Border Plants - Front, Middle or Back?

[bossgard]

Where to place Annuals, Bulbs and Perennials in borders?

The following is excerpted from book ?Gardening with Ed Hume, Northwest Gardening Made Easy:?

?Zinnia: There are dwarf (8-15 inches), medium (15- 24 inches), and tall (24-36 inches) varieties, plus the low single-flowering varieties (8-10 inches) that spread into bushy plants. These are ideal for low borders . . . the medium ones are excellent for mid-bed plants and the tall ones are excellent background annuals.?

Are these the height measurements you would use for determining front, middle and back positions when planting borders in your garden?

- Toby

[NightHawk]

I suppose it's a matter of personal choice.  Keeping rigidly to the shortest at the front graduating to the tallest at the back would give a more formal regimented look, if that's what you prefer.

We tend to prefer the more 'cottage garden' planting scheme, where there is a mixture of short, medium and tall plants intermingled.
As long as the plants don't have too dense a foliage that masks plants behind them then it will work.

Tall wispy grasses, or plants like the Verbena Bonariensis, that have delicate thin stems and allows you to look through them to other plants behind them, gives a good natural effect.

I don't really think there's strictly a right or wrong way to plant borders.  Even experts we've seen on Gardeners' World have different ideas on this aspect, so no doubt our other members will also have differing views.

If you like it, then go for it.  It's your own personal pleasure that matters here.

Laurie.

[roiphil]

i like to plant in 3s in a triangle pattern if possible, taller plants at back shorter at front, but everyone has thier own taste and reasons i plant the shorter at the front cos their easier to reach than if they were in the middle

[bossgard]

I?m sorry but I guess both of you have misunderstood my introductory question on this topic. I guess it was my fault for phrasing it the way I did.

The question did not relate to any particular style of Gardening or planting style.

It was in regard to a posting by George on the topic Demo for Chiltern Seeds recently. In it, he is talking about adding sections to the Chiltern Catalog; one of those was Border Positions (Front, Middle & Back). I asked him what the height perimeters would be on Front, Middle & Back, and he returned with a request to start another Forum Topic about the question, with the Forum Members returning input. Hence, this Topic.

Frankly, those given by me in the example for Zinnias are too short in height. I have seeds for Hollyhocks that will grow above 5 feet tall that as far as I am concerned have a place in my Border Beds.

The reason for it all, is I would like to code my seed data in IG Pro with F/M/B so that if I?m trying to fill a vacant spot in a garden, and I want an orange flowering one, not taller that 24? to place in front of a bird bath, I can find one and start a seedling to fill that position.

I hope this clarifies the question? Still need answers!!

- Toby

[roiphil]

doh sorry toby