This has been a major problem faced by people who maintain gardens at home, where you put all your effort into planting various kinds of flowers in front of your walkway, and then discover that once you step out onto the sidewalk, the entire area looks somewhat dull. What appears vibrant and colourful when you stand in front of your garden looks rather thin when viewed from afar, since the low-lying flowers merge into the grassy areas.The missing element here is always going to be height. Height means everything when it comes to curb appeal. If there are no vertical elements added to make the area stand out from the rest, then the flower bed itself may get lost on the face of your house. With a couple of tall perennials planted there, however, you’ll have created an entire stage set and added depth to the design.Planning garden design for the street involves planning for scale. As reported by a study conducted by Penn State Extension in relation to the principles of garden design, all of your plantings should be proportional to the architecture around them. So if you have a two-story home and a wide lawn, then planting a flower border with six-inch marigolds would not fit well. For a garden border, it is important to include some “anchor plants,” which can reach up towards the sky while establishing a flow that eventually guides viewers to the front door of the home.High-impact plants for an effective summer flower bedFor an impactful look by mid-July, you will have to select plants with “structural beauty”. These are plants that do more than bloom; they maintain their shape through the growing season and give a vertical structure to the garden bed. Tall Garden Phlox are one of the best structural plants for a flower garden border. These plants are known for their huge, billowing flowers that are visible for blocks away.A guide on Tall Garden Phlox from the University of Minnesota Extension notes that these perennials provide vibrant colour for up to six weeks or more. This long-lasting display is vital for a front yard where you want a consistent “finished” look throughout the summer. Because phlox grows in sturdy, upright clumps, it works perfectly in the middle or back of a border, providing a colourful wall of foliage that makes everything in front of it pop.
I walk a stone path through a vibrant garden, bathed in warm, late afternoon sun. Lush perennials create a layered, inviting scene.
If you want the height but without the bulk, Perennial Veronica is perfect. Instead of the round domes that phlox provides, Veronica forms graceful spikes. This is what is called a “vertical accent” and helps break the monotony of the rounded mounds of shrubs and flowers. By creating repetition through clusters of three or five spikes throughout the length of your garden bed, you create rhythm within your landscape design. This will help you achieve that curated look that you’ve been aiming for.Achieving balance through bloom and fillersThough you have chosen the eye-catching tall bloomers, there must still be plants in the bed to give volume and “heave.” Here is where Daylily and Rosemallow can make a difference in the appearance of your garden bed. Although Daylily does not reach the maximum height, its cascading form and dense foliage create an impressive volume of plant material. Daylily is the filler plant par excellence that will fill the gap in the centre of your garden bed.If you want to go for something really dramatic, then the Rosemallow is the heavyweight of late summer. The sheer size of its flowers, which can grow up to dinner plate proportions, offers a tropical flair, yet is quite resilient. But due to its bold appearance, it is recommended that it be planted in groups as a focal point. One near the corner and one near the porch will create an excellent framework for all of your other plants.The third way to ensure that your tall border will be a success is to steer clear of the soldier-row effect. Rather than arranging your plants in neat rows of tall plants, consider staggering your plants. Bring your taller plantings forward and your middle-height ones backward to create areas of depth throughout the planting. By valuing height over diversity when choosing plants, you can transform your border from an amateur’s attempt into something truly memorable.
