Shangri La Botanical Gardens & Nature Center

Line Garden

Lines are the driving force in the composition of this garden with most plants growing in confident vertical lines. Even so line can be horizontal, diagonal, straight or curving. The choice of line results in how an object or composition is viewed in space. The concept of line forms the backbone of artistic compositions.

The Line Garden prominently features the strongly vertical lines of two species of bamboo, Giant Timber Bamboo (Bambusa oldhamii) and Fernleaf Clumping Bamboo (Bambusa multiplex ‘Fernleaf’). Did you know that bamboo is the fastest growing land plant on Earth. Some species have been recorded to grow up to four feet in one day!

Other plants found in the garden with upright, vertical lines Louisiana iris (Iris series Hexagonae) and African iris (Dietes bicolor). Heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica), on the other hand, offers a blending of lines with its strongly ascending stems and broadly horizontal foliage.