Color, texture, structural form, and areas of space are the implements of design, the materials of which it is composed. Here, there is no substitute for personal taste and creativity. Rules like those for the use of complementary or contrasting colors, the play of soft textures against hard are made only to be broken if the effect is carefully conceived and executed.

Your patio planters, for example, may present a striking picture because they contain flowers in assorted brilliant colors; next door, your neighbor may use only shades of pink and white for equal pleasure. Even a combination of shades of green can be enticing, particularly if textures and light or shadow are used in some original manner.

Using Vines Decoratively

Effective decorating, then, begins with the elements of good design. But with the addition of your own discrimination and originality, the fun begins. Before using vines and hanging plants for indoor or outdoor decoration, try to visualize the whole picture - the room or wall, or the whole garden area. Try to “see” in your mind all elements in relation to each other and to the situation. Then, select plants and containers that suit your intention and create the picture you have in mind.

This principle is less ephemeral than unity and more easily defined, and can even be set down in nearly precise mathematical terms. Essentially, the elements or areas of a design have a visual weight; and these weights achieve balance like that of the old-fashioned scale, or seesaw. If the seesaw is unbalanced, the result is distracting or disturbing. The principle of balance is usually mandatory, but the methods of achieving it are not. There are many ways to arrange elements and areas to achieve a balanced design; and here is where originality and personal taste improve the picture.

Two types of balanced composition are generally recognized - formal and informal. Formal balance calls for a focal point or center of interest in the center of the design, with areas and/or elements of equal weight on either side. You can’t go wrong with formal balance. There is no question that the geometric arrangement of classic rose gardens are of good design; or even that Colonial or Victorian settings seem suitable for formally balanced decoration.

Vines are available in an endless variety of size, texture, color, and form, and they can be trained to any shape, line, or curve. Name the decorative purpose your planting should serve, the effect you want to achieve, and take your choice of suitable vines or hanging plants. For dangling down from the edge of an indoor garden or climbing a piece of gnarled driftwood at the back, there are dainties like the creeping fig or the more luxuriant scindapsus. For a big, bold, masculine effect on the wall of a man’s study or a tropical patio, there are a great number of astonishing philodendrons and monsteras. For airy, lacy shadow effects, there are annuals like the canary-bird vine, succulents like the ceropegias.

For filling the bare space between a tall plant and its planter and relating each to the other, use any number of attractive trailers. For shading or screening a porch or patio, choose heavy-textured vines like the Dutchman’s pipe, lighter types like akebia. For evergreen vines of winter beauty, you can have small-leaved euonymous or handsome ivies; for brilliant fall color, parthenocissus or grapevines. There are dwarf vines and giants; vines with waxy foliage, or subdued and velvety; vines with colorful flowers or berries, or both; those that grow rampant or modest and restrained. There are magnificent climbing roses and clematis; exotic passion flowers and bougainvilleas - and all kinds of trailing plants for hanging baskets and wall brackets.

From a kerchief-sized city back yard to the rolling hills of a magnificent country estate, there is hardly a garden or landscape where vines can’t be used to give the scene graceful beauty and vitality. And few other plants serve so many practical purposes as well.

Vines have character and individuality. Some are modest, and attract attention to the patterned texture of a wall rather than to themselves. Some are bold and brilliant, and command the eye. All give a fluid impression of movement no other plant form provides.

Vines are adaptable, versatile, can be trained to almost any shape or line, formal or informal, horizontal or vertical, sweeping or restrained. A controllable line is one of the landscape architect’s most potent tools.

And vines have variety in size, shape, color, contour, texture. There are fast- and slow-growing, deciduous and evergreen, annual and perennial vines. Some feature foliage, flowers, or colorful fall and winter fruit; some paragons provide all three.

Practically speaking, vines can do more for a garden, yet require less space and less care, than most people realize. They are generally strong-rooted, prefer not to be pampered, are subject to relatively few diseases. They occupy a small area, yet their tops are arranged to get full benefit of all available light and sunlight.

Special consideration should be given to the garden potential by anyone buying a new home. This is a factor all too often ignored by purchasers who later regret their lack of foresight. You should, at the very least, be aware of the garden problems your new home will present.

Desirable Features

Whether you intend to move to a rural or to an urban area, there are certain qualities you will want your property to have. You want soil with good drainage, and land contour that can be graded without too great expense. The best type of property in these respects would be one that is gently rolling; it offers little likelihood of poor drainage, yet is not sloped enough to cause erosion. A perfectly flat piece of land can appear to be ideal for a garden, but you should first check the subsoil condition to make sure there is no “hard pan” (that is, a layer of hard-packed soil impervious to the passage of water), or even solid rock, just a few inches below the surface.

October may provide brilliant color in the landscape but it also signals an end of another growing season. Let’s look at some of the things needed to be done in the landscape.

Dahlias can remain in the ground until after frost. Cut off the stems six inches above the ground and lift carefully, for the tubers are brittle and break off easily. Discard any that do. Place the clumps in flats, stem side down, and let them dry off before storing. Just before storing cut off the fine roots and cut the stem back to within an inch or two of the crown. They are best stored in a cool place (about 40 degrees) but may be stored at a warmer temperature if covered with peatmoss or sand. Line the storage boxes with paper. A dusting of sulphur before storing will prevent rot. Be sure to tie labels to the clumps so you will know what is what next year.

Tuberous begonias are lifted after the foliage has yellowed, but don’t remove the foliage until it is dry. Remove the dried stems and clean off the dry soil. Store the tubers in flats in a warm place (50 to 60 degrees) and cover them with peatmoss. They need good circulation of air to prevent rot.

The final decision as to what type of garden you will want is not reached at the snap of a finger, but can be achieved in one of two ways. The first, and most businesslike, is to write down all pertinent facts and figures concerning yourself, your family, the size of your property, the size of your house, its exposure, etc. The other, which is just as workable but perhaps a little more confusing and likely to cause you undue worry, is simply to carry your ideas around in your head and finally try to put them on paper in the form of a plan. These are not solutions of your problem but rather helpful guides.

The more orderly method is to make a check list and to give our thought reality we shall consider the requirements of a family living in a development of identical houses in Central New Jersey. Their check list should be used as a guide in making your own.

In Northern United States and Canada

Now is the time to check out seed catalogs and online along with placing orders. Early in the month sow seeds of Clarkia, Godedia, Larkspur, Stocks and other annuals for Spring bloom in the greenhouse. Toward the end of January sow in the greenhouse Wax Begonias, Lobelias, Vinca roses, Delphiniums and Pansies for Summer bloom outdoors…

Remove pots of bulbs, such as Hyacinths, Daffodils and Tulips, that are to be forced for early bloom, a few at a time, from the cool basement or sand bed outdoors where they have been rooting, and bring them into the greenhouse or house. Shade them for the first few days and give them lots of water at all times. Keep them cool at first; increase the temperature gradually.

As soon as dormant potted Amaryllis bulbs show signs of life, remove a little of the old surface soil, replace with rich new soil, water thoroughly and place the pots in a warm, light location in the greenhouse or house. Pot new Amaryllis bulbs in well-drained pots of fertile sandy soil.

In order to plan your landscape accurately, you should have a drawing board, ruler, tape measure, paper, and patience.

A flowering shrub costs less than an evergreen, and in my opinion can achieve equally marvelous effects.

False Cost Estimates

Once you have studied the techniques of landscaping you will be able to guard against making false cost estimates. Here is a typical example of how many people go wrong: The novice would be “professional” home landscaper says to himself, “The distance across the front of my house is 40 feet - the ten plants to plant there cost me $75. Therefore, to go all around my property would cover 300 feet and this would cost approximately $550 plus dollars.” He shakes his head and resigns himself to a half-planted garden.

You will soon learn that such a method of estimating costs is inaccurate. In the first place you must try not to enclose the entire property; secondly, plants in the back yard will be given much more space in which to develop; finally, the plants in the back yard for the most part will be or should be deciduous.

Orientation is the direction in which a house faces. If you are building or can choose among houses that face in several directions, you should always try for an orientation that takes maximum advantage of sunlight. Anyone who already owns their home can, of course, do nothing about its orientation.

Unfortunately, habit and tradition prevent most people who live in crowded urban and suburban areas from taking advantage of undoubtedly distress his more conventional neighbors. Nevertheless, such a rugged individualist would certainly make the interior of his home more comfortable and would also be able to use the garden area to better advantage. A few modern builders, however, have tried to improve orientation in a number of their large developments.

Rural

In rural areas, however, homes are farther apart and an owner need never think twice about orienting his house so as to take advantage of the surrounding elements.

Whether or not the house is parallel to the highway is hardly noticeable under such conditions, so the point should certainly be discussed with the architect or builder.

Ideal Orientation