Designing an annual bed or border is a little like being a composer: You need to consider each aspect of your design – color, time of bloom, scale, form, texture and foliage – to determine how your plantings will harmonize.
Using a single species of flower – in this case pansy – still permits riotous color to dominate foliage in flower beds. Choose hybrids with similar markings and characteristics as the unifying element in such displays, then span the spectrum with as many colors as possible.
Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/Image Point
A simple sketch of your envisioned planting bed will help you better plan your space.
Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Let’s say that you have a border bounded on one side by a structure and you want to fill it with annuals. First, decide on a color scheme. It’s best to stick with one to three colors – shades and tints of a single color, complementary colors or primary ones. Then decide whether you’ll be looking for warm- or cool-season annuals, or a combination of both for a progression of blooms.
Next, look for plants of varying height. Balance the larger plants in your back border with a quantity of smaller ones in the mid- and front border for a sense of scale and proportion. Group your plants so that the forms of their flowers and foliage complement each other.
If you’re aiming for the unstructured effect of an English border, strive for a diversity of forms: rounded shapes with spiky ones, sculptural shapes with airy ones. You might decide to use alternating drifts of plants with similar colors and different shapes. Alternatively, you can compose a sort of floral fugue by repeating patterns at different heights.
You can use these same guidelines to design a freestanding (or island) bed. Planning an island bed is a bit trickier than planning a border because it can be seen from every angle. For this reason, you’ll want to put your tallest plants in the center of your planting bed and surround them on all sides with shorter ones. As distinct from a border, a freestanding bed usually has a regular or semi-regular, geometric configuration that conveys a more formal feeling that might affect your plant choices.
The basics of good design provide a foundation for unusual and adventurous garden styles, as well as traditional ones. The great thing about annuals is that their range of choices and their flexibility provide the perfect medium for nearly any experiment you want to try.
One reason the English border is so popular among many home gardeners is that like the perfect relationship, this style has no rigid boundaries – yet has structure. It’s organized, yet varied. Most of all, it’s adaptable. While an English border is always organized by height, with tall plants in the back, descending to short ones in the front, it further requires a flow of only two or three compatible hues, clustered in plantings of three or more, then repeated at intervals throughout the border. Beyond this, it can be created in any climate. The following pictures and captions show the very easy steps to creating a simple English look wherever you garden.
Planting an English Border
English Border - Step 1
Before you plant, use your sketch and trial-place plants in your bed to make sure you’ve got the look you’re hoping for. Don’t be afraid to change things around, but do keep tall species to the rear and short ones in front.
Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/Tim Butler
English Border - Step 2
Define the boundaries of plant groups within the bed using either garden lime or flour. Stand back and envision the planting, making any adjustments as necessary.
Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/Tim Butler
English Border - Step 3
Install your plants, following the sketched design and marked boundaries. Space plants appropriately for each species, noting the information on the plant tag.
Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/Tim Butler
