Layer planting is designed to achieve balance and continuity of texture, colour and form in the same area. This mimics natural habitats where plants grow in close proximity but often have distinct lifecycles which minimises competition for food, light and moisture.

A good example from nature is a bluebell wood where the bluebells bloom in late spring and die down before foxgloves, brambles and bracken have developed fully. This interplanting (or tiered planting) may be imitated, using associations of cultivated plants. For example, white-stemmed birches (Betula) could form the tree layer, in whose light shade could be planted dogwoods (Cornus) or Japanese maples (Acer) as the shrub layer. These then could be underplanted with ferns or hostas and, as these do not come into leaf until late spring, they might be interplanted with spring bulbs. The same guidelines may be followed using specimen shrubs surrounded by carpets of bulbs and groundcover plants.

Bear in mind that evergreen trees such as hollies (Ilex),or trees with dense canopies, such as beech (Fagus), often have branches right to the ground or cast deep shade, making it difficult for plants beneath to grow well.