The Garden Club of Virginia adds Leesburg to its tour this April. While he can’t say what really entices judges in their selection of showcase properties, Josh Kane of Kane Landscapes can certainly speak to the elements of a gorgeous garden.
“What typically makes for an exceptional garden are unusual plants in an idyllic setting,” Josh says. “How a garden is cared for – how it demonstrates stewardship of the earth – with plant diversity and some architectural interest all come into play.”
A Kane Garden brings with it not only those elements, but an overarching sense of harmony and cohesiveness. You can tell that a master craftsman was at work to sculpt these entrances, walkways, pool-sides, covered porticoes and even “secret” Zen-like retreats. Josh offers these tips to help make your garden tour-worthy.
“Combining plants of different textures and colors that play well off each other makes a garden appear lush,” Josh explains. Hostas can come in bright green, white or green and white, but appear more interesting when juxtaposed with a lacy fern. Savvy gardeners might even challenge themselves to create interest through different textures, but in all one color like white, or craft a moon garden where all the plants flower open later in the evening.
Architectural interest comes in all sizes and shapes – as large as a covered portico for shade, or as small as river rock juxtaposed with moss-covered boulders and mulched daisies. Night lighting lends its own flair, as can the right outdoor bench or trellis or a colorful vase in just the right spot. Josh’s daughters play beside a large travertine and marble fountain, but it takes a garden of some scale to pull that off. Other textures can come with ornamental grasses of varying heights and blades. Boxwoods add bones and structure.
Color comes from roses or perennials, but also in soft greens like lamb’s ear. Some die-hard perennials, like the “Catmint” plant “Cat’s Pajamas,” have been bred to resist fungus. Roses typically require a higher degree of dedication to maintain, but Josh’s company does offer periodic grooming and tending services 6-8 times yearly if needed.
The lay of the land determines underlying plant, shrub and tree choices. Sun counts, but so does wind. “In Leesburg, you can get substantial wind off of the mountains,” Josh says. If you have a wooded lot, “decide which plants can work around those trees first. In a shade garden, you have to concern yourself with the deer and consider whether you need fencing.”
Soil too is a factor, and in all of Loudoun shale predominates. Warmer temperatures have spawned insects that don’t die off without colder winters, ending the use of blue spruce, Josh notes. He cautions, “A lot of home-owners will go to a garden center and select a beautiful plant because they love it, but that doesn’t mean it will work in their location.”
A landscape architect knows the kinds of plants that will work in your garden and how they’ll look year-round. Homeowners love Japanese maples because of the bright red or maroon foliage, for example. But did you know there are different varieties maples with different shades of bark in the winter? “Paperbark maples have peeling bark when the tree exfoliates which can add interest to a garden. Crepe myrtle are colorful, and triad maples offer brilliant fall color and stay smaller,” Josh explains. “Even hydrangeas have different varieties like Quick Fire and Little Bobo, which offer different colors of blooms.”
The wrong variety of plant may outgrow its usefulness. Some butterfly bushes attain giant proportions and suffer broken limbs in the winter. “If you’re looking to attract pollinators and hummingbirds, try the Pugster butterfly bush, which stays low to the ground,” Josh suggests.
Spring brings excitement for daffodils and forsythia and dogwoods, Josh adds, but all these have short blooming seasons. “Just be aware of when you’re more likely to be outdoors – typically when it’s warmer – and plant things you can enjoy then.”