Autumn garden artistry

Garden facts
SIZE: 2.4 hectares, 1 cultivated
Conditions: 30 centimetres of "super good topsoil" over clay
Growing season: year-round
Garden focus: winter form, spring flowers, summer coolness and fall colour
Zone: 8, and in places 9

Four-season interest
Robin Hopper strives for winter form, spring flowers, summer coolness and fall colour.

In winter, he looks for plants with gnarled or unique twig formations, or handsome bark or exceptional lasting colour, such as the corkscrew hazel (Corylus avellana 'Contorta'), dragon-claw willow (Salix babylonica var. pekinensis 'Tortuosa' syn. S. matsudana 'Tortuosa'), the Atlantic blue cedar (Cedrus atlantica 'Glauca') and his many Japanese and other types of maples.

Spring is flower time. Primulas, rhododendrons, azaleas and alliums all bloom then, as well as many irises. Robin is especially fond of Japanese iris (Iris ensata) and the Louisiana iris (possible species include I. hexagona, I. x fulvala, I. brevicaulis, I. giganticaerulea and I. nelsonii), which he says is a cross between a water iris and a Japanese iris.

In summer, the theme is green, since it provides cool respite during a hot time of year. Robin relies on trees, shrubs and perennials to provide blue-green, yellow-green, deep green and grey-green hues. He's also fond of yellow or variegated foliage.

Fall is a colour explosion as Japanese maples turn crimson, orange, red and gold. There's a towering big-leafed maple (Acer macrophyllum), as well as eight Japanese maples in the inner garden alone. Enkianthus, azaleas, the katsura tree, several dogwoods (Cornus kousa and C. sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire'), spindle tree (Euonymus europaeus) and the evergreen Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) add additional colour, while Cotoneaster, viburnums and snowberry shrubs contribute their brightly coloured berries.

Garden anatomy
He used to think of his garden as a series of rooms. Now Robin Hopper thinks of it more like a human body. "The garden structure, or the bones, is imposed by the head or house," he explains. "The pathways are the circulatory system, the water and lighting are veins and blood, the shrubs and trees are muscle, the soil and groundcovers are skin, the perennials are clothing and the annuals are jewellery."

Like a human body, all components work together. Nevertheless, when developing a garden from scratch, Robin says to look first at the basic garden structure. Then consider the organs-how your garden will function (where you'll eat, play or relax). Look at the circulation or pathways you'll need to link things together. And when it comes to planting, go for muscles first. "Your trees and shrubs provide the basic strength and bulk of the garden," he says. "Start with them and fill in the other details later."