funny you should bring this up just now.. I was thinking my yard is starting to look overgrown. Need to cut back soon. In my mind, its when it starts looking too disorderly. I try to trim back branches, clean up the edges of the beds, reduce the size of clumps.. all that.

For me , to often it is the difference between June and July. I cant seem to stop myself from squeezing in things in May - looks great in June, is just a bit to much by the end of July.

min3 that is funny...happens to me too!

mandoll I do the same thing except I am still squeezing things into the garden sometimes in June. You would think I would learn from year to year, but the memory of it gets lost somewhere in the middle of winter while looking through all the plant catalogs!

love the replies. I think I am guilty of late season squeezing as well.

Ne

That is a real thin line, great topic! Until this year I would completely agree with Min3, one night at midnight. I am used to the hot humid summer weather of northern Minnesota, the gardens just explode with growth and keeping up with the gardens and yard work is a struggle. This is my first year gardening in Alaska though and it is a whole different experience for me. My first year perennial beds look just pitiful even knowing they won't always look like that. We have cools soil here, about 50 degrees and the summer high temps on the coast here top out at about 65 degrees. It makes for very comfortable working conditions outside but presents challenges to gardening. I take heart from the lush growth of the ferns and native vegetation though which I can barely keep up with trying to tame, corral or tidy up. I am hoping the three year rule for perennials holds true in Alaska too.

No thin line here! This is an area just beyond the hostas that is wet clay soil where I heel in unwanted plants and just let them fight it out. Interestingly there are few "weeds" except for goldenrod which I pull out when I feel like it and New England asters and cow parsnip that I leave alone.
{{gwi:693497}}

LOL@min3...I prefer the term Jungle-y to overgrown.....LOL

Or me, its when I have trouble appreciating the individual plants (i.e. I have a hosta right now being swallowed up by lady's mantle - actually the same lady's mantle is also swallowing up nearby trilliums and some ferns...LOL). It's this point that I pick out one hungry plant - in this case, the lady`s mantle to really divide and put in other places. I hate doing it though cause it leaves bare patches in the garden, but later in the year it will look better. I prefer lush to holey because holey becomes weedy very quickly.....

I'm at that 3 year point though so there are quite a few things in the garden that need dividing. I've been trying to do it just after they flower - at least until it gets too hot and stays that way....

For me it is generally less an issue of lush vs overgrown and more a question what is growing together so the issue becomes chaos vs. order. Plants that are too similar grown closely together can create an undifferentiated mass/mess, which is chaos, whereas contrasts in texture, height, colour (of foliage and bloom) show the intent of the gardener by imposing order. This allows you to do more.

Similarly, hopefully without sounding too clinical about it all, structure is important...good bones do so much to show that the garden is intentional vs abandoned. I have several repeating elements like Blue Arrow Junipers and boxwoods and Rozanne Geraniums that I feel lend a continuity to the whole...this lets me jam away and still create what I think is a peaceful whole.

That said, a little chaos is important too!

Squirejohn, I think that's lovely. Just right. Maybe I'm too worried about this issue.

One person's lush is another's overgrown. If you are really concerned use the plant's mature size for planting distances and don't crowd. Of course you may wait a few years before it looks lush but it may take many more years before it gets overgrown.

I'm redoing a lot of beds this year and still have great difficulty with this as it looks so bare. I'm trying to use annuals to fill spaces but I know there are some places where it will be overcrowded before too long.

If you look at some of the pictures of Monet's garden there are areas that look overgrown altho most I'd describe as lush. I think the same may be true of many cottage gardens. They begin to be overgrown if not carefully and regularly edited.

Simcan has a good point.....by using repetition throughout, it shows that it's not just weedy. Also love the point that by using different textures shapes. That's exactly what I've tried to do with my jungle-y beds.....Although, I have to say, our town offers free water assessments and she thought I had too many textures and have used too many plants......PFTTTTT no such thing....LOL Becuase it's shady especially, I have shadows & light to play with...textures is what allows me to do that....

Great question!!!

Another good question is do you view your garden from afar - from afar, you might want to mix it up more than if you regularly view it from close. From afar you need that jungle-y look to command the same attention as one close up (where it shows the overlap of the plants.

Just one point though, that many plants do better when not completely crowded. Air flow is important and that's why I edit in my garden :)

Where are you in Wy? Anywhere near Douglas? If so go and see my daughters garden-she lives on top of the hill next to the cemetary. Its worth the trip.

squirejohn... your view is so breathtaking. love it. It's well framed. where is this place?

"One person's lush is another's overgrown" says luckygal. I absolutely agree. I'm often surprised at posts which ask for advice on plants which are 'out of control', 'aggressive', 'overgrown' or 'invasive'. Then I look at the pictures and think that they are not even in their full stride yet. So I love squirejohn's patch. Especially like the giant chocolate biscuit(cookie) which appears to be in the foreground!

I think that area is beautiful, squire. That's how you control chaos, just pull out what you don't want or keep it's growth checked. Nothing really stays the same in a garden, it teaches you patience and to accept change.

My garden is now 8yrs old. This is the first year I would call it lush.There are very few places where you can see dirt. It is overgrown in areas where a plant has spread and gotten big enough it is crowding and covering it's neighbors.Overlap and layering is beautiful, a real goal of an abundant garden. But, when a plant threatens the health of it's neighbor it is time to thin the large one or move the hidden one. As some have mentioned, repeats and contrast of texture and color can add the order to the lush.

When I first planted my garden I found it fell into "overgrown" very quickly. I came to believe that having some structure in the garden, even the most informal cottage garden, is the key to avoiding this. Edgings, thoughtful use of color range, and avoiding too many different kinds of ornaments can all help. It can be as simple as having all the pots the same color, or using the same material for climbing structures over and over, or bordering all the beds with the same kind of low plant. Then the chaos beyond resolves itself into abundance rather than disorder. Generous use of mulch lends an air of tidiness, too, as does occasional deadheading. Mulch is my favorite weapon in this battle, since it reduces weeding and watering at the same time.

Rosefolly

It's funny that this thread was posted, because I was looking at the front garden and thinking that it needs more lushness. I have tended to stick to planting width suggestions (i.e. plant 18" apart) and I am not digging it. With shrubs, I think it's a pretty good idea to stick to the suggestions, but there is a lot of variability in perennials. Maybe I'll like it better when things have grown to their full stature.

rosefolly-
i agree with every one of your points and it is nice to see them all expressed so clearly.
it seems to be the only way we can have the very 'organized overgrown' look that is still pleasing to the eye that many gardeners want to end up with. thanks!

min

You're so right that one person's lush is another's overgrown.
It also depends on the type of plants, but to me a cottage garden says lots of plants, full beds, not much ground showing in between. One of my frieds calls it "organized wild".

ianna I live in VT and flora the "chocolate cookie" is the cover for a dug well that's now rarely used, as the pond water (warmer) is used to water gardens.

squirejohn,
your area is perfect. tfs

Beautiful garden, squirejohn.
I like a bit overgrown, as long as things are not woody, floppy, or gone to seed. That said, I am personally too anal to have the garden of my dreams. I come here to see my ideal.
Renee

Squirejohn, a beautiful garden in a gorgeous setting.
My garden is definitely overgrown and it has become very obvious that I procrastinate TOO much. That said I like a full running amuck type of garden, lots of green most of the year as not too much blooms at the same time. Looking at my garden it is very apparent I'm not fond of neat lines and well behaved plants, kind of reminds me of myself LOL.

Annette