Sunday, July 14, 2013

DESIGNING WITH EMPTY POTS

If I were a landscape architect, I'd entitle this post
"Creating Focal Points with Negative Space".
But since I'm just a plain ol' garden variety gardener, I'll talk instead about how I haven't had time to plant anything in these pots
and how they look nice anyway.
Gardening is full of happy accidents, isn't it?
The Empty Pot (empty of plants I mean)

The problem facing gardeners with LOTS & LOTS of plants crammed together in one location
is the lack of a focal point.
This is especially true of plant collectors like myself.  Tropical gardens pose the most difficult situations concerning focal points since the plants grow at phenomenal rates and the jungle garden will completely overwhelm any trinket placed in its path.
To solve this problem simply buy a very nice pot and leave it empty (or almost empty).
This becomes the focal point for the eye and immediately changes the mood of the garden.
In other words, your eye has something to 'see' before moving on to the wall of green.
The pieces of driftwood were another happy accident. I had to remove them from the house because my wife said they were collecting dust. So I threw them in the empty pot.
I love the way the shadows dance along the wood as the day progresses.
If I ever get tired of the focal point idea and yearn for a pot full of plants, I've already picked my choices.
I'm choosing a set of sun loving Coleus. The recent strides in improving the sun tolerance of coleus is amazing.
Not that long ago, all we had were the old type of shade coleus which would wither as the summer wore on.
***
Well that's it for today.
Hope you like the idea.
So remember,
tell your friends that
you left the pot empty on purpose....
not because you were lazy,
but because you wanted to
balance the luxurious growth of your garden
with empty space
and
 that you were
searching for the perfect balance of ying and yang 
and that
 design
elements 
like negative focal points
conjure up hints of Bali
and
 Tahiti..and..
let's go inside, 
the mosquitoes are getting
bad.
****
Happy Growing,
David/:0)


5 comments:

  1. Lol:) I have lots of empty pots:) I like your thinking:)

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  2. That does look good David, I like the idea. It's a nice pot and that's the key to a good looking empty pot.

    I have too many plants to leave any of mine empty for long.

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  3. Happy accident indeed, it looks like garden sculpture there!

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  4. I guess your trying to move to Austin, right?

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  5. That is a beautiful pot and I agree that it makes a nice focal point.

    ReplyDelete

I always appreciate your comments & questions! Happy Gardening from David/ Tropical Texana