When planning a garden , it is easy to be absorbed by the awing diversity of flowers that blossom in spring or brilliant drop foliage . But the landscape painting is there twelvemonth - round , so why should n’t it look great in both July and January ? To get the most from a garden every month of the year , plan a four - time of year garden .
Beauty comes from more than just flowers
Garden interest comes from different aspect of the plants . A four - season garden plan should include a combination of plants that demo all of the ravisher and variety of the plant realm .
Various plants flower at unlike times of the growing season , have different growth habits , and produce showy or colourful foliation . Some tree and shrubs have broadleaf evergreen or needle - leaf foliage , while deciduous trees and shrubs make flowers , fruit , or colourful pin foliage . The best garden combine these and other trait that add to the overall stunner and marvel of the landscape painting .
Trees and shrubs build the garden foundation
Garden preparation has an chemical element of quick satisfaction and another element of prospicient - term development . Trees and shrubs are comparatively more expensive than herbaceous plant , and they are a long - full term investment . As they produce , they modify the face of the garden by make shady microclimates . embed them with the understanding that their influence over the whole garden change significantly over time .
Trees profit the home and garden likewise by reducing the amount of energy used to cool the domicile and offer smaller plants respite from hotafternoon sun . Choose those withspring flowerslike flowering dogwood tree , colourful dip foliage like maple , or attractive barque patterns like birches , that bring more to the table than just size and construction . Some trees , like the katsura tree and paperbark maple , blend several of these trait for four - time of year interest . Broadleaf evergreens like Charles Hardin Holley and conifers like spruces provide color , structure , and screen during the wintertime as well as shelter for garden wildlife .
Shrubs provide focal points as they show off their flowers , fruit , or foliage in season . Colorful favorites like lilacs , forsythia , and azalea bring forth lot of flowers in springtime , then merge into the background signal the remainder of the year . genus Viburnum propose three season of interest , with spring flowers that bring out deep blue , black-market , or red berries in late summer and various shade of fall color . camellia and daphne blossom in fall , winter , and other spring , while the rest of the garden is hibernating .
Mixed perennial borders add a dynamic color display
Perennials are herbaceous plant that grow back year after twelvemonth . Most perennials institutionalise up their leafy growth in the leap and flush during a multi - week bloom phase at some stage during the spring , summer , or early downslope . Then the tops buy the farm back and the roots stay sleeping through winter . Some of the best four - season plant feature evergreen foliage or bloom in winter .
nurseryman grow perennials for their various foliage colors and textures , and for varied blossom times throughout the year . Evergreen and wintertime bloomers are especially valuable in break up the sameness of the grey , dull months . The most effective horticulture strategies for perennial incorporate leaf color and texture , and efflorescence times of numerous species , creating an ever - convert display .
Annual flowers create season-long consistency and focus
Annual flowers are herbaceous plants that mature only one time of year and bring on flowers from scratch line to finis . Because of the price and labor of replant each time of year , the utilization of annuals is well limited to small pockets throughout the landscape . Plant them in container or strategically locate bottom near walkways and entry .
In mild mood , gardeners use fond season annuals like vinca , begonia , and impatiens in summertime and coolheaded season annuals such as pansy and snapdragon in wintertime . As Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , bush , and perennials come on through their change , annuals extend a level of consistency when convention are iterate through the landscape , and a bright popping of continuous colour throughout the growing time of year .
Seasonal maintenance keeps the garden looking its best
design to maintain your four - time of year garden and ensure that the landscape always looks fresh . Trees and shrubs require periodic pruning to remove item-by-item dead branch or foster an attractive material body . perennial involve to be divided every three to five age to provoke racy emergence and blooming . They can be trim back back when the tops die back each year for a tidy coming into court . yearly require to be changed out seasonally . Mulch should be top dressed once or twice a year to protect roots , retain soil wet , and smother weeds . Other sustenance labor include fertilizing the garden seasonally and water or weeding as demand .
plan a four - season garden requires much more research and organisation than planting a flower bed . build the structure with trees and shrub that offer different form of interest group , flux in perennial that flower at strategical clock time throughout the year , and adding yearbook for bright color and body all combine to mean lots of time reading , researching online , and surf in nurseries . It typically turn into a multi - year endeavor and may not have a “ finished ” point . But , this sort of gardening repay those who love spending time in their yard year - cycle with a beautiful landscape that always bid something new .
count for something else ? Learn how toplot a seasonal gardenwith our quick and easy guide .
