Include a variety of plants with multiple seasons
of interest as well as bird and pollinator appeal. You will look
forward to the change of seasons as your landscape transforms
throughout the year.
Use trees and shrubs to provide the framework and longevity in your
landscape. Serviceberries, crabapples, dogwoods, and many others
have flowers, fruit, pollinator, and bird appeal and add winter
interest with their bark or form. Look for those with colorful
exfoliating bark like paperbark maple, heptacodium, and river birch
for a beautiful statement in the winter garden.
Include a few summer blooming shrubs like St John’s wort,
buttonbush, panicle hydrangeas and Rose of Sharon. They add an
unexpected fresh look to your summer landscape.
Perennials combine nicely with trees, shrubs, and annuals, adding
seasons of color and texture. Include those that also attract
songbirds, bees, and butterflies by creating a beautiful habitat.
Blue star (Amsonia), Siberian iris, sedum, Rudbeckia, coneflower,
and grasses are just a few that can brighten any garden with several
seasons of color, provide homes for beneficial insects and food for
the birds.
End the season with fall bloomers like goldenrod, asters, and hardy
mums. These provide food for late season pollinators. Leave healthy
plants stand, providing homes for many beneficial insects, winter
interest in the garden, and food for the songbirds.
Use annuals to fill any voids, add season long color and yearly
changes in the landscape. Containers on steps, decks and patios help
bring the garden to your front and back door.
Include spring flowering bulbs like tulips, daffodils and hyacinths
planted in fall for a colorful welcome to spring. These and many of
the earliest bloomers like winter aconites, grape hyacinths, and
crocus provide needed nectar for early season pollinators.
[to top of second column] |
Evergreens are always a welcome addition to any
landscape. They provide shelter for the birds and year-round
greenery. Find new and interesting ways to include them in your
landscape.
Use taller evergreens for screening bad views, buffering traffic and
other noises, or creating privacy. Use evergreens with interesting
form and texture to create a focal point in a garden bed or
landscape. Combine them with perennials and flowering shrubs for
added seasonal interest.
Then keep your landscape looking its best by
protecting key plants from hungry critters like deer, rabbits and
voles. Skip the fencing and scare tactics by applying a rain
resistant, organic repellent like Plantskydd (plantskydd.com) at
planting. You will need fewer applications and the odor-based
repellent sends animals dining elsewhere before taking a bite out of
your plants. Apply repellent before animals start feeding and follow
the label directions for best results.
Continue to gather ideas with visits to public gardens and partaking
in garden tours. Be sure to take notes and pictures that you can
reference later. Creating a year-round landscape is an ongoing
process that is part of the fun and adventure of gardening.
Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including
Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow
Anything” DVD series and the nationally-syndicated Melinda’s Garden
Moment TV & radio program. Myers is a columnist and contributing
editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and was commissioned by Tree
World Plant Care for her expertise to write this article. Myers'
website is www.Melinda
Myers.com.
[Text from file received from
] |