FEATURES OF GARDEN

WE TRULY BELIEVE A GARDEN SHOULD NOT BE DULL, BORING AND MONOTONOUS. THEREFORE VARIETY IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF ANY GARDEN . EXSQUISITE GARDENS GENERALLY HAVE THESE IMPORTANT FEATURES

Edges
These are perennial herbs often used as a short border for lawn or ground cover or dividing beds from roads, walks or paths. These herbs often stand frequent trimming. They consist of live material like the dwarf plants or inert material like bricks, stone slabs or corrugated iron sheets. The common evergreen edges used for edging are Eupatorium and Alternanthera. Justicea is capable of standing rainfed or drought conditions. Pilea, dwarf marigold and dwarf Coleus are also used as edges in rockeries.

Hedges
With the help of plants, live hedges can be formed and used as a fence or a green wall. It serves to screen a particular site or building or hiding of unwanted places. They help to partition the garden into several parts. It provides a natural background to a garden, like a frame to a picture. The characteristics of a good hedge are that it should be thick and dense; it should have foliage from the bottom to top; it should be trim and neat; if it is a flowering hedge its bloom should not clash with the general colour scheme.

Some of the most common foliage hedges are Acalypha with its copper-red leaves, it is suitable for a medium hedge; Clerodendron inerme an evergreen drought-resistant plant used frequently by the roadside, is not eaten by cattle or goats, and is suitable for a low to medium hedge; Duranta is also an evergreen drought-resistant fast-growing plant with very neat habit and bright green foliage, suitable as a medium hedge; Dodonea viscose with its evergreen narrow shining leaves suitable as a medium hedge; Pithecalobium dulci (Inga dulce) with its thorough stems and small feathery leaves making an impregnable medium to tall hedge; Lawsonia alba (Maruthani) with its pretty small bright green leaves is suitable as a low to medium hedge; Murraya exotica with its small dark green leaves is suitable for any size of hedge. There is a large variety of flowering plants which can be used as hedges.  The most prominent of these is the Bougainvillea.  A variety like ‘Thimma’ or ‘Dr. Rao’, or ‘Louise Wathena variegated’ gives pretty blooms as well as beautiful variegated leaves.

Water plants
Water lillies and other water plants can be grown in the lily pool, if any or in cement tubs.

Bulbs
A variety of bulbous plants of annual or perennial nature can be grown.

Trees
One or two drawf trees such Plumeria sp. Callistemon lanceolatus and Gliricida maculata can be grown as specimen plants. Some large to medium trees such as Araucaria cookii, Mimusops elengi, Brassaia actinophylla, etc., can also be grown till they are young.

Herbaceous perennials
Pelargoniums, Michaelmas daisy, Cenna, Mirabilis jalapa, Portulaca, Solidago Canadensis, Vinca rosea, and Perennial verbena.

Flowering annuals
Antirrhinum, stocks, dwarf sweet pea, pansy, dahlia, chrysanthemum, marigold, sweet alyssum, phlox, pinks (Dianthus) and verbena.

Climbers and creepers
A group of ornamental plants used to grow over walls, trellis, arches, pergolas, arbours, pillars, bowers, etc. These are grouped as light or heavy according to the amount of wood it produces.

Ground cover
When a dicot plant is of straggling nature is used to cover the ground surface is called ground cover (eg.) Wedalia, Verbena, Ipomea, Acalypha, Portulaca.

Flower beds and Borders
Annuals and herbaceous perennials are grown in flower beds to provide massing effect of different colours. Borders are continuous beds of more length than width containing plants of one kind only.

Arboretum
Growing of different species of trees in one place is called ‘Arboretum'. The trees form the main frame work of the garden. Group of trees in one place will help to give depth to the garden. Trees are very fascinating because of their graceful appearance and the abundance of bloom. They are grown for their economic importance or aesthetic value or both.

Shrubs and Shrubbery
Growing of shrubs in a group is called shrubbery. It is of two types (i) Pure shrubbery (ii) Mixed shrubbery. Pure shrubbery refers to planting of entire selected area with a single species and the opposite holds good for mixed shrubbery.

Carpet beds
The art of growing ground cover plants closely and trimming them to a design or alphabetical letters is called a carpet bed. Colourful foliage as edge plants is found to be more suitable for this purpose.

Trophy
It is the arrangement of colourful potted plants in differ­ent tiers around a central object which may be a tree trunk, lamp post or a pillar.

Lawn
It enhances the beauty of a garden whether it is small or large. It finds the most important component of a garden giving a view of a green carpet.

Topiary
It is the art of developing the plant or training the plant into different forms or shapes like animals, birds, arches, etc. The plant should be amenable for repeated pruning and also flexible with more vegetative growth.
(eg) Hills – Cupressus macrocarpa, Pinus patula
Plains – Casuarina sp., Caesalphinia coriari, Bougainvillea sp., Jaminum sp.

Avenue
An avenue is the row of trees grown on both sides of roads. Shade and beauty are the sole criteria to be considered while selecting avenue trees. The trees should also be selected according to the length and breadth of the road.