Landscape Thrillers

When planting flowers in containers we always talk about thrillers, fillers and spillers.  The thrillers are the focal points.  The flame throwers that grab your attention because of their size, form or colour. 

Fillers are the plants that are good looking and enhance the thrillers.  Spillers are planted at the outer edge of the container and will cascade down. 

The same story holds true for outdoor landscaping.  Well, sort of.

When I put pen to paper and design landscapes, I begin with the thrillers.  The anchors.  The bones.  That might be a large growing shade tree, a statement-making ornamental plant, or an accent plant with unique shape, form or colour.  It might also be a water feature, boulder, or piece of statuary. 

When choosing accent plants or focal points, I look for a minimum of one, but usually two or three.  When dealing with multiple focal points, I look for features that are not duplicated.  For example, I will choose one plant with red foliage, one with weeping form and another conifer with odd shape. 

Choosing two plants with the same features would be like decorating a living room with two fireplaces.  Interior decorators would rather have one fireplace, one painting, and one piece of needlepoint inherited from Grandma.  The other living room pieces such as couch, lamps and chairs are fillers that enhance the focal points. 

Choosing accent plants is fun, because your choices will reflect your personality.  In the 80’s and 90’s weeping trees were all the rage.  Weeping Peashrub (Caragana arborescens ‘Pendula’) was the run-away top choice.  Those who were brave ventured towards trees with stronger weeping growth habit such as Weeping False Cypress (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’) or Weeping Purple Beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Purple Fountain.’

When the century turned, so did trends in landscaping.  Strong vertical forms became dominant.  Tall slender trees such as Slender Silhouette Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Slender Silhouette’) is a top choice as is Columnar Purple Beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Dawyck Purple’) noted for its commanding upright form and deep maroon foliage.  Tall, slender trees are a good choice for smaller yards where height is a non-issue but width is limited. 

These days the appeal is in the detail.  Dwarf conifers are obvious choices because of their slow growing delivering an artsy, architectural vibe.  Two of my favorites are Weeping Norway Spruce (Picea abies ‘Pendula’) noted for its unique cascading form and Japanese Blue Pine (Pinus parviflora ‘Glauca’) with its odd finger-like outward stretching arms. 

Next week’s Garden Clipping will explore good choices for landscape fillers.