Designing with perennials
Start designing with perennials. Did you know perennials are great painters? They appear in beautiful colours and bloom for multiple years. If a garden was a picture, trees and shrubs would make the frame, the paint would be perennials, bringing the whole thing to life with colour and movement. At Rushfields Plant Centre we offer stunning perennials that bloom year after year. Visit our Plant Centre to discover the wide assortment. Our staff is always willing to help you with finding the right perennials. Don't bother asking them for help.
Tips for perennials garden design
Here are our top tips for picking combinations from the fantastic choice of perennials in our garden centre in Poynings, Sussex to make your garden a work of art. Try out these tips and enjoy a piece of art in perennials this Summer.
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Design in triangles to avoid a 'blobby' effect. Combine tall verticals – say, foxgloves - with hummocky shapes like geraniums and low-growing horizontal ground cover.
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Contrast shapes to bring out the best in your plants. Look for opposites: strappy-leaved daylilies with broad-leaved heucheras, or upright, airy grasses with daisy flowered rudbeckia.
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Use repetition to pull your design together. Several bold clumps of the same variety of helenium at strategic points, for example, make the garden feel whole.
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Manage colour to create the mood you want. Zingy reds and oranges with clashing blues and purples are exciting, whereas similar shades together calm things down.
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Plant in groups or drifts for real impact. Odd numbers work best: three is a minimum but you can go up to nine, eleven or fifteen plants at a time for real wow factor.
Staking Perennials
Staking perennials is essential for maintaining the beauty and organisation of your garden. Beloved for their enduring blooms, perennials are a gardener's delight. However, as they grow, some may become top-heavy or droop under their weight. Enter staking – a saviour for your garden's elegance!
- Staking offers simple yet effective support, preventing bending, breaking, or sprawl. This keeps your perennials looking tidy and allows their exquisite flowers to shine unobstructed.
- Time staking early in the growing season when plants are young and manageable.
- Choose suitable materials like wooden or bamboo stakes for individual plants and metal or plastic cages for bushier ones.
Aesthetics matter too – discreetly place stakes and use materials that blend with the surroundings. Monitor growth and adjust staking as needed throughout the season.
Staking perennials is an essential practice that elevates the beauty of these magnificent plants. With proper support, you can enjoy their splendor while maintaining a charming and organized garden. Find material for staking at Rushfields.
Small flowers
Small flowers stay low in the garden but bloom beautifully. These tiny colourful little friends are stunning in the border. Fill up flowerpots with small flowers and combine small flowers with tall flowers for extra design. Plant several sorts of small flowers together in one pot and create a painting from perennials. We love to combine violets and pansy flowers. With their cute little faces, they cheer up everyone that has been down for that day. Check their faces from close by, and you'll see that every flower has its unique face. Also, daisy flowers are ideal for small flower displays in flower pots. Discover the endless options at our garden centre in Poynings, Sussex.
Tall flowers
Besides small flowers, we have plenty of tall flowers to fill your garden. Combine tall flowers with small flowers for an extra interesting display. At Rushfields we are fond of Hollyhocks, Joe-Pye weed and Elecampane in the garden. Mix and match with different colours. We are very willing to help you by creating a stunning display in the border this Summer. Tall perennials that bloom can't be missed in your garden.
Perennials near Brighton
Visit our plant centre in Poynings, Sussex to fill your garden with perennials. Start designing and enjoy a lovely view of colourful perennials this Summer. Our plant centre is nearby Brighton, just a twenty minutes drive. Please ask the staff in our Poynings, Sussex garden centre for more information and advice about designing with perennials. Plan your route at our contact page.
