Shuffle tries another arrangement: other plants from the ones that suit, in other places. Each has a number, and the same number always gives the same plan. How much is left to chance goes with the garden style you chose on the first screen. A cottage garden leaves a lot to chance; a formal bed leaves very little, and stays mirrored whatever comes up.

Foliage is how much of the bed goes to plants grown for their leaves and not their flowers: hostas, ferns, grasses, clipped evergreens. At A little the bed is nearly all flower. At Half, about half of the planted ground is leaf. At All there are no plants grown for flower and no bulbs. The Foliage line of the Design check says how close the plan came.

Kinds is how many different plants go into the mix. Recommended is the number that suits a bed this size in the garden style you chose. Fewer kinds, each repeated more often, make a calmer bed that is simpler to buy for. More kinds give more variety and a longer run of flower, but past a point the bed reads as a collection and not a design. The Restraint line of the Design check says where the plan stands. The planner never goes below three kinds, so in a small bed the lowest settings can give the same plan.

Spacing. Tight planting covers the ground sooner and shades out weeds. Open planting gives each group a clearer outline, lets air move, and costs less to plant.