Garden Design Principal Principles

Clipped box balls repeated alongside water feature

Garden Design Principal Principles

Garden design – the clue is in the name – we design gardens, and like all disciplines of design, the best examples of our work – and that of other garden designers – can always be traced back to the creative application of a few fundamental principles – or rules – that underpin all we do.

Rather unhelpfully, there isn’t a universally accepted specific, set number of these rules; one camp may cite 5, another 12, yet another 9 or 7 but if you were to read all of them you would see a commonality between them.  Just as Shakespeare’s “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” so too for garden design principles – nuances may influence numbers but regardless of what you call them or how you count them – they do all seem to coalesce around a few fundamental ideas; principal principles, if you will.

  1. Cohesion – other names might be unity, harmony, repetition, colour, style – but this is all about creating something that works as a cohesive whole.  Themes work well for cohesion, for instance a contemporary garden or a cottage garden – putting a name to that theme or style brings with it a set of rules to apply to it.  You can even ‘room’ a garden within a theme, giving it a different feel in different areas but the theme itself helps maintain harmony and unity throughout supported by repetition of form or texture or colour.  Repetition and colour too can play the leading role in achieving cohesion when style or theme may not be so prominent. 
  2. Balance – other names might be order, scale, proportion, symmetry, mass & voids – but this is all about where you ‘put’ different elements within the garden and how they work with all the other elements that are there so that everything feels balanced.  Perhaps the easiest way of achieving this is through symmetry, where one side of a garden ‘mirrors’ the other side – everything on one side is balanced out by exactly the same things on the other side – but plants also play a part in balance and the same species and variety of plant can grow at different rates in different parts of the garden. If that is the case for this example, then the balance of the symmetrical design could be ruined by over or under-performing plants.  Not every garden works symmetrically, of course, so finding balance and proportionality between elements can be challenging; balancing an existing shed for instance wouldn’t be about siting another shed somewhere else but using something that carries similar visual ‘weight’ or impact in order to achieve balance.  This might be a large shrub or a mature tree for instance.
  3. Movement – other names might be transition, rhythm, flow, line, focal points, destination, perspective, depth, journey – and this is mainly about how you move through the garden, whether physically or by eye, (i.e., when viewing the garden) but also about how the garden itself can be a source of movement.  Pathways, arches, benches, water features, sculptures, specimen plants and more all give the eye or the body something to follow or move to, while rustling leaves, grasses swaying in the breeze, trickling water, bird and other wildlife all bring extra layers of movement too adding dynamism to a space.

The challenge for any garden designer is to utilise and combine these ‘rules’ in order to create something that is fit for purpose and looks fantastic too but if you’re getting bogged down with too many garden design principles and don’t know which or how to apply them, the principal principles approach might just help. 

Creating an Indoor Outdoor Cohesive Space

Creating an Indoor Outdoor Cohesive Space

One of the jobs of a garden designer is to try to make the garden feel part of a cohesive whole with a client’s house so that they feel they belong together. It’s rarely an explicit request but when we’re designing a garden, a good starting point when trying to decide where things should go is to do it with the sight lines from the house very firmly in mind.  Regardless of the size of garden if you can create something beautiful and interesting to look out at then it brings the garden ‘closer’ to the viewer because they feel more engaged with it.  We’ve talked before about creating views of the garden so that from inside the house, the frames of windows and doorways when looking out are ‘framing’ the view beyond.  In putting that ‘view’ together it’s a good tip to try to think as a painter or photographer would, in terms of thinking about fore-, middle and backgrounds; about balance, subjects and ways of leading the eye through the view.

The décor, along with the use and choice of materials indoors, can give huge cues for outdoor decisions in terms of linking a garden and home – and more on that in a future article – but one obvious way to link indoor and outdoor spaces is through the use of greenery, i.e. plant choices and planting design.  Indoor gardening is more popular than ever and as we’re becoming more and more aware, just as looking out at a view of nature is good for us, surrounding ourselves with house plants is too.

Studies show that there are both psychological and physical health benefits of indoor plants; psychologically they improve our mood, reduce our stress levels and help make us more productive.  Physically they reduce our blood pressure, headaches and fatigue.  Indoor plants – just as outdoor plants do – also bring with them a massive and versatile potential for aesthetic styling, and just as we work with such things like form, habit, colour and texture externally, so too can we do so indoors. 

There’s a huge potential then for creating cohesion of indoor and outdoor spaces through planting.  For instance, if you can bring your outdoor planting right up to your house – perhaps through window boxes or raised beds leading up to your patio doors/bifolds, etc - and your indoor planting right up to the outdoor threshold so only the glass of a window or doors separates them; it can be a very effective way of blending the boundary between indoor and outdoor. 

Similarly repeating the forms, textures or leaf shapes of indoor plants with outdoor planting reinforces the links between the separate areas.  Picking repeating/similar flower or leaf colours across thresholds has the same effect as does choosing similar styles of pots that continue across the divide. 

For many of us space can be an issue both inside and out, so as usual, when floor space is limited, we’d recommend thinking vertically.  While hedges aren’t quite an option indoors, indoor wall space can be just as effective as garden fences and walls outside when it comes to accommodating plants.  You don’t need a full-size living wall either (as beautiful as they are!).  Climbers can be used indoors or as in our image/s small ‘living pictures’ can be used to harmonise the indoor/outdoor areas just as effectively as floor or shelf standing planters.  (We were so delighted with these living pictures in terms of looks, versatility and practicality - they have their own reservoir so watering is pretty much taken care of – we are now accredited suppliers of them so do get in touch if you are as equally delighted with them!)

Of course, choosing plants for indoors needs the same consideration as choosing for outdoors so light levels, room temperature and fluctuations, plant care needs and toxicity are some of the things to be considered along with their looks, size, form, colour, texture, etc.  If you have the right plant, in the right place doing the right job for you both indoors and out then the chances are good that you’ll also have a cohesive indoor/outdoor space.

Dealing with unwanted sound in your garden

Sound isn’t always welcome

We often write about the extra dimensions and pleasure that sounds can bring to a garden but let’s face it, not every sound is a welcome one. Whether it’s traffic noise from a busy road or neighbours’ shrieking children or boisterous barbecues sometimes it’s respite you need from the constant clamouring not receptors!

Noise itself and how we interact with it can be complicated; the level of noise, the frequency of it, the proximity to it, the tone, the range, the social and cultural aspects of it all play a role in how we react to noise. The constant hum of traffic for instance can almost be acclimatised to whereas the noise from neighbours is erratic and unpredictable making for a potentially more jarring irritation. Our response to those aspects of noise is also highly subjective – what is annoying in the extreme for one person can be acceptable to others.

Many of us ‘block’ a noise from view thinking that it somehow makes it less intrusive if we can’t see where it’s coming from but surprisingly research suggests that being able to see the source of a noise can reduce its annoyance factor because our senses are ‘prepared’ for the accompanying noisiness of the activity being viewed. ‘Hiding’ a noise from view then doesn’t lessen the irritation aspect of it, it can actually heighten it.

Most of us opt for a plant ‘barrier’ between ourselves and external noises, but again, perhaps surprisingly plant barriers are fairly ineffectual ways of blocking noise. To be effective as a blocking mechanism a plant barrier would have to be high (think trees), dense (think full canopied to the ground and evergreen) and about 9 metres deep. Not many of us have that amount of space to play with! As a distraction however, plants do have their merits: rustling and swishing leaves can help to disguise some low level noises. Running water on the other hand can be a much more effective disguise/distraction technique, most efficient when placed between ‘you’ and the source of the noise.

Plant barriers are fairly ineffectual ways of blocking noise

The most effective way to block sound though is to reflect it back by the erection of a man-made solid barrier such as a wall or solid fencing, which can reduce noise by about 50%. The placement, height and the solidity of the barrier are key elements in its effectiveness.

In terms of fencing typical larch lap fencing isn’t the thing to go for here since they tend to bow and let air, and noise, through so purpose built acoustic fencing solutions are what you would look for if you prefer timber to a brick/masonry look.

In terms of height as a general rule of thumb, the higher the barrier between you and the noise source the larger the sound blocked ‘shadow’ will be behind it. 2m high and above can start to be effective (preferably 3m) but be aware that planning permission will usually be required for anything higher than 2m.

The best place for a sound barrier is as near to the noise source as possible but the next best place is around the area you most want ‘protected’ and whilst for small gardens that’s likely to be around the boundary for large gardens it’s better to create small pockets of quiet within the garden.

There’s lots to consider but it’s nice to know that in our increasingly crowded world there are some options available to you to help reduce intrusive noise.

Garden Trends – 20 for the 20s

It’s that time of year…

Chances are you’re starting to think about your garden. If you’re not sure where to take it we thought that with the start of a new decade it would be fun to have a go at predicting some of the garden trends and practices we’d expect to be seeing over the next decade. It might help inform some of the decisions you make in your own garden. So, in no particular order here are our 20 for the 20’s…

  1. Purposeful. Gardens will be more than something to look at and enjoy; we think they will be increasingly designed and built to achieve things too. So, for instance, they might be helping to manage rain water within your property, or boosting wildlife habitat, etc.
  2. Wildlife. We’d expect to see a more relaxed style to our gardens as supporting wildlife becomes ever more important. Increasing development plans brings with it decreasing wildlife habitat and we expect to see more and more people want to do more for our beleaguered wildlife.
  3. GYO. As plant based diets, increasing food costs and the need to know where our food comes from continue to surge we’d expect to see more people growing their own.
  4. Indoor. Houseplants sales have been a growing trend over the last few years and we’d expect that trend to continue, driven mainly by increasing urbanisation, pollution and lack of access to nature.
  5. Containers. With increasing numbers of renters and gardens getting smaller and smaller container gardening is likely to make a big step forward as a portable, viable option for many dealing with little or no-soil spaces.
  6. Vertical. We’d expect to see many more living walls appear driven mainly by lack of space and a changing climate.
  7. Green roofs. Currently concentrated around London, Birmingham and Manchester we’d expect to see green roofs more widely spread around the UK. The benefits of them far outweigh any negatives.
  8. Low maintenance. While we see the drivers behind people’s decisions about their gardens changing, time-poor people generally want to enjoy their gardens rather than ’maintain’ them.
  9. Technology. Where there’s a will there’s usually an app for it! We expect the use of tech in the garden to grow over the next decade.
  10. Sustainable choices. As awareness of the climate crisis grows we expect growing consumer demand for more sustainable options to elicit significant changes in garden related markets.
  11. Soil. We expect to see soil care taking centre stage in gardens with no-dig outweighing dig methods, home composts and green manures being increasingly used.
  12. Composting. We expect to see increasing numbers of people home composting driven by soil and waste awareness, and economics.
  13. Organic. The organic market has seen consistent steady growth over the last six years and we expect to see that trend continuing through the next decade.
  14. Plastic. Worth a mention of its own, the plastics battle is likely to rage throughout the 20s and beyond. In the design and gardening fields we expect to see a major shift in demand to natural and plastic-free materials.
  15. RRR. We expect to see a buoyant reclamation sector emerge around the landscaping industry as people’s desire to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle materials grows. On more individual levels we expect to see a growing trend for personal upcycling/repurposing garden projects.
  16. Water management. Future predictions for the UK weather points to hotter, drier summers and much wetter, warmer winters so water management is likely to play an increasingly important part of our garden planning.
  17. Adaptive planting. Increasingly our plants need to cope with significant weather events so we expect to see more adaptive planting styles coming to the fore. Plants are likely to be chosen more for their adaptability than their looks.
  18. Trees, shrubs & hedges. With their superior ability to help mitigate flooding, reduce temperature and support wildlife we expect to see a resurgence of tree, shrub and hedge planting across UK gardens.
  19. Plant biosecurity. Increasing awareness of the potential import of foreign pests and diseases into our fragile eco-system will see the demand for reputable plant suppliers rise. However, with new customs practices and probable rise in plant costs we also wouldn’t be surprised to see a rise in black market plant sales potentially bypassing the plant passport system.
  20. British grown. Linked to the above we expect to see a big rise in the use of British grown plants.

Don’t be fooled by gardens in winter

Winter isn’t ‘dead’

It may be the ‘dead’ of winter, but don’t be fooled… contrary to popular belief winter gardens have an awful lot going for them. Not only can a well designed garden look gorgeous in winter, in terms of both gardening and design there is also lots to do in, and about, the garden at this time of year.

...winter can be one of our busiest seasons because for those clients who want to enjoy their garden in the spring and early summertime, it is in winter where all the work is required

As garden designers we’re often asked if we get the winter ‘off’ but honestly, winter can be one of our busiest seasons because for those clients who want to enjoy their garden in the spring and early summertime, it is in winter where all the work is required. The garden design, build and planting process can take anything from 5 to 24 weeks from date of sign up, and even longer in some circumstances – the weather, resource availability and other factors can often get in the way – so counting backwards, if you want to be enjoying those early rays of April sunshine in your newly designed garden you need to be confirmed in our work schedule in December, January or mid-February at the very latest.

But even if a professional garden designer and landscaper isn’t for you; it is in winter that the best laid plans for your garden need to be hatched. It is winter time that allows you to see the underlying structure of your garden and judge whether or not it’s working; it is winter time that is best for physically addressing those structural problems while plants are dormant and space is clear for movement; it is winter time that is the best time for moving plants that you want to keep because of that dormancy and it is the wintertime that precedes the time you most want to enjoy your garden, enabling you to be ready and prepared for the spring ‘rush’ to be outdoors.

If you’re not redesigning but looking after your garden the winter offers the best opportunity to prune trees and shrubs such as wisteria, fruit trees (though not stone fruit trees like plum or cherry), climbing roses, acers and vines. It is a great time for propagating many perennials from root cuttings and shrubs and trees from hard wood cuttings. It is also the best time for the maintenance of structures and tools and there are still many garden maintenance tasks that, if done regularly, will benefit your garden greatly when it does begin to come out of hibernation.

In terms of designing for a beautiful winter garden for next year, structure is the key here.

In terms of designing for a beautiful winter garden for next year, structure is the key here. Structure can be provided by a number of means: well placed evergreen plants, for instance, with different forms, texture and heights really come into their own in a winter garden. Hedge lines and simple topiary shapes like balls and pyramids can look fantastic as do ‘gone over’ seed heads and the stark imposing shapes of deciduous trees. Sheds, obelisks, pergolas, art, water features and trellis all offer structural opportunities for the winter garden along with hard landscaping features like pathways, steps and walls. And don’t forget colour too, just because it’s winter your garden doesn’t have to be dull – think of the neon winter bark of cornus and willow, the bright red berries of holly and the acid yellow/orange flowers of hamamelis, to name a few; not to mention the extensive array of paint hues and shades available to us for a man-made intervention.

Tempted to get out of your cosy armchair yet?? Go on! You know you want to and spring will be here before you know it!

The Slab Effect

The Slab Effect

Love them or loathe them, chances are you have some slabs – paviours to us garden designers – somewhere in your garden. Incredibly versatile and varied paving slabs offer all sorts of opportunities through colour, function and form for garden owners and designers, but not all paviours are created equally. So, how do you decide what’s the ‘best’ paviour for your garden project? Here are some performance related things to consider as a starting point….

Most people tend to go for the look of a paving effect first but it’s worth knowing what you’re going to do with your newly paved area before you invest, so that the paviours themselves are fit for the purpose you intend. So, for instance, are you going to walk over them, drive over them, sit on them, park on them, etc? Will the area be high or low ‘traffic’? What are the prevailing weather conditions that it will be in, will it be in sunshine or shade, hot or cold, etc?

All of these things require varying performance capabilities from a paviour. In our UK climate for instance we need paviours that won’t crack in repeated freezing temperatures or go green with algae and lichen growth when sited in a shady spot, so in this regard when considering a paviour look for water absorption figures/guarantees from suppliers. Reputable suppliers will provide them but unfortunately that’s not the case with many stones available. The lower the water absorption figure, the better the chance of an algae-free shady spot or a cracking paviour in freezing conditions. The suppliers we use typically offer paviours with water absorption level of 1.7%.

Driving over paviours demands strength and flexibility, something that is usually best accommodated with smaller, albeit thicker, paviours. That’s why so many driveways use block paving or setts, the smaller shapes allow for ‘flex’ as the car wheels drive over them, but larger paviours can be used with some careful thought and a suitable base. Never opt for anything less than a 32mm thickness for driveway paviours and preferably choose 40mm, 50mm or more. Flexural strength is sometimes mentioned by suppliers and this refers to the strength of a material in response to flexing stress and force applications – generally the stronger a stone is the less chance there is of it failing or being attacked by frost once it’s laid.

If you’re going to use paviours on pathways and patios choose slip resistant finishes; this used to mean that it’s usually best to avoid highly polished paviours and lean instead to a more textured or rivened finish but many stone suppliers today promise slip resistance on the vast majority of their paving if it is maintained properly, so it is possible to get that smooth, contemporary look with a functional slip free surface with a little more effort. Sandstone or Yorkstone are popular natural stone choices here but we’re seeing many clients opting for vitrified paving now.

Vitrified Paving

The word vitrified technically refers to a conversion/glazing process that turns things into a glass like substance – so ceramic and porcelain are words sometimes used to mean very similar, if not the same, thing – but vitrified paving can look far more natural than you’d usually associate with ceramic or porcelain paviours. The benefits of vitrified paving include exceptional strength, high anti-slip properties and little, to no, water absorption which in turn means high performance and less maintenance requirements.

Of course I’ve only managed to touch upon a few things about paviours within this article – it’s a massive area but other things like colour, shapes, ethical sourcing, bases and the main deal breaker for most of us, price, will have to wait for another day…

Up Front Garden Design

Up Front Garden Design

I thought I’d make a change from normal proceedings this time around, and rather than focus on a garden design principle or tip I thought I’d consider a specific area of our home: often overlooked, but always on view, our front gardens frequently get short shrift when it comes to imaginative home improvement.

Recent trends in front gardens have seen significant increases in full paving practices and substantial reductions in plants both of which have detrimental knock on effects to humans, wildlife and the planet as a whole. It may sound dramatic and it’s easy to think that ‘my little bit’ won’t make a difference but cumulatively lots of ‘little bits’ following these trends are increasing the possibilities of flooding, contributing to climbing urban temperatures and pollution levels, impacting negatively on wildlife and making our environment more fractious, depressing places to live.

It may sound trite to say that a little bit of garden design inspiration can help mitigate these very real threats to ours and our natural world’s existence but if we all start to really think about the space outside our homes as a ‘garden’ first and a car park or a bin store or a mere transition point from a pavement to our front door second, then we just might stand a chance of reversing these damaging trends. Don’t get me wrong, I still stand by the design mantra of ‘form ever follows function’ but there’s no ‘form’ in fully paving a front garden; it is functionality without form and it is that idea – that you have to sacrifice form entirely in order to get a car (as an example) onto your front garden – that I want us all to reconsider. With a little bit of imagination and an application of design principles there is no reason why we can’t have our cake and eat it too i.e. have a functional but still lovely front garden.

So, some top tips for achieving it? Read on…

Hopefully this will give you some ideas of where to start and we can all begin to make our neighbourhoods lovelier places to be! Check out the RHS website too for more ideas about how to green your little bit of grey Britain.

Planning your Patio – the 2 F’s to Success

The Problem with Patios

Patios are often the most expensive part of a garden and because of that are often the most long lived part too so it’s worth trying to get your patio ideas ‘right’ before any build commences. The majority of the times we’re called out to consider a patio redesign it’s because the existing patio isn’t, or is no longer, fit for purpose. But there’s an architectural design saying: ‘form ever follows function’; and if you can keep it in mind when you’re thinking about your new patio the odds are improved that your resulting patio will work for you.

So, what does the phrase mean? Today’s garden design interpretation and application is probably much more relaxed than its pure functionalist creator intended but it generally means thinking about what you want a space for (function) before you start thinking about what it will look like (form). Sounds pretty obvious right? You’d probably be surprised at how many patios we come across that didn’t apply the idea!

Take the ‘usual’ positioning of a patio as an example. 9.9 times out of 10 it’s right outside the back (aptly named!) patio doors. Accepting the fact that many people inherit a patio with the house they buy you’d still probably be surprised at how many people, when in control of one do just ‘put’ their patio outside the back doors of their house because that’s where they’ve traditionally been placed, rather than actively making the decision because it’s the best place to suit their own needs. But if, for example, my client is a sun lover who wants to sit in the sun as much as possible and the house casts the patio in shade all day her functional requirements aren’t being met by this particular space.

In this shady, back of house scenario; my sun loving client would be best served by positioning her patio in the place that gets the most sun in her garden with the space being big enough to allow plenty of sunbathing opportunities while offering enough privacy and seclusion from neighbours, for instance, so the planting and things adjacent to the patio may end up being just as important as the patio itself, in terms of meeting its functional goals. My large dinner party hosting clients on the other hand, living in the adjoining house, would appreciate a patio big enough to accommodate a large table and chairs, as near to their kitchen as can be. And for my sun loving clients who also love to throw al fresco dinner parties? For them it’s probably a two patio design because a single patio wouldn’t be able to quite accommodate their dual functional requirements adequately.

The ‘form’ of the patio areas would then begin to fall out of their proposed functions and in these very simplified examples their position has already fallen out of them so now it’s time to consider size, shape, materials, aesthetics, incorporation into the wider garden, lesser functional requirements, etc.

For the dinner party couple, for instance flat, slip free surfaces accommodate tables and chairs best so paviors are the obvious choice here. The size of the patio needs to accommodate their overly large dining table and chairs with enough space to get around them comfortably when they are in use. The position of their patio next to the house requires careful drainage solutions and a robust build. The transitions from the house to the patio, and then from the patio to beyond, need careful consideration both in terms of their look and their usability; the materials and use of them need to aesthetically tick the boxes from viewpoints both outside and inside the house, in all seasons and all of these things, and more, need to be considered with budget very firmly in mind.

It is all a tricky balancing act but if you can remember the phrase you’ll stand a better chance of success with your patio.

Now you see it – magical garden design

Garden Designer as Magician?

Before we start I do want to make clear that garden designers are not magicians! We can’t pull a rabbit out of a hat or find a fortune for you behind your ear but that said garden designers do have a few tricks up their sleeves that, like magicians, depend on the powers and skills of misdirection, and dare I say it, manipulation.

The garden designer’s motivation for using such skills is fairly benign: how can we hide this ugly corner, for instance, or make the garden feel bigger, smaller, longer, wider, shorter, more intimate or more expansive; I’m sure you get the picture! We often want things we haven’t got or struggle to deal effectively with things we have and gardens are no different – thank goodness then for some of the tried and tested illusionary tools in the arsenal of a garden designer…

I’ve barely scratched the surface of this subject, it’s as expansive as the results appear magical, but hopefully it will give you an insight into some of the ways garden designers achieve some of the effects they do.

Colour in the Garden – Outstanding Yellow

What’s not to love about yellow you might think – it’s bright, cheery, striking; there are some gorgeous yellow- flowered and leafed plants; it’s sunshiny disposition is a tonic, managing to uplift us all, especially in spring. But yellow is not without its detractors it seems. The modernists of the 50’s for instance disliked yellow for its intensity, considering it way too jarring to be comfortable; and yellow has been banned from many a ‘snob’s’ garden for simply being considered the colour of ‘the people’.

Controversy and prejudice aside though yellow has a lot going for it in terms of garden design and if you can harness its power effectively the results can be spectacular.

Like red, yellow is both a primary colour and a ‘hot’ one and many of the attributes of red also apply to yellow. For instance both colours draw attention and as such seem to ‘advance’ – useful if you want to make a large space appear smaller. Play around with hues though and yellow becomes much more versatile than red. Paler yellow can act as a soothing balm to other colours for instance – odd for a hot colour; and an all yellow – but different shades – scheme works so much better than an all red planting scheme. The secret to its success is probably in its positioning on the colour wheel. Sitting right next to green – THE predominant neutral colour of any garden – yellow blends with green like no other colour.

But it’s not only green that yellow works well with. Pair it with blues and purples (violet) and it acts as a spectacular foil to its complementary colours; and still further, no hot border will ever be complete without the analogous colours of red, orange and yellow.

Yellow is also one of the best natural reflectors of light in a garden – edge a pathway with yellow foliage or flowered plants and you instantly create a ‘light marker’ along the path. Position yellow in areas that get early or late sunshine and you create golden ‘glows’ around your garden. Pale yellows, like white, seem to glow in a night time garden.

Whilst yellow can seem super fresh and radiant on hot sunny days, summer time is perhaps its least effective season because of its reflective qualities. Depending on the tone of yellow, very bright sunshine can make a bright yellow seem far too dazzling and overpowering whereas the softer light of spring, autumn and winter tends to only bring out the best of yellow.

One of the tricks of using yellow to its best advantage is to mass plant with it rather than dot it around a border. Think how striking fields of sunflowers or rapeseed are when seen en masse and whilst we don’t all have a field available to us we can proportionally mass plant within the space we do have. And one more thing about yellow (flowers) that’s worth mentioning: bees love it (even though they think its blue)… and we love bees… so what’s not to love?