View the map

Back

Foliage Garden

Relying almost entirely on plant form, texture and colour, there is a very different appeal here from neighbouring areas, where the focus is on flower colour.

Bringing foliage to the fore

The beauty of the Foliage Garden lies mainly in the subtle contrast of form and texture; strong structural conifers and evergreen shrubs are interwoven with lighter and more graceful grasses.

The effect is dynamic and softly colourful, with shades of grey, blue and silver foliage interspersed by green and occasional splashes of purple.

A golden autumn transition

The garden changes markedly as autumn approaches and the grasses turn from green to straw-gold and red. Two formal features of clipped and trained plants provide a strong contrast to the informal flowing layout of paths and plantings.

An espaliered Sorbus thibetica ‘John Mitchell’ surprises those familiar with it growing untrained, and Carpinus (pleached hornbeams) add a distinctive architectural note.

Spring Highlights

Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii

Mediterranean spurge
Tasmannia lanceolata

mountain pepper
Pieris 'Forest Flame'

pieris 'Forest Flame'

Walls built of local stone show off a variety of alpine plants to best advantage. ‘True’ alpines grow above the tree line, in bright, exposed positions, usually in the free-draining soils of scree slopes, cliff faces and alpine meadows. Growing alpine plants in raised stone wall beds filled with loam and grit allows us to replicate these conditions and it also gives visitors the opportunity to see these small gems at close quarters.

Tom, RHS Garden Rosemoor Horticulturist

Walls built of local stone show off a variety of alpine plants to best advantage. ‘True’ alpines grow above the tree line, in bright, exposed positions, usually in the free-draining soils of scree slopes, cliff faces and alpine meadows. Growing alpine plants in raised stone wall beds filled with loam and grit allows us to replicate these conditions and it also gives visitors the opportunity to see these small gems at close quarters.

Tom, RHS Garden Rosemoor Horticulturist

Plants in this section

You may also be interested in...

Read our advice on selecting and caring for ornamental grasses

Read our advice on selecting and caring for ornamental grasses »

Go bold with our suggested trees and shrubs with colourful foliage

Go bold with our suggested trees and shrubs with colourful foliage »

Love gardening

Sign up to receive regular gardening tips, inspiration, offers and more

View our Privacy Policy

Get involved

The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.