Metal Border Around: This fireplace is a whopper, with a carved marble surround, metal fire basket and even a metal border around that. It's extremely handsome and dictates the rather classic feel of this room. Its long mantelpiece is home to a mix of paintings and a stylish Vase or two with simple lines and plain colours. Lots of small pieces would look lost and busy up here.
THE BEST WAY of planning a border is to work with small groups of plants so you can concentrate on the relationship between the subjects, and so gradually build up the groups into a whole border planting. Choose plants with shapes that complement each other and which make an interesting and varied effect.
You will notice that different plants create a variety of effects. Spiky plants, for example, are active and lead the eye upward and onward to neighboring plants, while gentle hummock-forming plants are calming and bland, and lead the eye horizontally along the border.
At the same time think of height. Either use a tier system with tall plants at the back and shorter ones at the front, or use tall plants in the middle of the group to create peaks of interest, with shorter-growing plants leading the eye upward toward them. This will divert the eye and prevent it from traveling straight down the border, taking it all in at a glance. However, if tall plants are used toward the front of a border, they should be wispy enough to allow the eye to pass through them, yet substantial enough to break the line.See Also Wide Border:If you have more space it is possible to create one of a wide border range of borders, incorporating varying widths and curves, which will be far more interesting than a border of straight lines. One of the great advantages of a mixed or herbaceous bordei is that you can change it from year to year. And as you become more adventurous and knowledgeable, it will be possible for you to create bolder and ever more spectacular border displays.
The area in the back garden that we used for the annual border is a five-sided plot about 20 feet long and 8 feet wide border at its deepest measurement. It is on a gently rising slope that faces southeast and is surrounded by a lawn—and that term is loosely used, as the greens are more weed than fescue.
On The Other Hand See Perennial Border Was Planted:The flat part of our backyard that was not devoted to a perennial border was planted in patches of field grasses, perennial rye, and various weeds. Originally I had wanted an English lawn as a frame for the flowers, but after what seemed like decades spent removing that old red shale and clay (and various articles of trash left by two generations of a fanning family) I settled for the weedy substitutes.
Back in the perennial border we planted a group of sedums (Sedum Telephium 'Autumn Joy') in front of a clump of cord grass (Spartina pectinata 'Aureo-Marginata'). In winter the sedums turn a rich Mahogany brown, each bunch of blossoms becoming a glowing pincushion set off by the curving golden tan leaves of the grass.
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