Garden textures

In the Garden
Ralph Purkhiser, Purdue University Master Gardener

     Last week, we discussed the sense of sight in the garden as it relates to colors.  This week, we will continue our discussion with textures.  If variety is the spice of life, textures must be the spice of the garden.  Each plant has a texture that is a little different from all others, and, even within a single species, individual plants may have different textures.  With a good pair of pruners, a skilled gardener                   can completely alter the texture of a plant.  Texture may be used to invite someone into a garden space or to block access to a certain area.
     In general, rounded textures tend to feel softer, while straight lines feel more formal.  This difference may be demonstrated by hedges.  When a hedge is allowed to grow with infrequent trimming, it is much less formal than the hedges in formal gardens that are checked daily for branches that disrupt the straight lines.  The softer lines also tend to invite one in, while the straight lines seem to direct our paths to the paved areas adjacent to the hedges.
     Textures may also guard a location.  My grandmother had flowers growing on a bank by the sidewalk.  Too often, passing children helped themselves to her flowers.  Her solution was to plant prickly-pear cactus at the edge of the bed.  That texture can be painful for anyone daring to reach over to pick a flower.  I have seen bushes with thorns used to hedge an area to discourage deer and other wildlife.  Such areas also provide shelter for birds.  Many birds are able to get into such thickets with no problem, but the great enemy (cats) rarely try after the pain of the first attempt.
     One of my favorite places to use texture is in the many shade gardens at Sandhill Gardens.  Flowers in these areas are fleeting, at best, so for much of the year, one must depend on foliage for interest.  My favorite shade plants provide a lot of interest with variegation, but even more with the different textures the plants provide.  Ferns provide an airy quality, with fronds that move with the slightest breeze.  Some, such as ostrich fern, also give some vertical interest.  While epimediums may also be airy, the mounds of heart-shaped leaves offer a softness not supplied by ferns.  The stiff, waxy leaves of hellebores provide structure.  They remain green well into winter, so they really do anchor the perennial beds.  The leaves just need to be cut back with the new blooms appear in late winter.  Of course, the most common plant in the shade gardens is the hosta.  Within this genus, there is a lot of variety in color, variegation and texture to provide interest in the garden.  An expanse of a smooth-leaved large variety, such as Royal standard, may be broken up with a thick-leaved, variegated hosta, such as Brother Stephan.  Brother Stephan always makes me think of my grandmother’s quilts.  Hostas differ greatly in size, also.  My smallest is a miniature, Hope, which has rounded, variegated leaves the size of a nickel.  I often use it in pots with small trees and shrubs to make miniature gardens.  On the other end, Empress Wu can grow to four feet high and has huge heart-shaped leaves.  It can actually provide shade for smaller plants.  Hosta leaves also range from large elephant-ear leaves to narrow leaves.  Some of the narrow leaves also have ripples and twists.  The hostas Whee and Curly Fries can give a bed a lot of interest by their different textures.
     Height of plants also is a texture tool.   One usually places tall plants in the back of beds, with smaller, rounded plants in the front.  A bed may be completely altered by placing tall, spikey plants in the middle of the bed.  Tall plants placed at the end of a tunnel or beyond an arbor will also draw one into the space.
     Another use of texture in the gardens is to bring interest to the sense of touch.  We will take a look at the ways a garden may appeal to that sense next time.