Do you love lush, green, and neutral plants? Some homeowners feel overwhelmed with the vibrant, colorful plant selections that are common to most nurseries. Do you value texture and quality staple items within your wardrobe and home? If you answered yes to any of these, you’re our Neutral Plant Lady!
When I started my design business, Fawn Renae Designs, I knew I wanted to bridge the gap between interior style and exterior style. I wanted to take common landscapes that are boring and monotonous and transform them into a space that my clients could feel. During my design process, I begin with a series of questions to understand the client better and learn their style. I ask questions that get my clients thinking about themselves and their landscapes in a way that they may have never thought of it before. One of the best indicator questions is: what colors give you life? Is it vibrant colors such as reds, yellows, and oranges? Or are your drawn to cooler tones such as greens, whites, purples and blues? Once we’ve determined the color palette, this is one step closer to designing a landscape that works with the client’s aesthetic and give me a baseline to creating a space that makes the homeowner feel at peace.
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For the Total Transformation House, Claire knew she wanted a neutral color pallet. She loved different leaf textures, shapes, and styles and knew she hated bright or loud plants. My team and I selected varieties that would grow and thrive in her zone (zone 7) with partial sun.
Since wanted to see the red brick on her English Tudor-style home painted white, I wanted to add larger plants next to the foundation to act as staples to the landscape. Then we layered in more plants, such as the Gardenias and ‘PeeWee’ Oakleaf Hydrangeas.
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This landscape already had a lot of height incorporated with the large oak trees, so I added Limelight Hydrangea Trees to pull your eye back inward towards the front entrance but not be too overbearing. I love adding larger-leafed plants into a neutral landscape to add character and charm like with the Hostas and Heucheras. I wanted to add smaller blooms that offered a hint of white and purple into the landscape so I chose the Caryopteris, Astilbes, Lenten Rose, and Iris. I selected plants that flow in the wind and offer a whimsical affect. Some of the free-flowing, low-maintenance plants we selected are:
- ornamental grasses
- little bluestem
- feather reed grass
- dwarf fountain grass
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Plant by Numbers and the Plant List
Each design from my team at Fawn Renae Designs includes a numbered plant list. We often refer to this as plant by numbers. You know those paint by numbers activities you buy for your kids? This is the same concept because you’re getting the design image with a number on each plant and a corresponding plant list. Each plant in the design is carefully selected by a horticulturalist so that it will grow and thrive in your yard.
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1. Diamond Spire Gardenia
2. Limelight Hydrangea Tree
3. PeeWee Oakleaf Hydrangea
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4. Snow Girl Gardenia
5. Patriot Hosta
6. Karl Foerster Grass
7. Hameln Fountain Grass
8. June Hosta
9. The Blues Little Bluestem
10. Dark Knight Caryopteris
11. Visions Astilbe
13. Porcelain Maiden Iris
15. Northern Exposure Heuchera
16. Lenten Rose
18. Autumn Fern
Since these plants will be growing in zone 7, it’s important to note that the perennials and deciduous shrubs will go dormant through the winter, dropping their leaves and returning to their vibrant selves in the spring (usually mid-March in North Carolina). While the plants that go dormant will still offer interest throughout the winter months, I wanted to make sure we still had evergreens such as the ferns, and gardenias, that will stand strong while the rest of the landscape is resting.
