Most of us can appreciate a beautiful garden when we see it, but when it comes to getting the same look in our own front or back yard, we often lack the vocabulary required to describe to a landscaper or garden centre what we want to emulate. It can help to take photos, of course, but even better is to be able to describe in words what you’re after. This way, you’re able to have a conversation and understand, and challenge, suggestions. Below, we’ve put together some common garden planting styles and their meanings to help you have that conversation – either with yourself or another.
Drift
Drift plantings set out to create a naturalistic look – the sort of scape you might encounter in the wild where plants, left to run to seed, establish themselves in meandering, free flowing ribbons of differing widths. Or settle in clusters, as if a plant particularly suited to the area has found its happy place and settled there. Drift plantings create colour blocks but also texture, and they often encircle taller plantings of individual shrubs or trees. Drift planting is anything but formal, and when viewed, it feels as though you are looking at a colourful meadow or hillside. If you have a free spirit and don’t like containment, drift planting is for you.
Swath
Swath planting presents plants of the same or similar variety (usually the same or similar colour). These plants are grouped close in wide bands, often straight, although they may also curve, especially to highlight a natural contour. They are especially useful for leading the eye in a particular direction such as down a garden path or around a gentle bend. Swath planting can create boldness through the dominance of a single colour and texture, and looks particularly attractive in larger, mature gardens. In a small garden, swath planting can also disguise a tighter space by creating a feeling of movement. If you’re an adventurous gardener who doesn’t wish to feel contained, swaths may appeal.
Matrix
Matrix planting is new to the gardening landscape and is intent on providing a natural-looking scape using a layered planting plan. A base of low growing plants, such as perennial grasses, dominate, and among them are planted other perennials (often flowering in muted colours) of a similar height. The result is a uniform mass of growth. Matrix gardens are designed to be relatively easy care so they must be able to withstand their environment’s dominant conditions (drought tolerant plants in a dry region, for instance, or damp lovers in areas of high rainfall). Texture plays an important part in this naturalist garden setting so matrix gardens are not without excitement. Helping to create this are usually a small number of taller plants (shrubs or trees) added as features. Matrix gardens suit the wild-at-heart, and those who are prepared to put in the initial work for a less demanding garden as time goes by.
Mass planting
Mass planting is often confused with drift and swath planting. Where drift planting aims to complement other plants, and swath planting is in borders, mass planting fills a larger block of space, usually with a single variety and colour (think bluebells beneath trees). Mass planting can also be achieved on a smaller scale by planting a group of just 4 or 5 plants which flower dramatically at the same time (such as red rhododendrons or lime peniculata hydrangea). Mass planting appeals to gardeners who prefer bold statements over movement and a controlled, rather than random, scape.
However you decide to design your garden, arm yourself with the vocabulary you require to have the conversation – the results will be all the better for it.