Twombly Nursery

I've never been the kind of gardener who could create a plan on paper and then go out and implement it. I like to make decisions in the field and, if necessary, move things around after they've been planted. As far as I'm concerned, design mistakes just give me the chance to do more gardening. That said, I did have to make some firm decisions about creating my winter garden. I wanted to take advantage of the natural contours of the land and to echo their curving shapes in the paths and beds. I also brought in lots of stones and used them to create seats, bridges, and small lookouts throughout the garden. To me, stones look wonderfully elemental in a winter landscape, and their enduring structure brings a sense of cohesion to my overall design.

Another important element for a winter garden is a dark, solid-looking background. I was able to take advantage of a hedge of conifers and some big rhododendrons that were already in place in my garden and used them as a backdrop against which the structural forms, naked branches, bright berries, and colored bark of the plants would shine. Stone walls could work, too.

With the site prepared, I began selecting the largest trees and shrubs. This included a good variety of conifers selected for their varied sizes, shapes, and color; deciduous trees selected for their interesting bark, pleasing branching structure, or appealing growth habit; and anything with berries or ornamental fruits. I added a number of weeping trees, too - I've learned that their unusual, striking shapes have an unequaled capacity to surprise garden visitors. Though I like plants with unique character, they don't have to be exotic. Some of my best specimens were common plants with missing branches or twisted trunks that no one would buy at my nursery. I planted some of these misshapen specimens at a tilt to provide even more interest.

I started putting all these elements together, always opting for maximum contrast. To me, there's nothing as effective as placing a needled conifer next to a broadleaved evergreen next to a naked twig next to a berried branch. I try to mix shapes, too, combining mounding forms with upright, spreading, or weeping ones. Texture is another quality to vary. I like to create visual tension by placing, say, a stiff, steely blue spruce next to a soft-looking pine. Size is another good element to play with, and when combining different-sized plants, I think in terms of thirds - positioning a large tree next to something that is a third or two-thirds as big.

I also love to plant trees and shrubs in groups to create a lot of impact and to show off the appealing characteristics of the plants. So my garden includes clusters of contorted fil-berts (Corylus avellana 'Pendula') and groupings of mountain clethra (Clethra acuminata) and golden curly willows (Salix 'Golden Curls'). When making groupings, I strive for compositions based on odd numbers, but I sometimes include a stone as one of the compositional elements. One of the keys to using woody plants is placing them at natural focal points in the garden. To find these spots, I walk around the garden, considering the twists and turns of the paths and noting the way my eye moves across the landscape.

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