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Does
the following scenario describe you and your garden? Pleasant sunny days finally arrive. Tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths are beginning to bloom.
It’s springtime, and you’re eager to add more color to the
landscape. Off you go on a shopping
spree that results in impulse
purchases of plants that are in bloom.
Soon, your garden is filled with gorgeous blooming plants.
Sadly,
the beauty doesn’t last. Within
a few weeks the weather heats up and most of the flowers cease to bloom.
In early July your garden begins to look rather drab.
By the time fall arrives, autumn foliage provides the only bit of
color in the landscape. Don’t
despair! Spruce up your dull, dreary garden by designing a long-blooming
one.
With a bit of planning, you can have eye-catching
flowerbeds and borders that are colorful in spring, summer and fall.
You
can easily remedy a garden that is attractive for only one season by
creating a plan that includes plants that bloom at different times,
thereby providing a succession of color.
Begin by making three lists of plants: ones that bloom in spring,
ones that bloom in summer, and ones that bloom in fall.
To help you with this task, consult tables that list the bloom
dates of common perennials and annuals.
You can find these tables in many gardening books.
The
next step is to become familiar with the growing needs of the plants you
listed. Find out the water
requirements of the plants so you can group plants with similar watering
needs together. Learn how
much sunlight the plants prefer: full sun, partial shade or full shade. Determine which plants are hardy in your area by checking
their USDA hardiness zone ratings.
Find out the mature size of the plants.
You want to avoid the common mistake of underestimating how big a
plant will be in two or three years.
Check to see if the plants are finicky about soil conditions.
Most gardeners find they need to amend the soil with compost
because their soil is heavy clay that doesn’t drain well, or perhaps
it is sandy and doesn’t retain moisture.
The soil’s pH, its alkalinity or acidity, occasionally may make
a site unsuitable for specific plants.
You
will also want to consider the color of the flowers. Some gardeners select a color palette and keep it throughout
the seasons, while others shift to different palettes. Pastels are a popular springtime option: pink, lavender, baby
blue and pale yellow. Because
hot, intense sunlight in Colorado tends to wash out pastel hues, vivid
colors are often a better choice for summer.
Bright red, deep purple and sunny yellow work well.
Rich harvest colors such as gold, rust, orange and bronze
generally predominate in fall. Use
white flowers and plants with gray or silver foliage to create a smooth
transition between color schemes.
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Armed
with the information you have gathered, you are now ready to make some
decisions about which plants to use and where to plant them.
One approach is to create vignettes.
Well-designed groupings of plants, or vignettes, are more
appealing than isolated plants scattered around the landscape.
Select a spot in your yard where you would like to have a group
of spring-blooming plants. Arrange
three or five different types of spring-blooming plants that have the
same cultural needs in a cluster, as if you were creating a bouquet.
Use enough plants of each type to provide impact from a distance.
The
arrangement will be more attractive if you vary the shapes of plants.
You can do this by incorporating mounding plants, trailing plants
and tall, narrow plants in the grouping.
The shape and foliage of the plants should form an appealing
combination both when the plants are in bloom and out of bloom.
Select plants whose flowers and leaves contrast in size and
shape. Diversity adds
interest. It is essential
that the colors of the flowers are harmonious together.
Create
additional spring-blooming vignettes in other spots around the yard
using some of the same plants and introducing others.
Repeat this process in various locations using summer-blooming
plants and then fall-blooming plants.
Keep in mind that you don’t need to limit yourself to using
only perennials. Annuals,
shrub roses, ornamental grasses and flowering shrubs are terrific
elements to include in the vignettes.
Lastly,
while you’re creating your plan you may want to consider adding more
flowerbeds and borders or enlarging existing ones.
In response to Colorado’s dry climate and periods of drought,
many gardeners are looking for ways to reduce the amount of water used
in their yards. Replacing
sections of thirsty lawn with flowerbeds and borders is one solution.
Planning
a garden does require time and effort.
However, the results make that time and effort worthwhile.
You will have created a beautiful, long-blooming garden.
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