Structure

Creating an architectural backbone for a border

My front garden with Hebe salicifolia in the foreground and silvery-grey Teucrium fruticans on the left. And Willow taking centre stage

Last week we looked at the importance of improving your soil - and continuing to nurture it after you’ve planted by mulching and feeding. This week I’m looking at structure - and I don’t mean paths or steps or walls. Once you’ve dug the space over and are ready to plan, the first step is to think about structural plants. You want the border to have a backbone to it so there is visual interest even in the middle of winter and early spring. Green structure can be as formal or as elaborate as you want. But in the context of creating a new flower border, which is the crux of this series, It doesn’t need much; just a few elements that hold all the softer plants together. 

In winter the evergreen domes stand out. Two Hebe salicifolia stand either side of the front gate, five years old and already slightly too big!

At this time of year you can see the green structure in my front garden very clearly. I’ve chosen to clip various evergreens into domes which bounce around the garden in a random rather than symmetrical pattern.There’s quite a lot of chaos in this garden with soft, sprawling plants and a lot of self-seeding going on, and if I didn’t have the structure it would just look out of control. The plants don’t have to be evergreen. You could choose hornbeam or beech for example, which are both deciduous, but with a strong network of branches to give the structure you need.