I like to let my annual and biennial plants wander around in the garden. (The photo shows lime-green Euphorbias -E. characias - and foxgloves - Digitalis purperea. All from seed cast asunder by leaving the flower stalks to mature.)
Nature conceals the pattern of the placement of plants. Each hopeful seedling, each successful mature tree; grows in a haphazard pattern. If we want a truly natural look garden and feel to our constructed garden, we must avoid human constructs. Even attempts at gentle chaos often reveal a noticeable intent. True randomness means letting go.
Here’s a test for planting in a truly random fashion: Take five or more golf balls and throw them up onto the air over the area you want to plant. Where each ball falls is where you plant. The real task is not to move any balls—”oh that one looks so close to that ball”. Untouched balls can mean some very odd combinations—just like the forest or meadow.
We usually buy a plant, look in a book to see how far apart it should be planted, and plant with loving care. The difficulty with the random-balls approach is some patterns require buying more plants than you anticipated. Because several balls are clustered together, the gardener may feel the cost of extra plants is a burden. A forest of meadow has no expense account. Plants sprout, die, and thrive—all at the same time. Thousands of seedlings or plants have died to give birth to the one glorious specimen we appreciate. Such a pattern is within the natural flow of the random sprouting and growth of all natural things. Rejoice in the spontaneity.
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NOTE: Somehow I lost the automatic way to leave a comment. You can click on the "___ Comments button. Or, go to a blog listed under the Blog Archives and click to get the comment box. I hope to figure this out. Robert
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