Height and Structure: Add Vertical Interest to Your Garden

Height and structure create movement and dynamism, enhancing the way a garden is perceived and used. Here, we show you how to combine hard landscaping and planting to create the effects you want.

Excerpted from Garden Design
Filed under: Retaining Wall, Pergolas

+ Enlarge Photo

– Shrink Photo

Contrasts of Height

A range of height levels gives variety and interest to a garden, whatever its scale. Elements that create instant height include barriers (walls, fences, screens or trellis), overhead structures (pergolas, arbors or canopies) and play equipment, such as a child's swing. Various planting items, including trees, shrubs, bamboos, climbers, hedges and perennials, gain status when paired with low plantings, below.

When installing new elements for height it's important to consider your budget...and patience. Young trees and shrubs are less expensive, but they take time to gain height. Built structures cost more, but they make quick work of vertical space.