If you are new to gardening, you may be feeling a bit frustrated right now. One of the most common mistakes that a new gardener makes is not creating a design plan. Say WHAT? You may have noticed that your gardens are lacking color at this time. We are rapidly approaching August and if you didn’t plan accordingly, you may be seeing a ton of green (or brown, if you didn’t keep up with watering) but no pops of color! This blog will discuss the benefits of planning your landscape design and working on your bloom sequence to provide a long season of color to your home.

PROs recommend planning your garden on paper prior to even going to your local nursery. The plan can include as much or as little detail as you like but it’s important to do this so that you can go through multiple designs. When designing your landscape, you want to make sure you are keeping in mind the following:

-life of the plants you are installing. For example, you will want to know spacing, how large the plant will get (width and height), soil requirements, sun commitments, bloom sequence, etc.

Next when planning your layout, you want to think about layering. You would not want to add tall or extremely bushy plants in the front line of your landscape because after years of growth they may overtake your garden and hide other things you have planted. Think of heights and staggering – tallest in the back and so on.

One of the fun parts of gardening is selecting your color combinations. Plants and flowers come in a variety of colors. You will want to select colors that will compliment your home’s exterior. As well you want to keep a variety of the colors you decide on. For example, if you are installing a salvia bush that flowers a deep dark purple use a lavender petunia to provide contrast. There are a ton of color combos you can go with: purple and red, blue and pink, orange and yellow – get creative but remain consistent.

We have finally gotten to discussing bloom sequence. When thinking about your garden you want to create an atmosphere that will provide color year-round. You wouldn’t want to plant all spring blooming flowers and then be left with just a green garden from summer on. It’s important that your plants will transition together, cohesively. By learning your plants and their bloom cycle, you will be able to design and install a beautiful, eye catching garden all year!

Here are some PRO tips when creating your landscape design:

• Put it on paper: by doing so you are allowing yourself to visualize any problems that could become potential issues during your install.
• Color coding: flowering plants could be one color, shrubs another, and so on.
• 3 color codes: for each color that you select, have 3 similar colors available to designate their bloom sequence.

By developing a well-planned landscape design, you are guaranteed to gain a beautiful masterpiece at your home! As always, we are available for FREE estimates to provide you with a professional landscape design and install – just give us a call!