to the adult size of the plant and space accordingly, you'll end up with too crowded conditions which promote diseases and death of the plant, or you'll end up moving it.  Now, perennials are very forgiving about being moved,  in fact, many of them really appreciate division and transplanting every few years.  Trees and shrubs, on the other hand, are home bodies.  They want to stay just where they initially settle themselves and will sulk or even die if they are moved (although they can be and I will talk about that in a future blog).  But, to save yourself work and make your plants happy, it's best to give them the space they need right from the start.  You can fill in the empty space around your new perennials, trees and shrubs with annuals or garden art until the plant reaches maturity.



Tiger lily

After considering soil, light, water and space, you can begin to think about plant color, structure, bloom time, name or anything else you want to incorporate into your theme.

At Wiese Acres, we love animals of all kinds.  Well, maybe not so much with the pesky rabbits who think the pansies are their very special dessert or the deer and raccoons who come to the corn feed every year.  But, generally, animals are loved and welcomed here, so we've created an All Creatures Great and Small garden to honor our furry friends. 

The theme has been created with plant names that reflect the theme.  There are Lamb's ears, dog-tooth violets, catmint, Crimson Pygmy barberry, leopard's bane, staghorn sumac, and Little Kitten maiden grass.  The theme is further defined with garden sculptures.  There are pigs, lambs, lions, raccoons, kittens, puppies, and bears frolicking amongst the plants.  This year,   I'll add some Zebra grass and another type of catmint to the gardens.  And I'll enjoy sitting there sipping my morning coffee, with my collie lying at my feet and my kitties nestled on my lap.