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)

GARDEN BOOK REVIEW: TROPICAL GARDEN DESIGN

If you need to be transported to a tropical garden some cold, winter day, your virtual plane ticket should be Tropical Garden Design by Made Wijaya.

Packed with gorgeous tropical gardens from cover to cover, filled with beautiful text from chapter to chapter, and loaded with bungalows and tropical cottages, your moments inside this book will erase any memory of the snow outside.

Here's the back cover photo illustrating Made Wijaya's work. The cascade of ferns always catches my attention.

My own tropical garden has improved by reading his book.

I now pay a lot more attention to form and contrast.

Chapters include:

A History of Tropical Gardens

Balinese Gardens

Courtyards & Walled Compounds

Water Gardens

Planting Schemes

& Plant Lists

He even includes an entire chapter on Tropical Garden Art

I can't begin to imagine having a tropical garden in Bali.

But I can dream.

And isn't that what makes a garden book worth adding to your list?

Tropical Garden Design

by Made Wijaya

Published: 2003 by Periplus

Photos by Made Wijaya, Tim Street-Porter, & Luca Invernizzi Tettoni

208 pages 

with over 350 photos & illustrations

Please join Holley at Roses & Other Gardening Joys for more fabulous garden reviews.

Thanks, Holley &

thanks to all for stopping by!

David/:0)