While walking in your neighborhood, look for a common error: amazing trailing plants, unfortunately, drowning in their own beauty because of lacking accompanying plants. The result? Flat, one-dimensional, and frankly, boring gardens.
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Check PriceMany gardeners, even beginners, tend to miss the mark with their trailing plants. Trailing plants actually play more of a supporting role and need tall, structural companions to shine. This is how you create the depth and contrast that stops browsers in their tracks. When these pairings are right, magic happens.
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Impact of Height and Texture Pairing
Think about the unforgettable gardens you have seen before. What is a common feature they have? Most likely, it is layering. Layers of different heights and textures invite the eye to explore the space and travel. The flowing underlay is provided by trailing species, and structural and focal elements are provided by vertical bloomers.
The different heights of plants form visually interesting triangles. Also, certain plants like lavender will create additional focal points because their texture contrasts with the flowing texture of bacopa.
Key Suggestions on How to Successfully Pair
Before getting into the specific combinations, familiarize yourself with these three general guidelines. Firstly, try to match the same light and water needs. Your vertical partners and trailing petunias will thrive under the same conditions. Secondly, consider flowering time. Best combinations are those that have concurrent flowering for more impact or that are in a sequence for a longer time. Lastly, do growth rate control so that by the end of the season one plant doesn't take over the whole space.
12 Plant Combos That Will Add Instant Drama to Your Garden
1. Cascading Lobelia and Upright Salvia The brilliant blue waterfalls of Lobelia pair beautifully with the purple-red spikes of salvia. For best effect, plant salvia 18 inches behind the lobelia. This tandem combination flourishes in partial shade and blooms all season long.
2. Sweet Alyssum Carpet with Tall Zinnias In this case, you can spell the word ‘foamy’ out using Sweet Alyssum while zinnias shoot up like fireworks. The honey fragrance of the Alyssum attracts the beneficial insects, and the zinnias provide cut flowers. For full coverage, space the zinnias 12 inches apart.
3. Bacopa's Snowflakes and Purple Fountain Grass Together, they add interest all through the seasons! Bacopa's small white flowers look like gently falling snow while the fountain grass gives a bit of movement and a fun texture to the combo. Even when the bacopa's growing season ends, the grass will still add structure to the arrangement.
4. Million Bells and Upright Geraniums Since these plants are very popular, this combination has become a classic. While Geraniums provide strong, erect structure, Million Bells cascade in many different colors. They enjoy full sun, and generated needs. For optimal effect use contrasting colors.
5. Nasturtiums and Sunflowers
Build a great edible landscape. Nasturtiums trail with their spicy blooms while sunflowers rise behind. The nasturtiums help suppress weeds around the bases of sunflowers and provide salad flowers.
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6. Sweet potato vines with celosia. Pairing sweet potato vines with chartreuse or purple foliage creates a fiery color combination with the flame plumes of celosia. Both provide color all growing season long and thrive in the heat. (spring to fall)
**Trailing Begonias with Caladiums** These plants work well in shady areas as Certified Shade Garden plants. Begonias produce blooms all season long and caladiums have beautiful tropical-looking heart-shaped leaves. Both enjoy consistent moisture, morning sun and afternoon shade.
Dichondra Silver Falls and Upright Marigolds
The bright orange of the marigolds stands out and is enhanced by the bright silver of the dichondra. Both of these plants do not require a lot of water to survive and thrive in both garden beds and containers. Silver tones lighten and brighten surrounding colors.
9. Trailing Verbena with Ornamental Peppers
The beautiful blooms of trailing verbena can be paired with the attractive fruit of ornamental pepper. Both enjoy heat and provide increasing color as the temperatures rise.
10. Ivy Geraniums with Spike Plants
Here we see the classic combination of thriller, filler and spiller in action. Spike plants (Dracaena spikes) provide the thriller, upright geraniums provide the fill, and ivy geraniums spill over. This trio works well in both pots and borders.
11. String of Hearts with Upright Coleus
In partial shade, the trailing String of Hearts can be combined with coleus, which come in a variety of brilliant colors. The heart-shaped succulent leaves of the String of Hearts will provide a nice contrast to the large, broad, and patterned leaves of the coleus.
12. Pansies and Kale
With this combination, you can expand your seasonal interest for the cooler weather. Pansies will provide some lovely adorned faces and ornamental kale will provide some dramatic rosettes. Both will actually improve in color when temperatures drop.
How to Plant to Get Maximum Impact
When it comes to positioning your upright plants, placing them slightly behind and to one side of the trailing plants (not directly behind for either one) will help create a more natural look. To encourage strong root systems to develop in both plants, water more deeply, but less frequently.
Use a balanced fertilizer most of the time. However, if your upright plants are getting too tall and overpowering the trailing plants, consider switching to lower-nitrogen formulas for the middle of the growing season.
Seasonal Succession Planning
The best gardens change with the seasons. When creating your combinations, consider how one element can fade while another comes into the spotlight. Spring pansies and alyssum give way to summer petunias and salvia – which transition to fall with trailing begononia’s and mum’s.
You could consider the possibility of planting bulbs in the area surrounding the combinations you have planted. Spring bulbs will bloom first and look wonderful as they push up through the covering soil, which will fade as the summer annuals take over the display.
The first step in changing how your garden looks is to change your perspective of how you see trailing plants. What if, instead of thinking of them as a single feature, you considered them as part of a bigger picture? Choose from combinations that excite you, match your growing conditions, and most importantly, make you happy when you see them. Seeing neighbors stop to admire your garden will be a nice touch.
