How to Create a Garden that Changes with the Seasons

Having a beautiful spring garden is one thing, but getting your garden to change as the seasons pass is another. How can you ensure that there will always be something blooming, something of interest in your garden?

There are not many plants that provide flowers throughout the year; although there are some that come close (daylilies are one that comes to mind). So to create a garden that changes with the seasons you need to investigate what grows well in your zone, for each time of the year. You also need to consider what ‘feel’ you want for your garden each season. Do you want to attract birds in spring and butterflies in summer? Are you hoping for a vegetable or herb garden that will give you produce throughout the year? Consider all these things and the look you want your garden to have as the weather changes. Head off to the nursery with your ideas and talk to the experts. Here are some ideas to get your started:

1. Enjoy wonderful fragrances all year long. Enclose fragrant flowers in a confined space. This will intensify their scent. Select blooms that open across the year, to provide different smells at different times.
2. Color can be achieved across the seasons, not only in blossoms and flowers but in foliage. In winter when most vibrant colors are not available think of how stunning white flowers look against glossy dark green leaves.
3. Plan your garden thinking of height variances. Your annuals at the front in summer showing off their brilliance won’t look so dead when behind them you have a backdrop of beautiful shrubs flowering in autumn. A healthy ground cover that doesn’t die back in winter will provide a good base and trees of varying color, leaf shape and bark interest will provide your garden with focus points throughout the year.
4. Does your garden have nooks or water features that can be enhanced with plants in containers when their seasonal flowers have died back? Container planting is useful to keep interest in your garden all year long.

So what plants can be used across the year? Of course you will research your area and find what works best, but you may like to consider some of the following:

In spring you could try a flowering quince shrub or a magnolia tree for lovely fragrances. A wisteria vine is beautiful to the eye as well as the nose but only flowers for a very short time. Your spring perennials might include carnations and primroses. Consider plenty of showy bulbs and annuals for mass planting enhancing fragrance and color such as crocus, hyacinths and freesias.

Summer plants are often heavy in fragrance. Vines such as jasmine and moonflowers are wonderful this time of year. Azaleas come on in summer and bloom in to fall. Butterfly bushes attract birds, as do native plant species. Your perennials for summer might include lavender, bergamot and phlox. Think of snapdragons, sweet pea, marigolds and lilies for your summer annuals and bulbs.

The changing of leaf color heralds autumn when your garden can become a spectacular riot of reds and oranges – and a floor of leaf litter (which will make great mulch for your garden)! There are many trees and shrubs to choose from to provide you with glorious color, just investigate the best for your area and your needs. Remember to have some late flowering summer annuals and perennials amongst your flowers.

Winter time you’ll find interest in witch-hazel and winter hazel shrubs. Boxwood and spicebush shrubs will provide scented foliage. Evergreen trees such as pines, spruce and cedars are wonderful in winter. Your winter perennials could include thyme and wormwood where your annuals will mostly be in the herb garden – such as lemon grass, basil and lemon verbena. Geraniums are a colorful addition to the winter garden.

A garden that changes with the seasons will be one that you work on constantly, fine-tuning each passing year. It doesn’t have to be high maintenance but as your needs change, so will your garden’s. Enjoy the changes you implement in your garden for all seasons.

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