The Calm at the Centre

This border uses empty space as a focal point, challenging the idea of what the eye is - or should be - drawn to in a garden. Two dynamic plantings, both with strong palettes of purples, reds, copper and steely blue, surround a serene, clear centre. A pair of decorative steel water tanks, planted with aquatic species, ground the design and create the negative focal space between, while structural plants such as Beschorneria yucciodes (yucca-leaved Beschorneria) and Euphorbia rigida (upright myrtle spurge) provide strong architectural form, which softens towards the border's edge. Pops of colour from the likes of Dianthus cruentus (blood pink) and Sanguisorba 'Cangshan Cranberry' (burnet) are evocative of the Pointillist style and add vim and vigour.