Design and Arrangement Guide

There is no right way to arrange your plants – whatever brings you joy and ensures the plants have the right soil, spacing, and sunlight is terrific.

If you’re interested in elevating the aesthetic of your native plants or overall garden, these are elements to consider. But remember – there’s no correct way to arrange your garden.

Define Your Garden Space

Before choosing plants, define the space you’re working with. This can be essential in helping find appropriate plants or just searching out design ideas. While there are many garden types (click here for the Garden Type Tool), these are the four generalized garden spaces you might be working with:

  • Containers or raised beds. 
  • In-ground gardens.
  • Vertical gardens.

You can also use the Site Analysis Tool to help you determine what kind of soil you have, what the drainage is, and how much sunlight the space receives. These are essential elements of plant selection. Click here to open it now.

Drawing Your Garden Plan

Drawing or mapping out your garden plan doesn’t need to be overwhelming. Here are a few simple steps to get started.

  1. Gather Tools. You’ll need graph paper or a digital design tool, a ruler to help keep scale, and a measuring tape for accurate dimensions.
  2. Outline the Garden Shape. Measure the space and draw a scaled outline (like 1 square of graph paper equals 1 foot of space). Mark permanent features like fences, trees, and pathways.
  3. (Optional) Add Sunlight and Soil Zones. You can use light shading or hatching to mark sunny, shady, and wet/dry areas.
  4. Sketch Zones. Draw shapes to define planting beds, seating areas, open spaces or pathways.
  5. Draw Plants to Scale. You don’t need to be an artist for this! Use simple circles, ovals or blobs to represent plants. Make sure they’re proportionally sized (a large old oak tree is going to be bigger than a single perennial). You circles can overlap and show plant spread overtime.
  6. Label and adjust. Add names or symbols to represent your plants in the mapping, and be sure that you’re considering the spacing requirements of plants.

Don’t worry about making it pretty or perfect – this is a functional map that can help you play with ideas.

Design Aesthetics

Regardless of the space you’re working with, there are a few simple design principles that can be applied in any garden space.

Bunch Colours Together

Grouping plants with the same colour can provide a strong visual impact and balance.

Drifts Instead of Dots

Plants tend to populate near themselves in nature – so grouping three or five of the same species together can offer a full, lush feeling (drifts). Individual plants (dots) do not provide the same sense of unification in the garden, and can even reduce its efficacy for pollinators.

Height and Layering

Having tiered heights, with taller plants in back, not only ensures all the plants get their sunlight but creates an aesthetically pleasing flow. Typically three layers are adequate to achieve this, but it can be done with two layers of height.

Cues to Care

Cues to care are a way of providing a human design aesthetic to naturalized spaces. Click here to get a detailed breakdown on Cues to Care.

Contrast and Texture

Creating layers of differing plant types can add visual depth to your garden. For example, pair a grass with a broadleaf flower to create contrast with the differing textures of the plant types.

Curved Versus Straight Edges

Straight edges can provide a clean, tidy look to a garden. But using curves creates a sense of flow and can help achieve a more natural, but still maintained, look to a garden.

Seasonal Interest and Bloom Time.

Most plants have a specific time of year when they shine or offer their best colour and texture. Planning your garden to include elements that are visually interesting in different times of year adds longevity and style to your garden. Likewise, consider the bloom times of plants if you want to ensure there are blooms for much of your growing season.

Garden Type Considerations

There are many ways a garden can come together, and these are some general notes about design for the primary garden types from the Garden Type Tool.

Container Gardens
  • Root space matters. Make sure your containers have enough space for the roots of your plants – and any plant with a tap root may need extra depth.
  • Soil and drainage. It’s important to make sure your containers have adequate drainage. To aid in this, use well-draining potting mixes.
Drought-Tolerant Gardens
  • Group plants by water needs. Any plants that require more watering should be placed together, and those that are most drought-tolerant should be together.
  • Mulch and hardscaping. Using a mulch or hardscape like gravel or rocks can reduce evaporation and preserve even more water.
Native Edible + Medicinal Gardens
  • Layer for accessibility. Any frequently harvested plants should be most accessible.
  • Include pollinator friendly plants. To make sure your harvest is robust, attract pollinators with locally-appropriate plants.
Naturalized Area
  • Low Maintenance. A benefit of a naturalized area is that it may require less maintenance than other gardens. Consider self-sustaining native perennials that require minimal care.
  • Drift Plantings. You can mimic natural ecosystems by planting in clusters of 3 to 5 rather than in a scattered fashion.
Pollinator Gardens
  • Continuous Bloom Cycles. Ensure pollinators always have something to find by selecting plants that will always have something in bloom through the growing season.
  • Diversify flower shapes. Not all pollinator plants are created equal; some insects prefer or require specific flower shapes to access pollen. By having a diverse selection you’re increasing the benefits for pollinators.
Rain Gardens
  • Plant for moisture zones. Most rain gardens will have areas that get most of the runoff and areas that get less. Plant water-tolerant species in the moist areas and those that prefer drier soil on the outer edges.
  • Soil stabilizers. Consider native plants that stabilize soil from erosion and can help filter runoff.
Vertical Gardens
  • Climbing and trailing plants. Use native vines or species that cascade down walls.
  • Structural support. Ensure that your trellis or living walls are secure and strong enough to support both plant weight and water, and encourage natural spreading.
Wildlife Habitat Gardens
  • Multi-layered planting. Include trees, shrubs, and groundcovers to offer shelter, food sources and interest for numerous species.
  • Deadwood and leaf litter. Allowing these elements to naturally fall and decompose (or adding them from elsewhere on your property) provides essential habitats and supports for beetles, butterflies, and amphibians.