Landscape Design
Gardening Guides
See How 4 Gorgeous Gardens Win With Fall Color and Texture
Ornamental grasses, crinkled leaves, chunky stone and warm brick take center stage in these fall landscapes
We’re quick to notice the dramatic, brightly colored leaves this time of year, but there’s a more subtle layer of beauty to fall gardens that’s easy to overlook. As colors begin to fade, the contrast of different plant forms and textures — the soft plumes of ornamental grasses, crinkled leaves of deciduous trees, spiky needles of conifers and dried seed heads of perennial flowers — can create a landscape of long-lasting fall and winter beauty.
Take a visual tour of four gardens that use a combination of trees, shrubs, grasses and perennials, as well as interesting hardscape materials, to celebrate autumn through form and texture.
Take a visual tour of four gardens that use a combination of trees, shrubs, grasses and perennials, as well as interesting hardscape materials, to celebrate autumn through form and texture.
A close-up of the built-in bench gives us a view of the Cor-Ten panels, which, when backlit, create a luminous textural backdrop. The wall-mounted panels were designed with cutouts and three-dimensional flaps that echo the size and shape of the leaves of the magnolia tree planted at the center of the courtyard.
Plants in the built-in bed — such as delicate ornamental grasses, lace-like ferns and glossy-leafed mirror plant (Coprosma sp.) — stand out with bronze and green hues and a variety of leaf textures and forms.
Plants in the built-in bed — such as delicate ornamental grasses, lace-like ferns and glossy-leafed mirror plant (Coprosma sp.) — stand out with bronze and green hues and a variety of leaf textures and forms.
Lindsay topped the planting area for the magnolia with a top-dressing of chunky river stones, taking yet another opportunity to add textural contrast to the courtyard.
Working texture into the design with the building and hardscape materials ensures that the courtyard will have year-round interest, even when plants are more bare.
Shop for outdoor pillows and cushions on Houzz
Working texture into the design with the building and hardscape materials ensures that the courtyard will have year-round interest, even when plants are more bare.
Shop for outdoor pillows and cushions on Houzz
2. A Landscape Designer’s Trial Garden in Pennsylvania
Landscape designer Donald Pell of Donald Pell Gardens uses the garden around his studio in East Vincent Township, Pennsylvania, as an expression of his design philosophy and to try out different planting combinations. The textures of plants and other garden elements, like hardscape and sculpture, play a starring role and give the garden year-round interest. “Flowers can be so ephemeral,” Pell says. “I generally focus on textures of foliage and bark.”
Here, the plumes of ornamental grasses (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Gracillimus’ and Miscanthus x giganteus), fading flowers of Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia ‘Filigran’) and lingering seed heads of giant coneflower (Rudbeckia maxima) form a textural feast alongside a stacked stone cairn.
Caution: Some species of Miscanthus can self-seed and become invasive. Check your region for invasiveness before planting.
Landscape designer Donald Pell of Donald Pell Gardens uses the garden around his studio in East Vincent Township, Pennsylvania, as an expression of his design philosophy and to try out different planting combinations. The textures of plants and other garden elements, like hardscape and sculpture, play a starring role and give the garden year-round interest. “Flowers can be so ephemeral,” Pell says. “I generally focus on textures of foliage and bark.”
Here, the plumes of ornamental grasses (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Gracillimus’ and Miscanthus x giganteus), fading flowers of Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia ‘Filigran’) and lingering seed heads of giant coneflower (Rudbeckia maxima) form a textural feast alongside a stacked stone cairn.
Caution: Some species of Miscanthus can self-seed and become invasive. Check your region for invasiveness before planting.
Pell’s advice for gardeners: “Have patience. There can be a surprise around every corner.” For example, the tall dried stalks of golden-hued moorgrass (Molinia caerulea ssp. arundinacea ‘Cordoba’) shown here in contrast with the deep burgundy large-textured leaves of kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa ‘Satomi’) was a surprising discovery.
“Molinias don’t generally stand up great in the winter,” Pell says, “but two seasons ago it turned brilliant gold and even when [it later] flopped over, it had the most vivid effect all winter. I think we’re better off when we enjoy the evolution, relax and put the pruning shears down.”
“Molinias don’t generally stand up great in the winter,” Pell says, “but two seasons ago it turned brilliant gold and even when [it later] flopped over, it had the most vivid effect all winter. I think we’re better off when we enjoy the evolution, relax and put the pruning shears down.”
Even smaller garden vignettes offer the opportunity to work in some texture. Leaving the seed heads of astilbe (Astilbe chinensis ‘Purple Candles’) on the plant in fall allows birds to feast on the seeds and adds a rich bronze color and texture to a bed with sweetbay (Magnolia virginiana) and white-flowering Japanese anemone (Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’).
See this garden in other times of year
See this garden in other times of year
3. A Meadow Garden in the Dutch Countryside
This naturalistic meadow garden located in Friesland, a province in the northwest of the Netherlands, is a tapestry of color and texture throughout the seasons. In spring and summer, perennial flowers and bright foliage stand out in ribbons of color through the ornamental grasses. In fall and winter, the texture of grasses, seed heads and stems form a more subtle display.
This naturalistic meadow garden located in Friesland, a province in the northwest of the Netherlands, is a tapestry of color and texture throughout the seasons. In spring and summer, perennial flowers and bright foliage stand out in ribbons of color through the ornamental grasses. In fall and winter, the texture of grasses, seed heads and stems form a more subtle display.
The drift planting of flowering perennials and ornamental grasses pays tribute in many respects to Piet Oudolf, the Netherlands’ most famous contemporary landscape designer. The emphasis in this garden is on plant form and texture and how they naturally change throughout the season, as in many of Oudolf’s gardens.
Here, the seed heads of perennials and grasses left to age naturally on the plants create a stunning textural combination, particularly when backlit.
The differences in form and texture between plants really stand out as the season changes from fall to winter and most of the meadow turns brown.
Want a More Colorful, Natural Garden? Try a Perennial Meadow
Want a More Colorful, Natural Garden? Try a Perennial Meadow
4. A Brightly Colored Fall Garden in Milwaukee
This Wisconsin garden proves that brilliant fall foliage and more subtle textural variation can be used together to create a dynamic garden. Designer Michael Patek of Cottage Gardener used a variety of deciduous trees, ornamental grasses, evergreen conifers and perennial flowers to create a garden that’s interesting throughout the year.
Here, a paper birch (Betula papyrifera ‘Renci’) and red Japanese stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia) form a vivid backdrop for the pond and patio.
This Wisconsin garden proves that brilliant fall foliage and more subtle textural variation can be used together to create a dynamic garden. Designer Michael Patek of Cottage Gardener used a variety of deciduous trees, ornamental grasses, evergreen conifers and perennial flowers to create a garden that’s interesting throughout the year.
Here, a paper birch (Betula papyrifera ‘Renci’) and red Japanese stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia) form a vivid backdrop for the pond and patio.
“We like to use plants with at least two seasons, but many times three or four seasons, of interest,” Patek says. “Taking a four-season approach [often] gives you the benefit of both interesting textures and colors year-round.”
A close-up of a waterside planting bed shows the contrast in color, form and texture between fine-leafed gray-green juniper, a mounding dwarf pine, bold, spiky-looking yucca, red barberry and weeping foliage of a yellow ‘Tiger Eyes’ staghorn sumac.
A close-up of a waterside planting bed shows the contrast in color, form and texture between fine-leafed gray-green juniper, a mounding dwarf pine, bold, spiky-looking yucca, red barberry and weeping foliage of a yellow ‘Tiger Eyes’ staghorn sumac.
When a layer of frost blankets the landscape and tones down the fiery fall colors, one can appreciate the variety of forms and textures of plants and other elements that Patek and his team included in the landscape. The fluffy plumes of ornamental grasses and fine-leafed fleabane (Erigeron sp.) contrast with the chunky boulders surrounding the pond. Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta), although past their prime bloom, add interest with their dark, cone-like centers.
See more of this garden
See more of this garden
5 Ways to Incorporate More Texture Into Your Garden
1. Pick out plants with a wide range of leaf types and forms. The keys to making texture stand out are variety and proximity. If you’re planning a new garden bed, choose plants with different leaf forms, from fine-textured grasses to large-leafed varieties. If you’re adding plants to an existing garden, look for the texture you’re missing.
2. Place plants with different textures in close proximity. The closer two plants are with different textures, the more our eyes recognize — and appreciate — the juxtaposition.
3. Skip cutting back ornamental grasses. It’s tempting to get out the clippers once grasses start to turn dormant, but even as colors fade, their textures can add to the overall bed design.
4. Allow perennials to go to seed. Likewise, wait to cut back flowering perennials like astilbe, coneflower, beebalm, Japanese anemone and others until the plants really start to molder away. In fall and often well into winter, the seed heads provide a food source for birds and an interesting accent to gardens.
5. Choose hardscape materials carefully. Crunchy pea gravel, rough boulders, smooth poured concrete and polished river rock can all add textural interest and contrast to gardens.
More on Houzz
12 Fabulous Fall Container Gardens
7 Reasons Not to ‘Clean Up’ Your Fall Garden
Shop for outdoor products
Find a pro. for your home project
1. Pick out plants with a wide range of leaf types and forms. The keys to making texture stand out are variety and proximity. If you’re planning a new garden bed, choose plants with different leaf forms, from fine-textured grasses to large-leafed varieties. If you’re adding plants to an existing garden, look for the texture you’re missing.
2. Place plants with different textures in close proximity. The closer two plants are with different textures, the more our eyes recognize — and appreciate — the juxtaposition.
3. Skip cutting back ornamental grasses. It’s tempting to get out the clippers once grasses start to turn dormant, but even as colors fade, their textures can add to the overall bed design.
4. Allow perennials to go to seed. Likewise, wait to cut back flowering perennials like astilbe, coneflower, beebalm, Japanese anemone and others until the plants really start to molder away. In fall and often well into winter, the seed heads provide a food source for birds and an interesting accent to gardens.
5. Choose hardscape materials carefully. Crunchy pea gravel, rough boulders, smooth poured concrete and polished river rock can all add textural interest and contrast to gardens.
More on Houzz
12 Fabulous Fall Container Gardens
7 Reasons Not to ‘Clean Up’ Your Fall Garden
Shop for outdoor products
Find a pro. for your home project
By using texture-rich building materials, landscape designer Georgia Lindsay of London-based Georgia Lindsay Garden Design can pack a lot of interest into small city gardens with limited planting space.
For example, consider the design of this courtyard garden in converted stables, or “mews,” in London’s Camden neighborhood. Each element — including the smooth concrete floor, exposed existing brick walls, slatted wood gate and three-dimensional Cor-Ten steel wall panels — adds texture to the space. Then furniture, cushions and throw blankets come in.
Look for a local landscape designer on Houzz