Think of all the beautiful gardens you’ve ever visited. No matter where they’re located, the one thing they’ve got in common is layers: tall trees, medium-size shrubs and, of course, colorful annuals, perennials and groundcovers. These layers and colors lead the eye around the garden. Understanding a bit about trees and shrubs can help you learn how to blend them for the best effect in your own landscape.
Layered landscapes incorporate trees, shrubs and smaller colorful plants and groundcovers to frame structures and lead the eye around a garden.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
A lovely layered screen is beautiful way to create privacy when your home is on a busy street or corner.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/Robert J. Dolezal
Shrubs are frequently used to fill borders around a structure. Keep the scale of the home and the mature size of the plants in mind when choosing the species you’ll plant
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Trees lend any garden a sense of permanence and maturity. But their towering presence is more than just pleasing to the eye – they actually affect the environment in several significant ways: Tree roots aerate and stabilize the soil, while their foliage shields the ground from the noonday sun. Trees increase the humidity of their surroundings by giving off water vapor, and they remove carbon dioxide from the air and replace it with life-giving oxygen.
When it comes to adding trees in your landscape, start by evaluating your needs and desires, since what you want to accomplish will affect the type of tree you’ll select. Keep in mind that shade trees are typically the dominant element in a landscape, and many can grow 80 feet tall (or higher) and up to 50 feet wide.
Vase-shaped trees like elms and Japanese zelkova, rounded trees like white oak and white pine, and some oval trees like lindens are good for shade since their crowns are wide enough to cast broad shadows. In contrast, tall and columnar trees are put to their best use when only slender shadows are desired.
The tree’s location in the landscape should also influence your selection. Some trees (such as white fir and European hornbeam) are clean in habit, which means they shed little debris onto the ground underneath. These would be good choices for planting near a walkway, patio or parking area. Other trees (such as bur oak or sweetgum) shed acorns, seedpods or staining fruits, so keep these to the periphery of your property or areas where you want a natural look. (You don’t want a mess on your deck or driveway!)
In addition to thinking about what’s above the ground on a tree, it’s helpful to consider what will be growing below the surface as well. Some species’ root systems can heave sidewalks or crack house foundations, while other tree species – such as ‘Winter Green’ hawthorn and ‘Little King’ river birch (Fox Valley™) – are well-suited for planting in confined areas.
If trees add maturity to a landscape, then shrubs create style and enhance a sense of place. Rows of closely clipped European boxwoods suggest formality and restraint, while cascading branches of yellow-belled forsythia imply informality and exuberance. Cacti suggest the old West, while lilacs and butterflybush hint of New England or Prince Edward’s Island.
Shrubs can also be used to define the shape and limits of your garden, screen objects or focus the eye on pleasing features. Bushes can visually link a house to the ground, divide a garden into separate areas, provide colorful accents or even act as a groundcover. And of course, shrubs are used widely as foundation plants and in borders.
To create attractive foundation plantings, vary the size, texture and placement of your plants, using three or four types of shrubs well-suited to your growing area to emphasize your home’s most appealing features. Place low-growing shrubs under windows and tall ones at the corners of your home or in areas where a large expanse of wall needs to be softened.
Border plantings are usually located along the edges of a property or along a fence line. Shrub borders are composed exclusively of shrubs, and so-called mixed borders include shrubs, flowering perennials, colorful annuals and bulbs. These generally low-maintenance features include drifts of odd numbers of plants for order and elegance. A pleasing example would include a grouping of three hydrangeas nestled next to a mass of five forsythias to provide a solid, pleasing look – more so than eight different types of shrubs.
A mixed border, which can provide color in the garden from spring to fall, often requires more care than an all-shrub border. The placement of shrubs in a mixed planting gives the border a strong backbone and adds a visual weight to the flowering plants.
Planning a layered look starts by choosing the right trees and shrubs. When it comes to selecting the perfect plants for you, learn as much as you can about your options. Then make your selections based on the function you want your trees and shrubs to fulfill, each plant’s adaptability to your USDA Hardiness zone and climate, your soil type, the site’s sun exposure, and the degree of maintenance each tree and shrub will need to keep it healthy and attractive. With garden plan in hand, you can select the trees and shrubs that will turn your drawing into a living reality.
Once you’ve studied a plant’s cultural requirements, assess its visual impact. Attractive foliage, pretty flowers, distinctive branching habits and brightly colored fruit are bold accents. As a final criterion, you may want to select plants based on their attractiveness to birds or butterflies. (This information is sometimes indicated on plant tags, as well as in the Learn2Grow Plant Database.)
Once you’ve picked your plants, you can really plan out your layered landscape. Grab a scaling ruler, tracing paper, colored pencils and an eraser, then follow the steps shown in the pictures and described in their captions. With a little creativity, you can create a lovely new garden full of texture and color – as well as layers.
Layered Landscape
Layered Landscape - Step 1
To begin your layered landscape design, you’ll need to draw a baseline equal in length to the garden width on tracing paper. Mark the scale location of each landscape tree you will plant.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Layered Landscape - Step 2
Mature trees have distinctive forms. Estimate the mature height and width of the first tree, then scale them on the diagram. With a dark green pencil, sketch and fill in an outline of each tree you’ll plant.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Layered Landscape - Step 3
Overlay your tree diagram with a second layer of tracing paper. Repeat the process, sketching the location and height of each shrub planned for the garden, filling it with medium green.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Layered Landscape - Step 4
On a third overlay, repeat the process for your lower-growing shrubs and groundcovers. Fill them in with two shades of light green.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Layered Landscape - Step 5
Working backward through the layers with fresh tracing paper, copy the foreground shrubs first, then the mid-height shrubs, then the trees, creating a realistic profile of your layered landscape that will become your new garden.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
