- Trees are the foundation of most landscaping designs.trees image by Marta Reimpell from Fotolia.com
Landscaping plants are beautiful and easy to care for. There are hundreds of perennials, annuals, trees, groundcovers, shrubs, vines and ornamental grasses to choose from when deciding on a landscaping plan. Landscaping plants can be found at most garden centers, greenhouses and nurseries. - Trees and shrubs are solid foundations for most landscaping designs. Trees come in three basic types: Ornamental, evergreen and shade. Ornamental trees are decorative with interesting bark or branch structures and are often flowering like the dogwood, Fruitless Cherry Blossom, magnolia, mayhaw and Decorative Apple Blossom. Evergreen trees like the Douglas fir, blue spruce, pine, red cedar and American holly provide year round greenery to landscapes. Shade trees including oak, weeping willow, elm, maple, ash and the Carolina hemlock provide reaching canopies.
Shrubs come in both flowering and nonflowering types. Flowering types include rhododendrons, mountain laurels, lilacs, forsythia and hollies. Certain roses can be counted among flowering shrubs like Day Dream, Knock Out, Lady Elsie Mays and Starry Night. Nonflowering types include junipers, azaleas, boxwoods and skimmia. - Perennial flowers such as catmint, lavender, forget-me-nots, roses and delphinium return year after year keeping a landscape fresh and lively. Annuals like morning glories, poppies, snapdragons, and marigolds live for a single season and need to be replanted each year. Both perennials and annuals provide beauty and color to a landscape.
- Vines are ideal to add green and color to yard structures used in landscaping. Bougainvillea, Dutchman's Pipe, jasmine, wisteria, hyacinth and honeysuckle are perfect for covering trellises and gazebos. Grapes, blackberries, passion fruit, tomatoes and kiwis offer the addition of fruit to go with attractive canopies for arbors and patio covers.
Groundcover serves a dual purpose of protecting soil from erosion and covering hillsides. Plants such as Lady's Mantle, English ivy, bungleweed, dead nettle, cushion spurge and Coral Bells are without flowers but offer colorful leaves. Flowering groundcovers include candytuft, daylilies, ruby carnations, carpathian bellflower, sweet woodruff and creeping thyme. - Ornamental grasses grow in a variety of ways, some cover ample areas of ground while other grow in fashions similar to bushes. Either type provides great filler for barren spaces. Ornamental grasses are also popular for exceptionally large lots. Bushy ornamental grasses include blue fescue, plume grass, perennial fountain grass and prairie dropseed. Coverage ornamental grasses include northern sea oats, switch grass, purple stem and ribbon grass.
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