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This spring, set the mood of your home with an
entry garden. Now’s the time to start planning your entry
garden…set a friendly tone for those who pass through your
garden on the way to your front door. Then, keep in mind your architecture
and setting, scale, boundaries and maintenance. First, make sure
the garden suits the house and setting. To make a home more friendly,
a loose, informal garden can be planted with any style house. Keep
the garden to scale by considering the size and height of the plants
in relation to its surroundings. Set the boundaries of your garden
by adding a fence, wall, hedge or gate. You may only designate the
area immediately surrounding the home, or you may want to include
the entire front yard. Finally, be sure you are realistic with yourself
about how much maintenance you are willing to do. If you have limited
time, don’t plant high maintenance plants that require lots
of feeding, watering and deadheading. For plant suggestions, stop
by and see us. We can recommend what plants will do well on your
site with minimal care.
The arrival of spring is evident more in the blossoms
of trees than anything else. The joyful coloring of the landscape
by spring-flowering trees truly lifts the spirits – the pinks
and whites of dogwoods and crabapples, the glorious blossoms of
magnolia and ornamental pears that magically appear almost overnight.
Together, they proclaim that winter is finally over.
Some of our favorite early flowering trees include
(in order by their bloom time):
Magnolia –
The first to bloom is the Star Magnolia with its many petaled, white
flowers. A week later several varieties of Saucer Magnolias make
their debut with big, rich, full, cup-shaded flowers in shades of
white, pink and purple.
Ornamental Pear
– Smothered with small white flowers, Ornamental Pears also
have rich leaf color in late fall. Use as a specimen or accent as
well as a street tree.
Ornamental Cherry
– Every landscape should have at least one cherry tree. The
breath-taking Weeping Cherry announces springs arrival, followed
by the famous Yoshino Cherry of Washington D.C. Next, the popular
vase-shaped Kwansan Cherry explodes into bloom with deep pink, double
flowers.
Redbud –
An adaptable tree with charming bright purple flowers along its
bare branches. ‘Forest Pansy’ also boasts purplish foliage
all summer. This is one of the few trees that will tolerate shade.
Dogwood –
Our native Dogwood is one of the most beautiful flowering trees.
Graceful flowers in white, pink and red appear to float on its bare
branches. In fall, leaves turn to a reddish purple color with clusters
of red berries.
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