All gardeners have favorite plants, but they often get stumped when it comes to knowing which plants to put beside those favorites. Confidence in which combinations work can mean the difference between a mediocre garden and one that sings. The Encyclopedia of Planting Combinations is the perfect tool to help gardeners create a stunning garden.This inspiring planting guide features:- More than 4,000 combinations for beautiful and successful plantings- Over 1,000 plant descriptions with full color photographs and cultivation needs- Extensive information on suggested combinations and complementary plants, all fully cross-referenced- At-a-glance symbols- How to assess a site, choose plants and plant borders- How to combine form, color, texture, size and foliage- How to combine plants according to location, soil, climate and seasonsWith authoritative and imaginative text, superb photographs and hundreds of planting combinations, The Encyclopedia of Planting Combinations is an exciting sourcebook for gardeners of all experience levels.

Excerpted from the Section "Shrubs and Small Trees" are the introduction and sample entries. Each entry is accompanied by a full color photograph of the plant. In most garden plantings a proportion of shrubs and a small selection of trees are essential to provide height, bulk, structure and, with the inclusion of some evergreens, year-round interest. There is a wide choice of shrubs, varying from low ground-covering potentillas to towering abutilons, from fine-textured genistas to giant-leaved rhododendrons, from those shrubs with fleeting flowers such as amelanchiers to those that are non-stop performers such as hydrangeas, their dried flower heads persisting through the winter months. Some shrubs are deciduous, perhaps with colorful autumn foliage, others are evergreen. The boundary between shrubs and small trees is a blurred one. Pittosporums, lilacs, philadelphus, and many others start their life as shrubs and if pruned to a single stem, can eventually make picturesque small trees. Trees display all the attributes of shrubs, but higher above ground level, often on trunks that have their own merits of elegant outline or attractive bark. Making a selection Trees and shrubs contribute to both the structure and the decoration of the garden, and it is important to bear these two aspects in mind when selecting and arranging them. In most situations, it is best to avoid thinking in terms of the "shrub border" and to plan instead to use trees and shrubs to enhance the whole garden. Selecting only those species that will grow well in the particular soil and situation will ensure that they thrive with minimum effort and will also create a strong sense of unity in the garden. Small trees and the taller shrubs can be used to create height and as focal points. Birches with their pale trunks, lilacs with their spring blossom, or the very elegant paperbark maple, in groups or as single specimens, will draw the eye, frame views, and create a canopy to capture views of the sky. In large enough groups -- even a well-placed trio in a small garden -- the atmosphere of a wood or wild garden can be created: viewed from the rest of the garden, the trees form attractive masses, while under their canopy is a scene of vertical trunks and cool green shade with a rich woodland ground flora. Once the high points have been decided on, the major shrubs can be distributed to form bold accents at a lower level: witch hazels for their spidery winter flowers, magnolias and rhododendrons for their blooms in spring and early summer, along with bright green-yellow or gold-leaved specimens such as euphorbias and Philadelphus coronarius 'Aureus'. Hydrangeas are ideal for autumn interest. Mahonias and many of the conifers are good for texture and greenery all year round, playing an especially important role in maintaining structure and interest through the winter. The shrubs at this level should not be crowded together to grow into shapeless masses but, instead, are best placed where they will display themselves most effectively: those with autumn color where the sun will shine through them; those with bright winter stems where the low winter light falls; fragrant plants near enough to the edge of the planting to be smelled and in sheltered situations so the scent will be concentrated. When the star cast of trees and specimen shrubs has been assembled, attention can be turned to the chorus, the less dramatic but no less important plants that will enclose and shelter the garden, guide people through it, subdivide larger plots into smaller and more comfortable spaces, and conceal any undesirable views. For these purposes there is a great army of well-behaved but less exciting (and usually much less expensive) shrubs. Finally, having established the structure of the garden with shrubs growing from waist height (where they will obstruct physical movement) to eye level and above (as