An open definition of bold provides more design options

Softness in the garden can come in many forms: small leaves, like ‘Purple Emperor’ sedum ( Sedum ‘Purple Emperor’, Zones 3–7, far left); needled foliage, like ‘Sea Foam’ artemisia ( Artemisia versicolor ‘Sea Foam’, Zones 4–10, center); and airy blossoms, like ‘Elfin Pink’ beardlip penstemon ( Penstemon barbatus ‘Elfin Pink’, Zones 4–9, near left).

In my garden, I use the small-leaved Summer Wine® ninebark as a bold plant. The 5-foot-tall deciduous shrub, with its luscious maple-shaped, chocolate-colored leaves, contrasts beautifully with a grouping of variegated ‘Hinjo’ miscanthus and the exquisite, billowy foliage of a mass of threadleaf bluestar. I complete the composition with a few smoky ‘Matrona’ sedums for late-summer interest. In this combination, the ninebark—which, typically, would not be considered a plant with bold foliage—is the unexpected focal point because the plants it is paired with are green in hue and have a finer texture; this helps draw attention to the dark color and looming height of the ninebark.

While concocting these combinations, I remind myself that it takes more fine-foliaged plants to equal the visual mass of a larger-leaved plant like the ninebark. It helps to put these plant combinations together at the nursery, where you can mix and match, play with textures and color, and experiment with scale.

What is fine texture?

If you ask gardeners to define this often-used term, they might need a few minutes to gather their thoughts. The truth is that fine texture is anything that gives the landscape a soft appearance. This airy quality comes in many different forms.

Let the mother plant be your guide

Sometimes, while planning a grouping, I get planter’s block; a piece of the puzzle is missing. My solution is to start by first looking for an anchor plant or what I call the “mother plant.” This is the plant I use to build a design around. If the mother plant has a comparatively large leaf, I mentally reduce the size but keep the shape the same to find a suitable fine-textured companion. If the mother plant has particularly small foliage, I mentally enlarge the leaf to find appropriate sidekicks.

I used the mother plant concept in my front yard when I had to find planting partners for a ‘Coed’ hebe. This high-performance perennial has clean, shiny green leaves dressing its long purple stems, which are constantly in bloom with purple bottlebrush flowers. I married it with an evergreen grass called anemanthele and a finely needled ‘Angelina’ sedum. Here, the blades of the grass echo the shape of the hebe leaf but in a slender, elongated form. The sedum needles are the next minimized step down, acting like a shortened version of the grass blades. With each chosen plant, there is some connection to its neighbor yet enough contrast to provide interest. The highlight of this combo is in late summer when the anemanthele produces plumes, forming what appears to be an ethereal cloud of pink smoke.

Fine turns to bold in a bunch

There are three reasons why fine-textured plants should be grouped in masses. First, a single airy plant has weak visual impact. Second, groups of plants have a more appealing presence in the garden. Third, a group of fine-textured plants has the same visual weight as a solitary bold plant, so grouping helps keep a garden balanced. In nature, we see groups of needled conifers and masses of native grasses carpeting the ground. By replicating this effect, you’ll create a more cohesive landscape. While I occasionally use a single fine-textured plant in a combination, this is the exception rather than the rule.

Whether your garden is large or small, it’s important to plant in groups. The goal is to carry the eye, creating order and impact, then punctuate the scene every so often with colorful foliage or larger-leaved bed buddies. For a smaller yard, fewer fine-textured plants are needed, but small-scale grouping is still important. Keep in mind that bolder plants will still draw and advance the eye as they do in larger gardens, but finer textures will increase the feeling of space by receding into the background. So if you want to create the illusion of space for a narrow walkway, bring on those fine-textured beauties.

I used this strategy when planting my curbside parking strip. It’s amazing to me how much larger my space feels in comparison to my neighbors’ lawn strips. I used groupings of fine-textured plants, despite the fact that the actual plot was very small. The soft, variegated purple moor grass provides a color contrast to the bright blue fireworks of the ‘Peter Pan’ dwarf agapanthus and the ‘Spaan’s Dwarf’ shore pine. The combination of these plants creates drifts of fine texture that carry the eye up and down the expanse, give the garden a balanced appearance, and add a splash of appealing color.

In this spot, I accentuate drifts of fine-textured plants with broad foliage or spots of color to create a four-season planting, which allows me to sit back and enjoy the show while my neighbors mow away their summer.

By following each of these fine-textured principles, your landscape will have greater appeal and prompt the neighbors to wander over to admire the beauty of not only your parking strip but your garden, too.