Seasonal Planting Guide For Lasting Appeal
Seasonal planting is a way of creating a garden that thrives all year round. Many gardeners focus their time and energy on the prime blooming seasons of the year, spring and summer. While these may be the main times for colour and visual appeal, you are missing out on what the rest of the year has to offer by only focusing on these few months.
As a professional landscaping company, Taming Mother Nature knows what it takes to create a thriving garden, no matter the weather. We work throughout the year and continue to support outdoor spaces in all seasons. Using our experience in the landscaping industry and passion for the work we do, we are sharing this seasonal planting guide to help you create a garden that looks great all year round.
The Importance Of Seasonal Planting: It’s Not Just About Looks
Seasonal planting is a way to ensure your garden continues to be attractive and vibrant throughout the years, but there is more to it than this. Although the visual appearance of your garden may be your primary concern, seasonal planting can also contribute to healthier ecosystems and local biodiversity.
With a range of plants in your garden that thrive throughout the year, you can continue to support essential wildlife like pollinators for longer. Most gardens become havens to wildlife during the spring and summer months, when everything is in bloom, but are soon forgotten once the weather changes.
By including seasonal planting in your garden design, you can continue to support wildlife and ecosystems organically, as well as create a landscape that looks amazing at all times.
Seasonal Planting Guide For Year-Round Appeal
In the UK, we are lucky enough to experience all four seasons (sometimes in a single day!). For gardeners, this means plenty of opportunities to renovate your outdoor space and create something unique for each new time of the year.
Each season brings new conditions and plants that can be incorporated into your garden design for a diverse, vibrant landscape. With seasonal planting, you can align your outdoor space with the time of year to ensure it remains attractive and healthy for longer.
Spring Planting Guide: A Fresh Start For Gardens
To get the gardening season off to a great start, consider early bloomers, bulbs and flowering shrubs. These plants are planted early in the season or in the autumn ahead of the new year, so you can experience the beauty of the changing seasons.
Some of the best seasonal planting options for spring include:
- Tulips: These iconic spring bulbs will come to life at the first signs of the changing season and are available in endless colours to complement all kinds of outdoor spaces.
- Daffodils: Daffodils are hardy bulbs that are a symbol of spring, as they are often one of the first signs that the UK is entering a new season. The cheerful yellow or white blooms are a beautiful addition to flower beds and planting spaces, and will kickstart your gardening off right.
- Primroses: Unlike many other spring flowers, primroses are perennials and will return to your garden year after year to signal the start of a new season. The delicate flowers come in multiple colours and are compact enough for containers or borders.
- Cherry Blossom: These ornamental trees produce white or pink flowers in the early spring and continue to be a focal point in your garden for years to come.
Summer Planting Guide For Vibrancy And Growth
Seasonal planting in the summer is focused on vibrancy and colour, as a way to celebrate the best things of this time of year. The warm weather and longer days of summer mean it is more likely for you to spend time outdoors, and these plants make it even more appealing.
To ensure your garden remains vibrant and full of life as the season progresses, perform frequent watering and mulching. These plants will need support during the summer, but come to life during this season to create a welcoming, engaging landscape for the whole family:
- Roses: A British garden classic, these seasonal plants can be used as shrubs or climbers to add colour to any-sized garden. Available in a range of vibrant shades, such as pink, orange, yellow and classic red, roses are a beautiful addition to all outdoor spaces, and their fragrance complements your outdoor occasions perfectly.
- Geraniums: These beautiful bedding plants are very easy to grow and bloom well in the hot conditions of summer. They are perennials that will return to your garden each year, and are available in a range of colours to complement all properties.
- Lavender: Renowned for its soothing fragrance, lavender is also a hardy perennial that thrives in hot conditions. This drought-tolerant shrub produces beautiful purple flowers that are highly attractive to pollinators such as bees and butterflies, and are ideal for borders.
- Hydrangeas: These seasonal plants are a great option for late summer colour as the clusters of pink, purple or blue flowers are long-lasting. They are showy in colour but delicate in structure, making them a suitable option for a range of outdoor spaces.
Autumn Planting Guide For Rich Colours And Warm Hues
While a lot of outdoor activities begin to slow down in the autumn, this does not mean your garden has to suffer.
With seasonal planting options, your garden can remain vibrant and healthy even as the weather changes. As well as working with the conditions of the season, autumn is a great time to prepare your garden for the new year ahead by planting spring bulbs and perennials.
There are plenty of seasonal planting options for this time of year, such as:
- Chrysanthemums: These perennials are late-flowering and continue producing rich blooms in colours of pinks, yellows and reds into the autumn. As they are perennials, these flowers will return to your garden every year and remain a staple in your garden design.
- Sedum: This succulent perennial produces star-shaped pink flowers, which can last through late summer into early autumn to continue supporting pollinators. They are low-growing and easy to care for, making them a great option for low-maintenance borders and flower beds.
- Japanese Maples: Japanese Maples are small, ornamental trees that produce stunning autumn foliage in rich hues of red, orange and gold. They provide a beautiful contrast to traditional green shrubs and trees, as well as providing long-lasting colour to your garden.
- Ornamental Grasses: Structural plants such as Mexican feathergrass and Festuca glauca provide long-lasting texture and movement to your garden. These are hardy seasonal plants that do not require pruning or shaping and can offer unique pops of colour throughout autumn.
Winter Planting Guide For Lasting Structure
Although winter is not necessarily the most popular time of year for gardeners, it can be a vibrant one with seasonal planting. Winter planting is primarily focused on maintaining structure and your existing planting areas ahead of the new gardening season.
To add more interest and appeal to the winter months, consider these seasonal plants:
- Holly: A classic winter plant, this evergreen shrub adds colour and structure to your garden late in the season with its glossy green leaves and bright red berries.
- Winter Jasmine: With its bright yellow plants, which bloom on bare stems, this is one of the best seasonal plants to add colour to your winter garden. It is a dense shrub that continues to thrive late in the season and creates a garden you can enjoy looking at, even on the greyest of days.
- Hellebores (Christmas Rose): Hellebores are a very easy plant to maintain as they are shade-loving perennials. This is a winter-blooming shrub that produces pink, purple and white flowers that will thrive until the early spring.
- Dogwood (Cornus): While this is a deciduous shrub, the striking red, yellow or orange stems make it a great seasonal planting option for winter as it adds colour to an otherwise bare landscape.
Conclusion
Seasonal planting is a way of making the most out of your garden throughout the year. With options for late bloomers, evergreen shrubs and colourful foliage, there are various ways you can keep your landscape interesting throughout the seasons.
Although spring and summer are the most popular times for gardening, with seasonal planting, you have plenty of opportunities to create a garden you love. To ensure your garden remains a vibrant and healthy environment, no matter the weather, consider working with professional landscapers like Taming Mother Nature. We offer landscaping, garden design, and maintenance services all year round.
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FAQs
What’s the best season to start a new garden?
Autumn is often the ideal time of year to begin preparing a new garden, as the soil is still warm. This gives plants enough time to establish ahead of the winter frost, so they will be ready to bloom in spring.
Can I have flowers in my garden during winter?
Yes – several winter-blooming plants produce colourful flowers in the colder months, such as hellebores and winter jasmine.
How do I make sure my garden is colourful all year round?
Using a combination of bulbs, perennials, and evergreen shrubs is the best way to keep your garden colourful all year round. With a combination of seasonal plants, something will always be in bloom and therefore adding colour to your garden.