Designing A Year Round Garden

An ideal garden design is one which offers something during every season

. In spring and summer, ornamental trees and flower beds are full of colorful blooms. Vibrant foliage adds beauty to the fall landscape and in the winter the berries, evergreens and bark color provide color. Also important in the winter is the silhouette of trees and shrubs.

Spring bulbs are an important part of the spring garden. They are the first flower to appear in spring and some will last until May and June. Soon after the bulbs some perennials will begin flowering. Most early perennials are suitable for the shady or part shady garden as they take advantage of the sun until the deciduous trees develop their foliage.

Some common, early blooming perennials include iris, bleeding heart and poppy. Though these plants offer some much needed color, green is still the dominant color in the landscape. Since early blooming perennial are generally short lived and often lose their lush foliage (poppies & lupine in particular) include in your garden design annuals and later blooming flowers.

In mid-summer the flower garden is at its peak with a wide variety of sun-loving perennial and annuals in bloom. Phlox, daylily and peony are just a few perennials blooming at this time. Choose flowers which will work well with your favorite annuals. Perennial and annuals are the focus of the mid-season garden as there's no competition with shrubs and bulbs, the majority of which have finished blooming and the fall foliage is still a few months away.

Once these summer flower fade, other perennials, such as stonecrop and balck-eyed-susan, begin to bloom. Most annuals, with proper deadheading can last until there is a frost. Late in fall, the flowers of these perennials become brown and rust colored seed heads which fit in perfectly with the colorful fall foliage of the surrounding shrubs and trees. Most perennials should be cut back to the ground for the winter. Some, though, can remain standing though the winter with their showy seed heads creating off season interest in the garden.

Evergreens, bark and silhouettes help create interest in the winter landscape. Evergreens, as the name implies, keep their foliage all year. Shrubs such as winterberry and viburnum, form colorful berries for the winter and trees such as birch and ironwood have interesting silhouettes. Bark is also something to consider when design your garden. Red twig dogwood, for instance, can brighten up a winter garden with its colorful bark.

It is possible, with careful planning, to have a colorful garden all year.

by: John Green

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