As an expression, ‘flat as a pancake’ usually carries negative connotations – a deflated tyre, an unrisen cake. It’s not something anyone wants to hear said about their garden’s borders. We have moved on from the way traditional herbaceous borders used to be planted, with the tallest plants at the back sloping down to the smallest at the front, instead preferring to mix plants up in a less regimented, rigid way. But ‘flat’ planting, where everything has somehow ended up at the same height or level, can lead to visual monotony.
Rather than replant the entire border, there’s an easy fix to break things up and introduce height: a well-placed obelisk or two will do the trick. Instantly adding style, even when they’re on their
