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The form and structure of garden elements have a huge effect on the appeal of any garden. Items such as paths, arches, accent pieces, and bed shape give a garden a certain feel. Plants also play an important role in shaping its appearance.

When it comes to structural plants, the most obvious ones are trees. Trees are the best place to start when choosing plants for your garden. They will not only have a huge impact on the garden’s character, but also affect its ability to support various other plants. They will also produce shade, provide protection from wind, and affect soil moisture. Therefore, you should decide where to place any trees before you start choosing smaller plants.

Trees can add to the beauty of your garden in many ways. They can also provide privacy from neighbours and help block off unwanted street noise. In choosing a tree, the first thing to consider is its size at maturity, both its height and width. Don’t choose a tree that will reach a mature size of 30 metres in height if you have a small lot with overhead hydro wires. Also, be sure not to place trees too close to your house. You don’t want their roots to affect your foundation or their branches to block the view from windows. The same consideration should be given to shrubs, which can also reach sizes that can be significant in smaller gardens or even larger ones if wrongly placed. If you plan for their mature size, you won’t spend years trying to prune plants to an unreasonable size.

Although they don’t have the same impact as trees and shrubs, herbaceous plants can still add to the structure of your garden. Plants are often classified according to their different shapes (see the table below for some examples). To give your garden interest, try to create plant combinations of different shapes. Many plants have a sort of mounded shape to them. There are a number, however, such as some of the taller grasses, that are more vertical in nature. By adding a vertical plant to more horizontal ones in a grouping of three to five, you can create more energy in the design. Even among the horizontals, try mixing different shapes and heights.

Examples of plant shape categories