Mixborder of shrubs and perennials: photo + diagrams

Mixborders are flower beds on which ornamental plants are planted that complement each other. They can become a decoration of the park, backyard landscape, garden. Perennial and annual herbaceous plants, flowers, shrubs and even small trees can be used to fill flower beds. Perennial mixborders are especially popular, because from year to year they are able to delight with their beauty without requiring special care.

There are special ready-made planting schemes developed by landscape designers with flower garden zoning and selection of plants. Even a novice gardener can bring to life such pre-compiled schemes of mixborders.

Important points when planning

A beautiful mixborder is a harmonious composition of plants planted in a certain order, following some general rules:

• Mixborders can be single-sided or double-sided.. One-sided flower beds are placed along walking paths or trails, behind them there may be a building wall or a fence. A double-sided flower garden suggests the presence of paths or viewpoints on both sides. An example of a one-sided and two-sided mixborder is shown in the photo:
• When creating a one-sided mixborder, tall plants and shrubs are planted in the background, undersized or creeping perennials, lawn grass are planted in the foreground.
• When creating a double-sided mixborder, tall plants should be planted along the middle lane, closer to the edge of the flower garden, undersized perennials should be placed.
• When placing perennials in one flower garden, it is necessary to use the principle of multi-tiered. In this case, the plants will not obscure, drown out each other and fully show their beauty.
• Floral arrangements, like paintings, should be viewed at some distance in order to appreciate all their charm, which is why it is recommended to place mixborders at some distance from the viewpoint. The remoteness of tall plants should not be less than their height.
• Perennial mixborders have a peculiarity – in the first years after the device, the composition is not lush enough, as the plants must grow. At this time, it can be supplemented with annual flowers.
• When placing perennials on flower beds, you need to remember that they will grow over time, so you do not need to plant plants too close to each other.
• Mixborders can be created with a certain semantic meaning, for example, placing a flower garden at the entrance to a building or on the shore of an artificial reservoir can advantageously emphasize the landscape of the site and the design, architecture of the building.

The shapes of mixborders can be different: regular, curved, intricate. So, landscape designers recommend placing compositions at a certain angle, for a better view from anywhere in the garden. An example of such a flower garden can be seen in the photo:

Selection of plants

Having decided on the placement and shape of the mixborder, it is worth thinking about its content. When choosing perennials, it is necessary to take into account some nuances:

• Plants in the same flower garden should have the same photosensitivity, shade-loving and light-loving crops cannot be planted nearby. The choice of certain plants depends on the illumination of the area where the mixborder will be located. The same rule applies when choosing plants based on moisture and soil composition;
• The root system of all plants should be closed, going vertically down. Plants with a creeping and horizontally spreading root system will eventually destroy their “neighbors”.
• Flowering perennials should be selected in such a way that the periods of their flowering smoothly succeeded each other. This will allow you to get a continuous flowering mixborder. You should also exclude the situation when, after withering, the plant loses its decorative qualities, it must be cut off, and the cut point remains an “empty spot” on the flower garden. In this case, perennials of the lower tier with a later flowering period or annuals can be used as a cover;
• You can make a beautiful mixborder of perennials using plants with a decorative leaf.. So, geyhers, hostas, ferns can be included in compositions.

Thus, when choosing plants for mixborders, it is necessary to take into account their height, type of root system, need for sunlight, soil nutrition and moisture. Of course, do not forget about the color of plants. So, flower beds can be:

• contrasting, with a combination of red and green, purple and yellow. Such compositions are more suitable for creating compact, low mixborders;
• monochrome. To create them, flowers are used in calm, delicate shades of pink, yellow, purple;
• colorfulcombining various bright colors. An example of a colorful mixborder can be seen below in the photo:

When creating a mixborder from shrubs and perennials, the following are popular:

• barberry and spirea differ in unusual color of leaves and show the decorative qualities all season long. By trimming boxwood, you can get beautiful green barriers or unique landscape figures.
• English aster, mallow, rudbeckia, phlox and some other tall flowers can be used to create the skeleton of the display. You can see them in the photo:
• Among plants of medium height, for the preparation of the second line of the mixborder, one should prefer lilies, peonies, chrysanthemums. Their height will approximately be from half a meter to a meter.
• Perennials up to half a meter are most popular when creating mixborders. They are suitable for both single-sided and double-sided compositions. Among these flowers, it is worth highlighting the multi-colored primroses, bergenia, tulips, daffodils.
• Low-growing flowers, up to 25 cm high, should also be included in mixborders. As a rule, they are used to border paths and paths. Landscape designers often use for such purposes pushkinia, galanthus, muscari and some other plants.

All of these perennials have a modest, vertical root system and can complement each other in flower beds. They bloom at different times, some of them can grow in the shade, some prefer sunny plots of land, so each gardener must combine perennials himself in accordance with existing conditions and personal wishes.

Stages of creating a mixborder

The creation of a composition of perennials must be treated with special responsibility, because the result of the work should “pleasing to the eye” subsequently for several years. Experts recommend creating mixborders in stages, performing the steps in a certain order:

1. Before planting perennials, it is necessary to set the shape of the mixborder and prepare the soil. If necessary, you can create a decorative border of stone, wickerwork.
2. Filling the flower garden should begin with skeletal plants – low-growing trees, shrubs (yew, Bergman pine, conical spruce, barberry), tall flowers. It is recommended to place them without observing symmetry, since in this case the composition will look natural.
3. Medium-sized flowers and plants with decorative leaves (hosta, cineraria) should be planted in the second tier so that, if necessary, they cover the trunks of tall shrubs and the foot of ornamental trees.
4. Empty spaces in the composition should be filled with medium and low-growing flowering plants in compliance with the principle of multi-tiered. They should be planted in groups in order to fully reflect the beauty of the plants.
5. If necessary, in the first years after creation, mixborders can be supplemented with annuals. They will give additional freshness, brightness and make the flower garden filled.

This will allow you to correctly choose the optimal distance between them.

Ready schemes

In order to choose the right decorative perennials for a mixborder, an ordinary gardener may need a lot of time and literature, because finding information about the tallness, root system of a plant, its flowering period and preferences is not so easy. Comparing information about different plants and finding “good neighbors” is even more difficult. In this case, professional landscape designers helped to alleviate the situation by compiling and offering gardeners ready-made schemes for mixborders from perennials and the names of flowers, shrubs, trees used in the composition. Photos and diagrams of some of them are given below.

fragrant flower garden

This mixborder combines tall shrubs and fragrant, flowering perennials. You can create a flower garden on rocky, well-drained soil. Such a composition is one-sided, so it should be placed against the wall of the building, the fence. It is perfect for a well-groomed, spacious yard or garden near a respectable cottage.

Filling the fragrant flower garden should begin with the planting of an ordinary juniper (3). You should not be limited to one plant, it is preferable to plant 2-3 conifers. Potentilla shrub (1) is also the “skeleton” of the flower garden. The plant should not be centered. In contrast to the cinquefoil, with the observance of conditional symmetry, it is necessary to plant the saxifrage Ferdinand Coburg (4). This plant does not bloom, but has beautiful decorative leaves.

The subsequent filling of the flower garden takes place in stages, observing the principle of monolayer and conditional symmetry. Plants are placed in groups. Under numbers 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, various types of saxifrage are planted: hybrid, lush, cuneiform, paniculate, musky. Carnation pinnate (10) will add delicate colors and a pleasant aroma to the flower garden. Rejuvenated roofing (11) undersized, but very original plant, which will become the highlight of the mixborder.

It is recommended to bring Thunberg’s barberry (2) to the fore of the composition. The plant is a low-growing shrub with an ornamental purple leaf.

Thus, many different varieties of saxifrage are used to compose an aromatic mixborder. These wonderful plants are unpretentious, have a compact root system, bloom for a long time and very beautifully, exuding a pleasant aroma. Barberry in such a flower bed acts as a beautiful border. Potentilla and juniper will add “growth” and chic to the flower garden.

Option for professionals

This ready-made mixborder scheme is one-sided. Such a flower garden can be placed against the wall of a building or, for example, near a fence. Creating such a magnificent composition is quite simple if you know where to start: first you should plant boxwood (9), trimmed, in this case, in the shape of a cone. It is not worth placing it in the middle of the flower garden, it is better to move it to the side to give naturalness.

Clematis should be planted at some distance behind the boxwood (14). You can combine red and white varieties of this perennial. Beautiful clematis will be a wonderful backdrop for the flower garden as a whole.

The gap between clematis and boxwood should be filled with medium-sized plants: khatma (13), echinacea (12), ornamental onions (6), verbena (8), Korean mint (11). Fill the composition with lightness and set off boxwood wormwood (10) with a decorative, silvery leaf.

In the foreground of the mixborder, a fennel multi-grate (7), shrubby cinquefoil (5), majestic geranium (3), Endress geranium (1), soft cuff (2) and coreopsis (4) should be planted.

Such a beautiful, lush flower arrangement can be a decoration of the yard with buildings in eco, rustic or classic style. To decorate a courtyard with a large mansion, the mixborder should be expanded and more tall shrubs and ornamental trees should be used.

Flower garden for beginner gardeners

Such a ready-made scheme can be realized even by a novice gardener. It can be used both single sided and double sided. The skeletal plant of the flower garden is the tall mock orange (1). To the right and left of it, it is necessary to place peonies (2) and phloxes (3). Lilies (4) and Mexican Ageratum (5) can be used to create the next tier of medium plants. Among undersized perennials, it is recommended to choose marine lobularia (7), Turkish carnation (8) to create a composition.

Such a wonderful flower garden can be placed at the porch, gate, along the paths. The mixborder will bloom constantly from June to September. You can see other examples and schemes of perennial mixborders, as well as learn some of the nuances of their creation in the video:

Conclusion

A beautiful mixborder, if desired, can be created by every gardener. To do this, it is not at all necessary to resort to the services of professional designers, since you can use ready-made schemes with the optimal selection of plants. Having applied a little imagination and found out, having analyzed information about various types of perennials, it is easy to compose a composition on your own or make changes to ready-made schemes. A beautiful mixborder can always decorate a personal plot, favorably highlight and emphasize the existing architecture and landscape.