Choosing plants for garden designs

CHOOSING PLANTS  FOR GARDEN DESIGNS.

There seems to be definite approaches to this part of garden design that I’ve noticed over the years from talking to various nurserymen and women, showing clients of my own around nurseries and fly on the wall situations listening to customers walking around nurseries when they think I’m another punter. They go something like this:
1. Oooooh I’ll have one of them - I like the colour of them flowers.
2. How much is it?
3. Where can we squeeze one of them in?
4. Can I have some discount if I buy 2?
5. I must have one, no matter what the cost or whether or not I have room for it.
6. I want a plant that does not need looking after.
7. I need a plant for hedging/ground covering/screening.
8. I need a plant that has red (or blue or yellow) flowers, looks good all year is scented stops growing at 1.5m tall, is evergreen and perfect in all respects and will withstand arctic conditions without so much as a blemish.
9. I have a plan where I need some plants to fulfil a certain function.

Now here is a delicious multiple choice question for you:
Choose the numbers of the selection criteria you consider to be acceptable when designing a garden from scratch i.e. blank canvass, comprehensive design installation.
(this is not a competition, no prizes will be awarded and there are no answers upside down at the bottom of the page!)

Here is the cop out – if you chose any answer except 9 and 7 I hope your garden brings you much pleasure. If it makes you happy then that is all that really counts. I am humbled by the ability of a few flowers or a veg patch in the midst of urban desolation to bring peace and harmony to anybody – and this is the power of us garden designers medium – let us not forget.

On the other hand if you chose any numbers other than 7 or 9 you should burn in hell.....ahem - sorry about that! I can’t help feeling strongly about this.

I visited a well known nurseryman’s garden recently and admired many well grown and venerable plants but was totally bored with the layout of the garden. I can admire the majesty of a 35 year old Abies Procera ‘Prostrata Glauca’ and at the same time be completely uninspired by the dross surrounding it, that can be seen in any one of hundreds of national trust gardens all over the country, not to mention thousands of suburban front gardens. Why set such a rarefied and distinctive plant in this bland setting? If only its surroundings could match the poise and architecture of this wonderful plant people might stand a chance of understanding its qualities, instead of being put off by the 1970’s conifer stigma.

I think that this example represents one of the fundamental qualities that cause much garden design to fail. In my opinion designs lacking an appreciation of the qualities of individual plant species, and the need to present their beauty to people in a way that is as powerful and romantic as possible, are simply missing the point. They are not realising the potential of the arsenal at their disposal that is capable of empowering their designs.