Small Plants at www.japanese-home-gardens.com

FOR CULTURAL reasons, some plants need a special environment: many alpines need a rockery, scree bed or Sink garden, while bog plants require damp soil and aquatic plants depend on water. In a Small plants backyard, you may not have room for more than a few plants of each type.

THEY ARE immensely varied in character, some being tiny shrubs, some herbaceous plants, others bulbs, corms, or tubers. Though the majority enjoy open sunny places and well-drained soils, suitable rock plants can be found for almost any situation in the garden, including those that are moist and shady. The fact that rock plants have developed from wild plants brought from many different lands accounts for their fascination with collectors, who can grow a wide variety of plants with different origins in a Small plants area. It is not essential to have a rock garden in order to grow rock-garden plants. Many will grow just as well in ordinary beds, provided the soil is suitable and they are not overrun by larger plants. Dry walls and raised beds are also satisfactory substitutes for rock gardens and may fit more appropriately into the design of Small plants gardens, including even those of formal design.

Whichever plants we choose to grow, they must be displayed well if they are to look their best. The easiest way to group is to make a series of Small plants feature "pictures" and create clusters of plants, sometimes only two or three, each adding to the others' beauty and effectiveness. PLANT ASSOCIATION is not just a question of putting together plants that flower at the same time. Instead, look for plants that complement each other in terms of habit and size, texture and color.