• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Carol J. Michel

Award winner author of gardening humor books

  • About
    • Contact
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Shop
    • Gardening Humor
    • Children’s Books
    • New – The Halloween Hare
  • Social
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
  • The Gardenangelists Podcast
  • Gardening Humor
  • Children’s
  • All Books

May Dreams Gardens

How to Space Plants in a Garden

January 29, 2012 By Carol Michel 5 Comments

I wonder a bit how it is that until last Friday, the 20th, I had never heard of Alfred Austin or his book, The Garden that I Love.  How did my garden designer decide on that book to leave for me?  I’ve enjoyed it immensely. It’s the kind of book you can pick up and read cover to cover and along the way, fall in love with gardening all over again.

Plus, there is some useful information on how to garden, buried in the story.  Useful information like how to space out the plants in a garden.

In his own words…

“A garden is not a collection of curios. It is for the most vigorous, the most lovely, and the most fragrant flowers that room should be found; and many these demand for the full display of their charms that the atmosphere should be seen all round them, and that they should not be too much elbowed by their neighbours. It is, perhaps, a little incautious to say this for it may be pressed into the defense of those terrible villa borders where every plant is a specimen, is duly staked, and tied and trained and they all stand at stated and goodly intervals from each other. I pray you avoid it. But if you run into the opposite extreme and crowd certain herbaceous plants overmuch, you curtail their growth and their grace and incur the risk of losing them altogether.” (The Garden that I Love, Alfred Austin, 1894)

In my words, space plants not too close, but not too far apart.

If you crowd all the plants together, you are likely to lose a plant or two that just can’t compete with a closely planted, vigorously growing neighbor.  But if you space them out too far then it isn’t really a garden, where plants play off one another and sometimes support one another, it’s just a row of plants. 

I can think of no better advice on how to space plants in a garden.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: books, gardening

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gail says

    January 29, 2012 at 4:35 pm

    Carol, Getting that perfect ratio of "plants not too close, but not too far apart" is not always easy. xogail

    Reply
  2. Jess says

    January 29, 2012 at 6:04 pm

    I am very guilty of stuffing plants in and losing a few in the process… but a part of me says, eh, let the best plant win. I just can't stand to see any dirt.

    Reply
  3. vic says

    January 29, 2012 at 9:06 pm

    Sounds like Alfred and my husband are of a similar species. My husband loves the look of garden beds just as things are coming up with lots of space and nice dark mulch around each individual plant. Once they have filled out and and are joyously crowding together (the way I like to see them) he thinks things should be "thinned out a little bit". And never the twain shall meet.

    Reply
  4. James David says

    January 31, 2012 at 2:57 am

    very very true.

    Reply
  5. www.igardendaily.com says

    January 31, 2012 at 4:08 am

    How true, how true! I've been working on spacing for years and sometimes it is 'just right' and other times 'what happened here?!' Thanks for the perspective.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Categories

  • Blog (3,065)
  • Internal (2)

Blog Tags

annuals Blogging books bulbs dr. hortfreud embrace fairies fall family flowers fruits garden bloggers bloom day garden bloggers book club garden design gardeners gardening gardening geek gardens hoes holidays hortense hoelove houseplants humor indoor gardening insects lawn letters to gardening friends perennials rabbits reviews Secrets seeds shrubs spring tools trees vegetable garden vegetable gardening vegetables weather weeding weeds when a gardener wildflower wednesday winter

The Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Footer

Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Connect

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • maydreams icon

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Contact
  • Books
  • May Dreams Gardens
  • Podcast

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Sign up for my new substack newsletter

Copyright © 2023 · CarolJMichel.com · Sitemap · Privacy Policy

Book purchase links are affiliate links and Carol earns a small commission if you make a purchase.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT