The Fourth Dimension

It is often said that the fourth dimension is time.

This fourth dimension becomes very important in garden design.  Can you imagine if the garden was not affected by time?  Plants might as well be plastic!  Although it would be easier to design a garden, it wouldn't be near as much fun.  Or challenging!  Part of the excitement, joy, and even despair of creating a garden is due to time.

Before

It can be hard to imagine a 2 ft. plant growing to 20 ft. tall.  Or a 4 in. plant eventually spreading to 4 ft.  That's why the most common mistake is placing plantings too close together.  A newly planted garden can look very sparse until the plants grow to a reasonable size.  It can be frustrating to wait years for your dream to be realized, only to realize that it doesn't look like what you dreamed after all.  

After - with a little bit of time.
Of course, in a garden, "After" is always changing.

Time is part of the miracle of a garden.  It's a lot cheaper to buy a small plant, take a cutting, or start a seed, than purchase a large specimen.  And it's a lot easier to dig a smaller hole!  In time, the plant will grow to its mature size.  But, you have to be prepared to wait.  And there's always time's influence, which may or may not be predictable.

For example, on the west side of my garden, I planted three small trees.  At first, this area of the garden was in full sun.  But as the trees grew, the shade underneath them grew, too, until now that entire area is almost in full shade.  It's a lot cooler on that side of the house - the main reason I planted the trees - but my plantings under those trees have continually had to change.  And as I fill up that shady area, I am keeping an eye on another area, where a tree is dying.  There is no way to say how much time it has left. But eventually, all those shade loving plants thriving under the spread of that large tree, will be in full sun.

Before

Those types of changes may take years.  But every year, time changes the garden as it moves through the seasons.  Just as it can be hard to imagine what the garden will look like in 5 or 10 years' time, even harder may be to imagine what it will look like from winter to spring, summer to fall.  Just planting for fall and winter interest, spring bulbs, and summer blooms are not enough.  I imagine you want your garden's design to look good going through the seasonal transitions, too.  No wonder we are always making changes to our gardens!

It has taken time for the hedges to grow and the ground cover to fill in.

Want to know a little design trick?  Use a little photo technique that I have used in trying to decide which type of window treatment I want in my home.  Take a photo.  Place it inside clear plastic, and use a marker to make changes.  This will help you imagine your garden in a few year's time.  Mature trees can be drawn on top of newly planted ones.  Shrubs can magically become full size.  Even spring bulbs can be drawn in on a winter photo.  

I've only used this technique inside, but it might be fun to try it and see what my mature garden will eventually look like.  Or, I can just take a chance and wait.  After all, time will tell!

I'm joining Donna at Garden Walk Garden Talk for Word 4 Wednesday meme on Time.