An Introduction To Compartmentalised Gardens
Compartmentalised, or roomed gardens are a great way to add variety to your garden. The idea of rooms comes from the Hidcote Manor and Sissinghurst designs which are classic examples of a compartmentalised theme.
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Compartmentalised gardens take their roots from the famous gardens of Hidcote Manor, and Sissinghurst. These both look at gardens on a large scale, but then break them down into rooms or spaces.
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A potential idea for a room is a white themed border. This can use structural shrub plants such as hydrangea paniculata with it's cream foliage, and the many tiered wedding cake tree with white in both foliage and flowers. Bedding at the base of these plants can include the daisy like cosmos, with it's white broad petals.
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Another compartment theme can be architectural foliage, looking at the huge variety of interesting shapes and textures that leaves come in. In the main they should be evergreen, with no bedding plants whatsoever. You can use fatsia japonica with it's palm like foliage, phormium with it's large strap like leaves, and ivys and bear's britches lower down for a little colour. Cordyline australis can be used to provide height, and texture.
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A third theme could be a golden garden, in both foliage and flower. Key plants for such a style include gilt edged elaeagnus with its golden colour on the edge of the leaf. This should be a very shrubby garden, with very few areas given over to shorter term herbaceous perennials.