Trees and shrubs for your garden

Like a fine face, a beautiful garden must have good bone structure. The 'bones' are the year-round features; paths, steps, hedges, walls, fences and other permanent fixtures. The major components of a garden's bones are trees and shrubs.

In an old established garden, you may need to remove or rejuvenate overgrown trees and shrubs to reclaim the original structure of the garden. If you are preparing to start from scratch, you should plan the trees and shrubs that would define the structure of the landscape before you begin thinking of details such as ground covers, perennials and annuals.

Do not overlook the importance of plants with a bold or unusual shape. A tree or shrub that naturally grows in an outstanding form makes an interesting focal point, giving structure and visual direction to the overall design. If your property already has a significant, established tree, try and design your landscape to emphasise this positive feature.

Trees and shrubs have the potential to be either an asset or liability to your garden. Spend enough time to determine which plants will do well in the climate including the specific soil and light conditions. Make sure the trees you opt for are able to endure Bahrain's extreme heat and humidity.

If you want to plant a tree or shrub as a focal point in the centre of a lawn, you can choose a large spreading tree that will become even more spectacular as it matures. But if you want to plant a tree along a driveway or a patio, do not choose one with invasive roots.

For a patio tree, you would want one that will provide shade as well as visual interest such as pretty flowers, fruit, foliage or bark.

Hedges are great to screen unwanted views or high winds, to define the garden spaces, to frame vistas, to serve as a backdrop to borders or decorative elements such as sculpture. Conventionally, we think of a hedge as a neatly pruned row of one species of plants. While that approach creates a tidy look that is ideal for formal settings, there is no rule against combining different shrubs with a variety of leaf colours and textures to create a really unique hedge.

Trees and shrubs form the backbone of your landscape, as mentioned earlier. If you have chosen plants wisely and given them the extra attention early on, they will reward you with nearly maintenance-free lives. So be sure to take the time to get your site prepared, buy healthy stock, water and fertilise them.