Maine’s spring season is the perfect time to start planning your landscaping and garden design. The best part? You get to choose the plants that will make your outdoor space beautiful. Unfortunately, that also tends to be the hardest part. With the vast array of available options, how do you choose the right plants for your garden?
To help you out, we’ve put together this beginner’s guide to choosing plants for your landscaping. This guide will cover the different kinds of plants that make up a well-balanced, beautiful landscape and provide you with helpful information to make the best choices for your gardens.
Flowers: Annuals and Perennials
Flowers add color and wow-factor to any garden. They come in a seemingly endless variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. To ensure that your garden has color throughout the entire growing season, choose a mix of annual and perennial flowers.
Annuals are the show-offs of the plant world. They’re the flowers that bloom throughout the spring and summer with very little care, but they do unfortunately die at the end of the season. Fortunately, some annuals will actually drop seeds for you to collect and plant the following spring.
Perennials, on the other hand, are the workhorses of the flower world. They come back year after year and offer a welcoming habitat for bees and other pollinators if you choose to plant a native species.
Shrubs and Bushes
Shrubs and bushes are the backbones of the garden. They provide structure, height, and visual interest all year long.
When choosing shrubs and bushes for your garden, it’s essential to consider the size of the plant at maturity, the amount of sun or shade the plant needs, and the amount of moisture the plant prefers. Based on your preferences, you can choose between flowering, evergreen, and deciduous shrubs.
Ground Covers
If you’re looking to add color and texture to your garden, ground covers are the perfect solution for those difficult to plant areas. Their dense foliage spreads quickly and fills in the gaps between larger plants. They’re also helpful in preventing erosion on slopes and in other areas of the yard that tend to experience a lot of runoff.
Trees
Whether you’re looking to add privacy, delicious fruits, or some much-needed shade to your garden, trees are the perfect solution. However, it can take years for a tree to mature, so you may be waiting quite a while to experience the benefits.
Since trees are a more significant investment of your time, space, and money, it’s best to consult with a professional Maine landscaper before adding trees to your garden.
Native Plants
Last but not least, don’t forget the importance of native plants in your landscape design. These plants are perfectly adapted to the Maine climate, making them low-maintenance and drought-tolerant. They also provide food and shelter for the bees, birds, and other wildlife that call Maine home.
When you choose native plants, you’re helping to support the local ecosystem and helping to support the long-term health of your garden. Maine’s native plants are beloved among gardeners and landscapers for their beauty, low-maintenance needs, and the vital role they play in the state’s ecosystem.
Trust the Maine Landscaping Professionals
Landscape design can be challenging, even for the most experienced gardeners. If you’re looking for help with your planning, planting, or maintenance, the professionals at Davis Landscape Company are here to help. With over 45 years of experience, our family-owned business can help you create the landscape of your dreams.
Contact us today to get started!
