When I’m planning a small shade garden border or a corner of a garden, I try to think of my garden ideas in layers. What’s going to give us a silhouette against the sky, a small tree or decent-sized shrub for the upper storey? What will clad the walls or fence, enclosing the space, and what will fill the borders permanently just below, the architecture that will be there for all or most of the year?
Then I think of temporary highlights — the annuals, biennials and bulbs which scatter the area with flowers, but come and go. And another layer down, the ground-cover, the plants linking everything together, forming a low carpet. Finally, I pin down what would suit this spot in a pot or two, to give a highlight to that pocket of garden?
