Plants For Landscaping
A Landscape Plant Guide On Selecting Plants

With so many beautiful plants for landscaping available to choose for your garden, how do you actually decide on the right ones? Which ones will make you smile, do what you want them to, and also...survive? This page is your landscape plant guide to help you choose!

Factors such as height, color, texture, evergreen or deciduous all impact a landscape design. An attractive landscape design incorporates many different kinds of plants for landscaping. It is important, however to select the right plant for the right location.

This landscape plant guide page includes many topics for you to consider when choosing and purchasing landscape plants.

Sun and Shade Conditions For Plants

Some plants need sun to do well.

Others only grow well in the shade...and some will do fine with a little of both.

Many plants do not perform the way they should due to being placed in the wrong area.

When choosing the plants for landscaping your property, this is very important! Don't just purchase a plant because you are taken with it....do your research.

Deer Problems - My Plants Have Been Eaten!

If you really want to eliminate a deer problem, you might consider deer fencing. It's the most foolproof solution.

If you have no fencing, monitor your plants closely. If you see some nibbling, use one of the deer repellents that are available, but this must be reapplied frequently. Also, use the most deer resistant plants.

You have to be very regimented in applying deer repellents in order for them to work on the landscape plants. I missed a couple of days once since I went away for the weekend, and the flowers on my beautiful Annabelle Hydrangea were all gone when I returned!

How Tall Will My Plants Get?

Know how large the plants that you are using will get. We have all seen overgrown gardens. Plan for the future. If, for example, you are using a Dogwood Tree at the corner of your house, know that it can get to be about 18 feet wide. Therefore, it must be planted at least nine feet away from the house.

This rule can be "adjusted" with certain plants however if they are very slow growers. As one of my professors said many years ago, " I love the Gingko Tree, but I would like to see it get relatively tall in my lifetime!"

You Do Want Color, Right?

Consider the blooming times of your landscape trees, flowering shrubs and perennials. Ideally, include plants for landscaping that flower during all seasons. Don't forget the beautiful Fall color of trees and shrubs. Red Maples and Burning Bush provide dazzling red foliage. Don't you admire them when the fall comes and wish you had some fall color on your property?!

Spring, summer, fall and even winter should all be considered for color and interest. Winter is the season usually considered the least. However plants such as those with beautiful branching structures or evergreen foliage will be appreciated when winter arrives.

Foundation Plants

Consider using evergreen shrubs in the background for foundation plantings. When winter comes, you will appreciate the greenery. Consider window heights when selecting shrubs. Do you have a blank wall? Think about how you will address it....tall landscaping plants, climbing vines and/or trellises are some options.

Designing Front Yards
Learn some great tips on how to create a front yard design that will really be unique and special! Confused about front foundation plants? Are you not sure where to place your plants? Do you want some low maintenance colorful perennials? You will find out about all that and more...take a look.

Xeriscaping - Drought Tolerant Plants For Landscaping

The main idea of xeriscaping is using drought tolerant plants in your landscape. These can be found in all types of plants. This practice makes life easier by reducing the amount of water needed by the plants. You will conserve water too. For some more great information, take a look at these interesting landscape design ideas with xeriscaping at the Drought Smart Plants website. It's chock full of tips. One I love is creating a Thyme lawn!

There are numerous plant categories. It is good to become at least a little familiar with them, so that when a plant category is referred to, you will know the type it is and in what situation it can be used in the landscape.

Plants For Landscaping By Category

Landscape Trees

Landscape trees are used in landscape designs for different purposes.

The type of features you would like and the planting solutions you are looking for can guide you in selecting the right trees for you landscape plants.

Some things to think about when selecting trees are evergreen foliage, flowers, screening features, heights and widths, and color of the bark or leaves.

• Evergreen Trees - These plants for landscaping do not lose their leaves in the winter. They will always keep their foliage and thus the name "evergreen". American Holly and Douglas Fir are typical evergreen trees.
• Ornamental Trees - Flowering trees or plants for landscaping (trees) that have interesting structure or bark are called ornamental trees. They are usually smaller than shade trees. An example would be the Flowering Dogwood Tree.
• Shade Trees - These trees offer a cool area to your landscape. They generally are large with wide canopies, thus providing shade.

Landscape Shrubs

Evergreen - Flowering and Non-flowering

Like evergreen trees, these garden shrubs keep their leaves all year long. These plants for landscaping may be a needle type, like Junipers, or they may be a broadleaf type, like Rhododendron.

Evergreen landscape shrubs are often used for front foundation plantings, but can be used anywhere in the garden.

Some types flower, while others do not. Please visit my page on Evergreen Shrubs.

Deciduous - Flowering and Non-flowering

These plants for landscaping lose their leaves in the winter, so only the branching structure remains. However, deciduous garden shrubs usually have features that are very nice during the season. For example, they may have reddish leaves or produce beautiful flowers.

Perennials

Perennial flowers come back year after year. These landscaping plants will die down in early winter, leaving their finished foliage. This foliage must removed either in the Fall or Spring, but prior to the new growth beginning again.

Some perennials love the sun, and only do well when they are planted in sunny areas. Some shade is acceptable to them, as long as it is sunny most of the day.

Other perennials will do their best in shady areas. They prefer a lot of shade, although some sun is needed. There are shade perennials that flower, but often they are known for their beautiful foliage.

Annuals

Annuals live for one season and then they are gone. However, these landscaping plants flower all summer long providing wonderful color.As with perennials, and all plants for that matter, use the correct annuals for your sun/shade conditions. Some prefer sun while other like the shade.

Groundcover

This would be a low growing plant that usually covers a wide area. Sometimes that's all that is needed in the planting bed. Groundcover can be evergreen or deciduous, and can flower or be non-flowering.Sample groundcovers for shady, or somewhat shady areas, are Pachysandra, Ivy, and Vinca. Sometimes low growing shrubs can be used as groundcover. For sunny places on your property, consider Juniper Horizontalis, Thyme, and Ajuga.

How Should I Create A Landscape Design?

I often have visitors write to m asking me how to landscape their yard. Many times this is for their front property. Here's an example of a recent question I received from Gina...and my answer.

QUESTION ABOUT PLANTS FOR LANDSCAPING
I am not too sure where to start in landscaping my front yard. I live in a new town home development. I have a lot of room in my front yard but I am not too sure where to start. I try to put flowers in it, but it looks awkward and as if more needs to be planted. Maybe trees should be added, but I am not an expert. If you could help, thank you.

MY ANSWER
Hi Gina,It's always more helpful if I have a photo, but even without one, I can offer some basic landscape design techniques that you can follow.

Many years ago, before I entered the landscape design profession, I too began with planting flowers...annuals, perennial flowers...anything just to have some color. And like you, I knew something was missing.

Landscape Trees
Without getting into too much landscape design theory, a design needs a few things. One design element is to create a sense of scale and I like to do this by adding landscape trees as some of the plants for landscaping at the house corners if possible. This frames the house and adds height which helps integrate the architecture and the landscaping.

Since you live in a townhouse development, I'll assume that you don't have a lot of space, and finding smaller or more narrow trees can often be a challenge. Here are a few you might consider:

• Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria) - this tree is evergreen
• White Birch or River Birch - lower branches can be trimmed
• Star Magnolia - very nice small tree
• Flowering Dogwood - plan on mature width at about 17 feet wide

Plant the trees half the diameter from the house corner, ie., 8 1/2 feet away for the Dogwood. Also, check your plant zone to make sure the tree will grow where you live.

Evergreen Shrubs
You don't have to select evergreen shrubs at all when you are deciding which plants for landscaping to use.. You can create an entire perennial garden along the front foundation of your house. However, this look is not for every homeowner. By using evergreen shrubs in the background, you will provide substance, greenery in the winter, and also a background for perennials.See my book Designing With Evergreen Shrubs. (There's a sample page for you to look at with pictures.) I show you how to use shrubs with perennials and which plants to choose.

When choosing your shrubs, do not choose many different kinds. Stay with one or two varieties and use many of one kind. This will help to unify the garden design.

Perennial Flowers
Add perennial plants for landscaping in front of the evergreen shrubs. As with the shrubs, use them in groups, although you can have more fun with them. Since perennial flowers take up less room, you can use various kinds. Choose for textures, color, heights, season of bloom, etc.

Tip: Nurseries typically carry perennials that are in bloom. This is a good time to see what the flowers look like. However, you will miss out on plants that flower during others parts of the season. I would suggest staggering your purchases throughout the spring and summer months.

Other Landscape Plants
Create additional interest by adding in a taller plant or two in places where they fit...a Lilac, Butterfly Bush, Oakleaf Hydrangea...are examples. Otherwise, your design can lack excitement.

Note your sun/shade conditions, if you have a deer problem (use deer resistant plants), and as mentioned above, your plant zone.

See some of my pages above for plants for landscaping to choose from too.

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