Using Texture
in Your Landscape

Variety is the key element to a beautiful garden or landscape. A yard containing dozens of the same type shrub is as boring as a flower bed filled with only one type of plant. Most beginning gardeners know the value of having a variety of different shrubs, perennials and annuals in complementary colors. The next step is to incorporate texture.

Texture in garden design refers to the surface quality of the plant. Plant textures run the gamut from delicate and fine (like ferns) to coarse and bold (like hostas), but most plants are medium textured.

Consider texture when choosing plants. A mixture of delicate fern leaves next to the thick round leaves of hostas and the small jagged leaves of astilbe provide interest even after the flowers fade.

Fine-textured plants usually have small leaves. They have a light and airy feel and can accentuate the form and color of other plants. One example is baby's breath. Other common fine-textured plants include thread-leaf coreopsis, maidenhair fern, love-in-a-mist, dill, fennel, amsonia and wild bleeding heart.

Coarse-textured plants usually have large leaves. Bold-textured plants include Dutchman’s pipe, rhododendrons, castor beans, bugloss, saucer magnolia, cannas and, of course, hostas. Choose a puckered variety and you’ve added a second level of texture.

Any fuzzy, gray plant will add an element of texture and contrast. Lamb’s ear is an obvious choice, but you could also try lavender, artemisia, Russian sage and yarrow. The thin, spiky leaves of ornamental grasses add not only texture but movement.

Sedums and other smooth, broad-leaved succulents like hens and chicks have foliage that almost seems waxed and polished. In addition to offsetting coarser leaves, many grow in tight rosettes, contributing a contrasting plant form to the design scheme.

When you’re choosing new plants to add to your landscape this spring, be on the lookout for those with different textures. But a word of caution: Use texture sparingly, as you would a spice. You wouldn’t want to eat cinnamon by the spoonful.