This month’s Landscape Malpractice Tip #38 is a sad one. The photos were taken one year after installation. It is an example of poor design, ignorance of horticulture basics, within both municipal and commercial entities, waste of money and good plant material. Along with a “who cares?” attitude.

A commercial landscape designed by the developer/builder to get a C.O. and permitted by the municipal building department to receive approval and provide a C.O. (certificate of occupancy) Just get it done.

• ·Prime example of “instant landscape.”

• Two large canopy trees, Taxodium spp. one installed in undersized, curbed beds in the middle of the parking lot.

• The other cypress planted too close to the curb and other plants.

• The Muhly grass needs full sun and not spaced correctly — planted too close together. Muhly’s mature size is too big for that small bed and is not maintained.

• The Liriope muscari needs shade and mesic soils. It is not getting enough water to handle the sunlight.

• The Ilex vomitoria ‘Schillings,’ is fine, albeit planted in a yawn-inducing formal row instead of naturally spaced, but okay.

•  One small Redbud. It is fine.

• African iris in the far bed is fine, just overplanted.

Plants in native landscapes should be spaced based on their mature size, alongside other plants that have similar growing requirements.

Landscape architects and designers should know what the future site conditions will be and need to use mature sizes as a guide for the number of plants to spec and how far apart to space. Muhly grasses are 5’ to 6’ wide at maturity. With an 8’ x 10’ bed with an eventual 20’+ tall cypress tree in the middle, there should only be one to two Muhly grass spec’d, not four to six.

Using native plants in unnatural landscapes, (middle of parking lots and cement curbs) is not natural and looks terrible. Eventually companies get tired of looking at the high-maintenance, dead plants and trees in ugly areas. These mandatory “native” landscapes are then cleaned up and filled in with turf, or rubber mulch, gravel, and cigarette butts. Municipal code departments who permit these atrocities should know better. Who cares? The property owners who deserve guidance in planting native habitats should care, and the wildlife who deserve to have their environments protected care. We all should care.

1. Daylilies, Hemerocallis spp.

2. Osteospermum spp.

3. Calla lilies, Zantedeschia spp.

4. Angelonia angustifolia,

5. Rain lilies, Zephyranthes spp.

A faux gate enhances the ambiance of my client’s garden to attract birds and butterflies and enjoy the conservation area view.

Create A Gate Faux Every Garden!

An interesting way to add an entrance (or an exit) to your garden is to install a faux gate. Even if you don’t have a fence, a faux gate will create the illusion of an entrance. Depending on your garden theme, it can be an old-fashioned crickety wooden gate created by tying branches together, or vintage rusty (safely sealed) metal gate, or a modern frosted glass panel between two columns.

Your gate can show where to walk in your garden. It can be at the end of your journey to a garden bench or meditation area. They can be placed at the beginning of the walkway, or midway along the path to indicate entering the next outdoor room, or at the end of the garden to allow visitors to leave with flair. Faux gates are easy to install between two complementary posts. Match the material of the gate. Make sure the posts are stable by using concrete bases in the ground or metal rods to secure them. Do not let them wobble!

Where can you find a faux gate? You can check out antique shops, Etsy, Facebook sales, garage sales, thrift stores, and vintage furniture stores. Or make your own from all the wood you collect on a hike during your vacation.

Instead of placing a beautiful antique gate on a wall, or featured as a piece of art, make them a purposeful piece of art, “thriller”, or just whimsy, just so you have a faux gate. Where would it lead you?

As a landscape designer, whether it’s foliage or flowers, one of my major color decisions is Pantone’s Color of the Year. How can I work into my landscape plan? This year, Pantone has selected a very earthy, subdued, calming color called Mocha Mousse. Mocha is espresso coffee that is combined with chocolate and cream. It’s not a dark brown, but brown that has been mixed with white.

Mocha mousse is satiny. Think of mousse hair foam, a satin pillowcase, or the dessert that melts in your mouth. Nothing chunky about it. Just mmmmm smooth.

In the garden, brown is associated with Autumn and death. Leaves turning brown and falling to the ground. Leaf tips that are parched or diseased. Not even dirt is thought of as brown, but shades of black, greys, orange, and white tones, but not brown. Mocha Mousse is subtle in the background or underneath the main colors.

My number one selection for incorporating Mocha Mousse in the garden is the Nun’s orchid, Phaius tankerville. One of the few plants with truly brown flowers. Nun’s orchids are perfect for an elegant statement in a shade or woodland garden. Other plants that are perfect for use in a Mocha Mousse garden are various coleus, Copperleaf, Cleyera, and Heucheras. Pantone’s color palette includes softer tones of brown, mauve, and warm silver.

Roses that fit the category are floribunda ‘Distant Drums’, hybrid ‘Toffee’, floribunda ‘Koko Loco’, and grandifolia’s ‘Lagerfeld’. ‘Toffee’ and ‘Koko Loco’ roses are available at Lukas Nursery. Heirloom Roses, and High Country roses.

Consider blending the Mocha Mousse with jewel tones, soft pinks, whites, and light blue flowers and accents. It’s an elegant, rich hue and shouldn’t be used with primary or bright, “in your face” colors. Check out Piktochart’s webpage for wonderful color combinations for creating an elegant landscape.