HOW TO DESIGN WITH SEASON LONG INTEREST IN YOUR GARDEN

 

There are many elements to creating a beautiful garden space with season long interest; shape, texture, size, scent and color. Color can be the most eye-catching of these elements. When I sit down to design the plant section within the garden landscape I take all of these elements into account, but I especially love considering the COLOR. Creating season long color in your garden is not as easy as it sounds, but it sure is fun!

 

Here are six garden tips for designing with season long color and interest.

 

• Be mindful of when a plant blooms. Create striking color from the first blooms of spring to the last blooms of fall. And then take it further, add winter interest!
• What is winter interest? Go the extra mile and design your gardens to include colorful and distinctive bark, interesting shapes, plants with berries and ornamental grasses.
• Foliage plants vs. Flowering plants~ Impressive garden beauty can be found in both leaf color and bloom color, with perennials and annuals.
• Color isn’t always what you think. The composition of varying greens can be striking as well, such as with Hostas, Heuchera and Ajuga.
• Consistency~Create a cohesive design by keeping some consistency with your color choices.
• Create depth in your garden design by including varying textures, shapes, sizes and scents to have a well rounded and stunning landscape.

      GARDEN DESIGN ELEMENTS

           texture     size      shape

                      scent       color

 

Some specific plant ideas for our lovely Colorado plant zones…

 

Texture~   Ornamental grasses, Currants, Allium and Red Hot Poker.

Size~          Large shrubs, perennials and ground covers, such as…Common Lilac, Black eyed Susans and Delosperma.

Shape~      Weeping trees & shrubs, flowing ornamental grasses and spiky perennials such as…Twisty Baby Locust tree, Karl Foerster grass and Daylilies.

Scent~       Hummingbird Mint Agastache, Munstead Lavender and Cheddar Pink Dianthus. Bonus- Fragrant plants are often more deer resistant than others due to the smell!

Color~     All of the Above! And…Red Twig Dogwood, Zagreb Coreopsis, Aubrieta and Annuals.

 

Want us to help?

Down to Earth Gardening and Landscaping, Inc. can design your season long color garden that you have always wanted. From your first consultation to the last plant in the ground, Down to Earth is dedicated to designing and installing an amazing and colorful garden tailored to your needs.