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Balancing
Proportions -
The
artistry of container composition
Sounds like
we're talking art class, doesn't it? In many ways gardening is an
art, and proportion and balance are important.
Formal balance
is when both sides of a composition are equal. A container with
classic formal balance may have a tall shape in the center with
the plants that surround it forming mirror images of each other.
For example, you might use a group of three Asiatic lilies as your
focal point, with six ferns - three on each side.
Informal balance
is a bit trickier. Rather than identical plants to surround your
focal point, you use different plants of a similar weight and texture
so that all sides of the composition seem anchored firmly. You don't
want one side to be visually lighter than the other. Here you might
surround that same lily with ferns on one side, and astilbe of a
similar size on the other.
Proportion simply
means that the sizes relate to each other in scale. A huge central
plant surrounded by tiny, fine textured plants would be out of scale
unless something of a medium weight and size intervened to balance
them out. A lily surrounded only by trailing ivy would be awkward,
proportionally without a fern or some other mid-sized plant to bridge
the gap.
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