Accent

Even though your garden may be segregated, unified, and balanced, it will be
uninteresting unless its important aspects are accented. Broad simple effects are desirable
but they can be flat and dull. The selection and placement of accents for emphasis is
important.

Plate 11a. Well placed accent plants provide change of line and hence interest in an
informal shrub border.
1. Prunus divaricata Pissard3. Juniperus chinensis Pfitzer
2. Juniperus chinensis 4. Abies concolor

There are several easy ways to avoid monotony. An important location may be accented
by a change of line. Consider how dramatic is the silhouette of a tall, emphatic cedar
placed so as to rise above lower, more rounded shrub masses, or how impressive a group
of three conifers can be when set as the terminal feature of a long axis, or how attention is
drawn to the spires of garden lilies, foxgloves, and thalictrum rising among masses of
phlox in the border. The eye inevitably picks up these emphatic forms that change the
monotonous undulating line and is pleased by the more interesting composition that
results. (Plate 11a.)
Plate 11b. Emphasis can be secured by a change of position of a plant.

Emphasis can also be secured by a change of position. A dogwood or crabapple may be

brought forward and planted groups of forsythia, mockorange, and viburnums; the fine-
cut foliage of weeping-willows will be even more effective, for it provides change of line
as well as differences of texture and color. In the border a peony with its coarse foliage
breaks up as an isolated specimen which stands out from the long shrub group. In the
herbaceous border, a group of tall plants may be brought forward from the middle ground
and placed among iris, columbine, and Shasta daisies in the foreground. One of the ways
of avoiding rigidity is occasionally to change the position of taller plants. (Plate 11b.)

Plate 11c. Accent can be secured by the use of contrasting foliage textures.

Accent can be secured by contrasting foliage textures. A coarse-leaved Hungarian lilac

may be planted with such fine-leaved shrubs as spireas, or, conversely, a fine-foliaged
cut-leaf birch may be planted to emphasize a mass of heavier lindens or horsechestnuts.
The light-reflecting foliage of hollies is a beautiful contrast to soft-foliaged pine or
hemlock. The coarse leaves of witch-hazel relieve the monotony of long narrow drifts of
iris, phlox, or the feathery texture of flax, columbine, or Scotch pinks, which generally
fill the foreground. The fine-cut foliage of a small group of thalictrum will give a nice
feeling of change and emphasis when grouped with the sturdier phlox and hemerocallis.
(Plate 11c.)

ACCENT WITH COLOR

Contrast of color is the most common method of securing accent. It is less subtle than
other means and not so lasting, for bloom is transient and must be repeated where it is
used as accent. Blue anchusa and orange lilies create accent by strong contrast in June,
but are of no value later. Other strong contrasts, perhaps veronicas with yellow and
bronze zinnias, or broad groups of salmon-pink phlox Augusta with pale yellow
hemerocallis or blue salvia will be needed for July and August. These last will probably
carry over into autumn. Contrasting color in foliage is also a means to emphasis and of
particular value in background plantings. There the strong color of a Japanese maple,
Pissard plum, or the gray-green of junipers and cedars will be effective among the more
usual green foliage. (Plate 11d.)

Plate 11d. Contrast of color is the most common method of securing accent.

Accent must be used sparingly. Overdone it creates a nervous exciting garden picture. If
too often repeated, it will itself produce monotony. This is true when accent is used in
rhythmic balance down a long garden. The most effective way to obtain accent is to break
up large masses of similar plants, to lead the eye on through the garden, or to direct
attention to the focal point or climax of the design.

Accent should never be used where it is not needed, and all plants chosen for the purpose
should be outstanding. Always remember that an accent is in reality an exclamation
point, and use it that way. Place accents so as to create interest through contrast in form,
foliage, or color. Sometimes it is helpful to place accents first and build the rest of the
composition around them.

Contents
• Segregation - Segregation, in gardening, serves the same purpose as a frame for a
painting, or a pedestal for a statue. It sets apart and at the same time holds
together the composition within.
• Unity - In the garden pattern all parts of the design, path, bed, or border, must be
interrelated. The whole must hang together. Anything extraneous detracts from
the quiet satisfaction of a unified scheme.
• Balance - In American gardens we tend to rely on formal balance because most of
our garden sites are level, or nearly so, and boundaries are made up of straight
lines and right angles.
• Accent - Always remember that an accent is in reality an exclamation point, and
use it that way. Place accents so as to create interest through contrast in form,
foliage, or color.
• Sequence and Rhythm - These principles are employed to create a feeling of
logical follow-through, a leading up to the climax of the garden. They produce
interest throughout the entire scheme.
 • The Garden Climax - Towards this point everything else leads, the garden paths,
the beds, and the planting in them. Here are placed the most effective groups, the
best plants, the richest compositions. All clearly say, This is it!
• Principles of Plant Arrangement - The two kinds of design, plant arrangement in
the garden and flower arrangement in a container, are closely related, yet skilled
arrangers often fail to develop the possibilities for charm and beauty in their
gardens. Actually it is only the application which differs.

See Also
• Next Page: Sequence and Rhythm
• Return from Accent to: Landscape-Guide Home