Grouping plants

“My biggest inspiration is nature; I do not want to copy it but recreate the emotion.”

-Piet Oudolf

Grouping plants refers to how they are placed together and take up space on the ground as well as vertically. It’s important to take into consideration how the seasonality and longevity of a plant will influence the design over time. Looking at both the aesthetic qualities of the plant (colour, texture, form) as well as the habitat needed for the plants to thrive (sun, soil, climate) will help create a successful grouping. When choosing plants that grow in the same habitat, it can help to observe the natural area around you and see which plants thrive together¹. Plant species will be a better fit to a habitat if they evolved in similar environmental conditions². For more information on which plants are best suited for a site, see section on matching plants to site. 

Styles of grouping Plants

Source³ 

Drifts 

  • Long overlapping masses of plants
  •  Layering plants

Block planting 

  • Planted area with a single species
  • Evolution of the drift
  • Narrow and linear with straight lines or curved
  • Simplicity and clarity (can sometimes be too simplistic if too there is too much unity)

Matrix planting 

  • Uniform group of a single plant or a few plants 
  • A small number of visually interesting primary plants are mixed in individually, or in a group

 


Piet Ouldolf, Wisley

Plant Communities

Outlined below is an example of the layers used to create a grassland archetype. Many of the layers used can lend to different styles of planting.

Source¹

Structural layer

  • Use plants that persist through a large period of the year with strong stems that withstand the winter and provide winter interest 
  • This layer provides a visual anchor for the planting (tall, long living clumping grass would be an example of a structural plant)

Seasonal theme

  • Layer in large quantities that are in bloom for a short period of time
  • Creates waves of colour in the design

Ground cover

  • Prevents erosions, suppresses weeds
  • Fills in gaps
  • Helps break up compaction
  • Plants in this layer adapt to different levels of sunlight depending on the time of year

Dynamic filler

  • Often shorter then the structural layer
  • Fast growing with a shorter lifespan, which makes plants in this layer great for the start of the planting



1. Rainer, T., & West, C. (2019). Planting in a post-wild world: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes. Portland: Timber Press
2. Alizadeh, Behdad & Hitchmough, James. (2018). A review of urban landscape adaptation to the challenge of climate change. International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management. 11. 10.1108/IJCCSM-10-2017-0179.
3.Mooney, P. (2019). Planting Design – Connecting People and Place. The restorative landscape. Routledge 1st Edition. pp.156-210 .