The Line Garden

Lines make up the composition of this garden, with most plants growing in confident vertical lines and others in contrasting horizontal patterns. A prominent plant is the horsetail (Equisetum), an evergreen plant with a hollow green stalk, rudimentary leaves, and a very long history. Since Roman times, the horsetail has been known as the "scouring rush" because its stem contains grains of silica that can scour pots or burnish metal or wood. Related to ferns, the horsetail is a descendant of ancient plants that grew 90-feet tall in forests. As the plants died, they helped form the coal beds of North America and Europe.