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Planning a perennial border requires research, planning and a lot of hard work. You will need to consider plant varieties' bloom times, heights, shapes and special needs before you even begin to plant. You will be rewarded for all that time and effort with a spectacular show of color and fragrance for years to come.

Where to Plant the Garden

Successful perennial gardens require well-prepared soil and a sunny location. Once you have finalized the garden area for cultivating your perennials, it is important to plan how and where to plant them. For aesthetic value, plant them to be visible from the house. Since they bloom in profusion, it is better to plant them in masses. It would be great to have a dark background to accentuate their color. Hedges, vine-covered walls and fences are some excellent options for backgrounds.

In planning the planting, it is better to work out the details regarding size, shape and composition of plants on paper. Here are some important points to consider when designing a perennial patch.

• Create space. If the bed has a hedge or a wall as a background, keep a gap of three feet between it and the plants. This will prevent competition between the plants and the hedge. It will also facilitate air circulation and provide space to work at the rear and allow sunlight for the hedge.
  
• Design a large bed. Keep the bed six to eight feet wide. This will provide room for five to six different kinds of plants from front to rear. With a judicious mix of early, mid-season and late-flowering varieties, the bed can be abloom continuously.
  
• Leave edge space. Leave a short edging of one to two feet in the front of the bed. This will give exuberant perennials space to spill over. This edging could be a garden path, flagstones or bricklayers. The irregular incursions of the plants into this neat border will add to the informality of the garden.