With people spending so much time at home in 2020, gardening has become a hot new hobby.
Perhaps you’re looking to edge your driveway with cheerful cottage flowers. Or maybe you’re thinking about digging up your front yard and replacing it with a food garden à la the Food Not Lawns movement.
Read on to find out all about five great garden plants that will help you make the most out of your property.
1. Popular Peonies and Romantic Roses
Appeal to the traditionalist in you by filling your front yard with peonies and roses.
There couldn’t be a better match in the garden than peonies and roses, says English garden guru Val Bourne. When roses finish their flowering season, peonies are just getting started.
Peonies and roses are both perennials, which means they will keep coming back year after year. Plant these gorgeous garden plants once and enjoy their blooms for years.
2. Architectural Cacti and Succulents
Succulents and cacti are the names for a large group of fleshy, often spiky plants adapted to live in harsh environments. In a home garden, they add an element of curiosity and pops of color when their bright flowers emerge.
Cacti and succulents are easy to care for. All they need is stony soil and a little water. Varieties popular in the USA include zebra plants, aeoniums, string of pearls, and aloe.
3. Grasses Make Great Garden Plants
Grasses and sedges come in an unbelievable array of colors and leaf thicknesses. Their root systems dig deep into your soil, protecting it from erosion.
Use these hardy garden plants to add texture to borders, create patches of interest in your floral garden beds, surround a natural swimming pool, or even in place of grass on your lawn.
To help local wildlife and improve biodiversity, choose grass varieties native to North America. Blue grama grass has pretty seed heads, while prairie dropseed forms a dainty bushel. Prairie junegrass and clustered field sedge make great turf.
4. Culinary Herbs for the Picking
Many of the herbs we use to flavor our food in the USA come from hot, dry climates like the Mediterranean or the Middle East. A few come from humid tropical regions like Southeast Asia.
Mint, basil, thyme, parsley, and rosemary are some of the handiest herbs to have in a kitchen garden. If you live in warmer climes, you could try your hand at growing something a bit more exotic like cilantro or pandan.
When selecting herbs to plant in your garden, keep two things in mind: what herbs are best suited to your growing zone and what herbs are used in the dishes you cook the most.
5. Miniature Versions of Popular Fruit Trees
Think you don’t have room for an orchard in your ordinary-sized yard? Think again!
Due to the hard work of clever horticulturists around the world, there are now all kinds of dwarf fruit trees you can buy for your garden. To make a fruit tree little, gardeners graft fruit-bearing trunks onto dwarf rootstock. This creates a tree that will bear regular-sized fruit without growing too big. You can also prune fruit trees to discourage their growth.
Depending on where you live, cherries, plums, lemons, and figs are all easy-care fruit tree options.
Ask Your Local Nursery For Advice
If you’re unsure which great garden plants will best suit the ecosystem around your home, consult with a reputable nursery and landscape company like Franz Witte. The staff at a nursery are well equipped to give you useful garden plant ideas.
Read other informative articles on attractive on At Your Business.
