Archive for the ‘Garden Design’ Category

Create a more powerful impact in your landscape when you use Festuca in groupings of 5 or more

Looking for an easy garden design idea that will add some impact to your perennial garden? I love using Festuca Boulder Blue for a number of reasons.  This sun loving ornamental grass is easy to grow, looks great throughout the year and thrives in sun, high heat & humidity in well drained soil.  Hardy from Zones 4-9.   I believe it is one of of the best drought proof sun loving perennial groundcovers out there.

Add Color & Texture

Have some unpleasant spots in your garden?  The handsome mound shape and narrow blue foliage make be just the ticket as it adds season long color & texture.

Break Up Competing Colors

If you have two strong competing colors that are just rubbing you the wrong way try planting a group of this soothing blue Festuca between them.  Festuca is the ideal perennial to help break up strong competing colors in the garden

Small Space Gardening

Festuca grows 12”x12” so it tucks ever so nicely along narrow pathways, beneath shrubs or edging a perennial border.

Plant in Groups

If you really want to add impact, plant in groupings of 5 or more.

Repeating

Some of the most beautiful gardens do a great job in repeating similar plants in adjacent areas. This frequently leads to a more harmonious flow in the garden.

Care & Growing Tips

• Add sand to heavier soils.
• Allow plants to dry out between watering.
• In the spring, use a sheers to prune away any dead foliage from winter
• Fertilize in the spring with Osmocote or a balanced granular fertilizer

I know you’ll really enjoy Festuca - an easy to grow and care perennial.  Click Here for a Sun Perennial Garden Design Idea

Where to Buy Festuca Boulder Blue – www.GreatGardenPlants.com

Drought proof Sedums need no maintenance but will remain colorful throughout the season

Sedums are one of the best groundcovers for sunny spots.  If you want to know how I spell easy gardening it is – SEDUM!

Sedums are long lived, require no maintenance, are easy to grow, have excellent drought tolerance and come in a wide variety of foliage and flower colors.

I love this picture sent in from my friend Bill from Saint Louis.  This planting located near a post office consists of a variety of colorful low growing sedums.  Brick always reflects heat back up towards plant which just seems to make these tough as nails drought proof groundcover even prettier!

Sedums are probably one of the BEST problem solving plants for tough spots where other plants fail to grow – even on hillsides and banks.   The only thing they need is good drainage.

Here are the varieties I would combine to achieve a similar foliage effect:

Voodoo  (red)
Angelina (yellow)
Blue Spruce  or cauticoloa (Blue)
Ellacombianum (green)

For even a quicker solution – try SedumSod – an easy mat that installs in seconds!

Here’s to easy gardening!  For more  on Sedums visit www.GreatGardenPlants.com

Rhamnus makes a moderate size hedge or background plant in a sunny to partly shaded site

Remember the first perennial garden you personally designed?  Mine was a rich riot of color with Daylilies and Rudbeckia.  But it was boring – I had achieved a solder like lineup of plants with similar heights.

Add Highs to your Lows with Vertical Elements

So what now?  I realized I needed some height along with different sizes and shape to gain balance and flow -so I added a few vertical plants namely Miscanthus and was really happy with the results.

Rhamnus Fine Line®

In the past few years, I discovered a wonderful vertical plant called Rhamnus Fine Line®

The soft ferny foliage compliments many shrubs & perennials

that combines the texture of an ornamental grass with Zone 3 hardiness.  Rhamnus grows around 6 feet and the fact that it only gets around 24” wide – you have a perfect complement to any border in a sun to partly shaded site.

Unlike a Miscanthus, Fine Line® does not need to be pruned down to the ground every spring – it just flushes out with fresh new ferny like foliage which can be trimmed to any shape.

Planting

The soft ferny foliage is so lovely when planted in groups of 3 or more.  It makes a terrific background plant and a medium sized Hedge Plant.  Try it with Knock Out Roses, Buddleia Blue Chip, or other moderate size shrubs.  It also makes a terrific container plant with season long interest Rhamnus is 98% sterile so it is noninvasive.  Fall brings on a brilliant gold color.

Vertical plants such as Rhamnus help to conceal unsightly objects such as air conditioning units.

This deer & drought proof deciduous shrub is a delightful medium sized vertical plant in almost any size garden.

Easy sun perennial combination for a small space or container garden

Here is a sun perennial combination idea for your garden with 3 easy to grow garden plants

For season long interest I like using perennial plants that will give me 3 seasons of foliage color.

I love the new cherry red SEDUM  (Sunsparkler) CHERRY TART and pairing this with the blue foliage of FESTUCA for a front of the border planting.

For long season flowering color, I added COREOPSIS STAR CLUSTER which grows up to 15″ – so plant in the back). Star Cluster picks up the deep red color in the center.  Another alternative to Star Cluster would be a yellow flowering Coreopsis such as Creme Brule or Moonbeam.

All these perennials are easy to grow in full sun and well drained soil while providing season long interest in your perennial garden.

What would you combine Sedum Cherry Tart with?

KnockOut Roses are disease free, ultra hardy, long blooming and long lived rose!

Need a Back-yard Makeover Idea?  KnockOut Roses are an ideal  choice for a  a busy young mother of 2 energetic young boys.

Natalie Meeks of Mommy’s Memorandum decided to use KnockOut Roses for her garden project.  KnockOut Roses is one of the best-selling flowering shrubs on the market day.  They are long blooming, disease free, ultra hardy and long lived.

Natalie  talks about her project installation and shares some helpful tips on plants she purchased from www.GreatGardenPlants.com

Natalie states “Despite the record high temperatures, these plants continue to thrive.   I think that these plants will be the perfect addition to our backyard for many summers to come.”

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