Plant Arranging
Now it s time to begin sketching which plants might go where in your garden beds. The average gardener arranges plants in beds with the tallest plants in the rear and the smallest near the front. If you are designing a garden bed to be observed from a window, then this might mean placing the shorter plants close to the house. Moreover, island beds often have tall plants in the center and smaller plants toward the edges of the beds. A common plan might include plants that are less than one foot tall in the front third of the garden bed, plants that are greater than three feet tall in the rear third of the bed and plants between one and three feet tall in the center third of the garden bed. You should never adhere to the guidelines too sternly; save you want your garden to look like stair steps in contour. You can bring a few of the taller plants forward and plant several of the shorter plants farther back to produce a more assorted topography. To generate a smooth gradation of heights, the tallest plants should be no taller than at least two-thirds the width of the bed or half the width of the bed, especially with island beds...