
Anne & Ray Brewer Garden
R & R for a Sonoma Garden
Rhythm and Repetition enhance garden design
By Barbara Kirbach, Sonoma County Master Gardener
Looking for a little more R & R in your garden? Master Gardener Anne Brewer utilizes the design principles of rhythm and repetition to create an harmonious and complementary relationship among her home, garden and nearby landscape. These seemingly simple concepts can make a big difference in your garden, too.

“I decided to repeat the sunset and twilight colors from our western exposure in

She also chose perennials such as Heuchera ‘Caramel,’ Sedum ‘Coppertone,’ and Coreopsis ‘Sienna Sunset’

“Repetition creates order, which is calming to the eye,” Anne said. “I tried to use color for repetition to create patterns and sequences which give the eye a place to rest in regular intervals. I think of repetition as the glue that holds the whole design together.”
She

While a lack of repetition can perhaps lead to chaos, too much repetition can equal monotony. So Anne introduced plants with brown and olive green foliage into the warm color palette. These were punctuated with dark red, purple and brown leaved shrubs and trees.

The design principles of rhythm and repetition are even more enhanced by Anne’s adherence to the sound horticultural practices she was taught as a Master Gardener. Before planting, she and her husband amended the soil with large portions of compost and finished with a deep coating of mulch, to insure that their large garden could be mostly self-maintained and sustained.
They laid down drip irrigation lines throughout, to effectively ration the area’s

Anne’s garden today is a testament to what Thomas Church, the father of the California style of design, once said, “Style is a matter of taste, design a matter of principles.”
Plant list for the Brewer garden
Achillea millefolium ‘Terra Cotta’
Berberis thunbergii ‘Limeglow’
Berberis thunbergii ‘Crimson Pygmy’
Berberis thunbergii‘Orange Rocket’
Bulbine frutescens ‘Orange’
Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’
Canna ‘Tropicanna’
Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’
Cestrum ‘Orange Peel’
Coprosma repens ‘Evening Glow’
Coreopsis ‘Sienna Sunset’
Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’
Dahlia variabilis ‘Mystic Spirit’ ‘Mystic Haze’
Dodonaea viscosa ‘Purpurea’
Euphorbia ‘Blackbird’ ‘Ascot Rainbow’
Hebes ssp.
Heuchera villosa ‘Caramel’
Heuchera micrantha ‘Palace Purple’
Heuchera x Brizoides ‘Amber Waves’
Isoplexus canariensis
Lagerstroemia indica ‘Dynamite’
Lavandula ssp.
Leonotis leonurus
Loropetalum chinensis
Persicaria microcephala ‘Red Dragon’
Perovskia atriplicifolia
Phormium ‘Cream Delight’
Phormium Sundowner’
Phormium ‘Dusky Chief’
Phormium ’Merlot’
Prunus cerasifera ‘Thundercloud’
Rosa ‘Hot Cocoa’
Rosa ‘Easy Going’
Rosa ‘Strike It Rich
Salvia ssp
Sedum nussbaumerianum ‘Coppertone’