Garden Design #7: Blocking in Color and Plant Groups
Now that the big structural pieces are in place, it’s time to start filling the garden — not with specific plants yet, but with color, mass, and height.
This step is about seeing the garden as a whole before getting lost in details.
Grab Some Color
Take out colored pencils or crayons and work directly on your tracing paper.
Each color represents a group of plants, not a single plant and not a specific variety.
Think in terms of:
- Color
- Size
- Height
- Texture
Right now, you’re creating blobs, not labels.
Use Repetition on Purpose
Choose a color and place it at least twice in the garden.
This repetition is what creates rhythm and cohesion. Even in informal gardens, repeating shapes and colors helps the eye move comfortably through the space.
You don’t need symmetry unless you are going for a symmetrical design, just intentional repetition.
Dont forget color isnt mostly flowers, it starts with foliage which you will see for more of the year.
Here is a symmetrical example where I repeated chartreuse foliage:
Here is the side of the same house, but it is asymmetrical. You can still see I continue to repeat similar colors including chartreuse foliage:
Think about Height
As you add color blocks, also think about height:
- Tall
- Medium
- Low
You can lightly note height with:
- Larger or smaller shapes
- Simple annotations (T / M / L)
- Overlapping layers
This keeps your garden from feeling flat and helps reinforce the structure you laid out in earlier steps.
Don’t Forget Grasses and Evergreens
This is where many designs fall apart if you’re not careful. I think I have mentioned this in several posts since so many newbies forget these.
Make sure you intentionally block in:
Ornamental grasses for movement, softness, and seasonal interest
Evergreens for structure, winter presence, and visual rest
They should be treated as design elements, not filler. If you don’t plan for them here, they often get skipped later.
Stay Abstract on Purpose
It can feel uncomfortable not naming plants yet that’s normal.
But staying abstract at this stage:
- Prevents impulse buying
- Makes spacing more accurate
- Keeps the focus on balance and flow
You’ll get to plant selection soon. This step makes that part much easier.
What Comes Next
With color blocks and plant groupings in place, your garden plan should finally feel alive even without a single plant name written down.
In the next post, we’ll translate these color and height groupings into specific plant types and quantities, turning your design into a real, actionable planting plan.
This is also exactly how we’ll work through garden planning in my Garden Design Workshop on March 1 at Scout Hill Farm, where I’ll help you move from sketches to a plan you can confidently plant and maintain.