ARRANGING PLANTS IN THE LANDSCAPE
In nature, plants grow in clusters and drifts, extending to overlap and interlock in layers as they merge with each other. It is helpful to study the composition of natural massing's of plants and use similar patterns to arrange plants in a planned landscape . Pattern is produced both with layers and repetition. Plant layers occur vertically with variation in height and horizontally with plant masses along the ground plane. Pattern also occurs through repeated use of plants or through the repetition of a physical characteristic of plants, such as form, color, or texture. When organizing plants, the first step is to create the vertical and horizontal layers and then create a repeating pattern of plants within the garden to visually connect the garden spaces. CREATING VERTICAL LAYERS WITH PLANT MATERIAL The lowest layer of vertical plants is the ground layer . These are the low plants, including turf, that grow about 6 inches high to cover the bare soil and serve as the bas...