Applying the Principle of Planting Multiples in a Suburban Garden

Scilla

One of the most difficult lessons to for me to learn as a gardener has been that a single perennial plant does not always have much of an impact in a large suburban garden. 

I think this has a lot to do with where I began as a gardener. In the small townhouse backyard where I had my first garden, I had considered myself lucky to squeeze in a single example of a particular plant. 

Then, a little over ten years ago we moved to our present home and I suddenly found I had a much larger canvas to play with. It felt truly liberating. I now had room for at least one of everything!

But when I made this transition from a small space to a large one, I failed was to make any adjustment in my approach to planting: the garden's size had changed dramatically, but my planting methods remained pretty much the same as they were in the little townhouse garden. I happily continued to plant single perennials.

Sweet Woodruff

For the most part, planting one-of a particular perennial has continued to work for me. Even in a bigger space, I still can't imagine how I would ever fit in multiples of some large scaled perennials. 

That being said, I have also come to see that you actually do a disservice to smaller perennials, small sized bulbs like scilla and very dainty plants, like the sweet woodruff shown above, to plant them in limited numbers and crowd them in amongst other plants.

I think what clued me into my mistake was seeing other gardens, especially large public ones. 

The Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton, ON

In a large botanical garden, like the one above, a single hollyhock would simply be lost.

After seeing such impressive displays, the traditional rule of planting perennials in groups of three or five plants started to make sense to me. 

Gayfeather, Liatris at the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens

Whether planted in a long ribbon....

... or a big patch, it became clear that mass planting can have a real impact.

Private Garden, Mississauga ON

But though my suburban garden is a good size, but it is no botanical garden!

I began to wonder how and where could I make the principle of planting in multiples might work in a smaller urban setting.

So I started taking note of how other gardeners had made this principle work in their spaces. And when I really started paying attention, I began to notice that a mass planting can really make a statement even in a smaller private garden:

Pachysandra in the foreground with Ostrich Fern just behind it on the left.

Another bonus that a large area planted with a single type of plant offered was possibility of making gardening less labour intensive. 

This big patch of Pachysandra would need little maintenance and would be certainly less work than cutting a lawn under the same tree.

I have a similar patch of lily of the valley under a big maple tree. The falling maple leaves make a great mulch each fall and the only thing I have to do is enjoy the fragrant flowers each spring.

Private garden, Hamilton, ON

I also noted that one-of every plant possible could actually start to make a garden look a little crazy-busy. 

In the battle for space, it always comes down to a survival of the fittest. Competing growth habits often mean that weaker plants in this type of planting end up being crowded out. 

This has been born out again and again in my own garden. 

Spring flowering Wood Anemone

In one small flowerbed at the foot of our Black Walnut I have crammed in no less than: several hosta, a couple of astilbe, two hellebores, a few Japanese irises and spring flowering anemone. The anemone loves this spot best and have really started to take over.

It is as if nature is impatient for me to take the finally take the hint! What I really should have planted in such a small bed was wood anemone and let it spread into a big clump. 

I need to move the other plants or watch them gradually drown in a sea of white anemones. I am learning. Albeit slowly!

Now I am not meaning to rush the seasons, but I have begun to think about next spring and how I can make mass planting small scale spring bulbs work for me.

Last fall, I planted these snowdrops (above). They were pretty, but barely noticeable in my large garden.

Ditto for the crocus I planted. A few flowers here and there is nice, but hardly dramatic.

It's when there are drifts of tiny flowers that a display of small scale bulbs gets really breathtaking. 

Last spring I noticed this expanse of scilla growing in a forested area nearby.

The carpet of bright cobalt blue flowers was fantastic. I would love to create something similar in my own garden.

But here is my latest dilemma: I can afford only so much for spring bulbs. Standard blue scilla and crocus bulbs can be found fairly cheaply and mass planted. The snowdrops I started out with last year however were a more expensive fancy variety. 

Should I stick with fancy snowdrops, knowing I can only plant limited quantities and hope that eventually my patience will be rewarded with a decent show

or

do I go for broke with the cheaper, more common snowdrops and hope for the more instant gratification of a good sized display?

Hmm...decisions, decisions.

Have a wonderful weekend!