Tips for Adding Color and Texture With Plantings for Short Hills and Millburn, NJ Landscapes

Adding plantings to your landscape in the Short Hills and Millburn, NJ areas can be a great way to bring new life, color, and texture to your space. With the variety of plantings available, you can have outdoor surroundings that reflect your style and are cohesive with your landscape features. From flowers to shrubs to trees, there are so many options to consider when you’re ready to refresh with new plantings.

Related: ENJOY BEAUTIFUL PLANTINGS ALONGSIDE YOUR PERGOLA IN THE MOUNTAIN LAKES, NJ AREA

Considerations for Plantings

Before choosing your plantings, your landscape company will consider the conditions of your landscape. Some plants do better in shade or full sun, while some may be choosy about the state of your soil. Different plants have different watering requirements, too, so you should have a plan in place to prevent overwatering and underwatering. There are plenty of beautiful plants to choose from that can work well in any landscape.

Native Plants

When it comes to selecting plantings, considering native plants can bring a variety of benefits to your landscape. Native plants have evolved specifically for our climate which tends to make them heartier plants, even during harsher weather months. Because native plants are so attuned to our climate, they can also require less overall maintenance. They have usually adapted to the amount of rainfall that we get, and are happy in our native soil types as well.

Not only can these plants be beautiful but pollinating insects also tend to be more attracted to them. Enticing these pollinating insects can help your garden thrive and benefit the non-native plants nearby, too. In our area, Black-Eyed Susans and Joe Pye Weed are two perennial native plants that produce colorful flowers. The native deciduous shrub winterberry produces bright red berries in the winter, helping you to get pops of color year round.

Different Growing Seasons

Sometimes planning a garden can be just as fun as watching one bloom! One way to create a garden that is beautiful in many different seasons is to research when plants bloom, change colors, or shed their leaves. While there is nothing wrong with a garden that only blooms in spring and summer, it can be interesting to watch your plantings change and make it look like you’re viewing new plantings every season. In addition to your traditional spring and summer blooming plants, you may want to include a fall staple, chrysanthemums, or a burning bush that will turn bright red in the fall. For winter fun, you can include the winterberry shrub mentioned above, that can add color to otherwise dormant greenery.

Mix and Match Plants

Including a variety of different types of plants not only helps keep the ecosystem healthy but can create amazing visuals! Different plants require different nutrients and therefore have different soil requirements. For example, it may be unwise to plant two nitrogen demanding plants close together because the soil may not have enough nitrogen to support both.

Different plants can also serve different purposes. Greenery that stays close to the ground, like lamb’s ear, can create groundcover and preserve soil moisture for other plants in the area. But even more than that, different types of plants create a beautiful and diverse scene. Including shrubs and hedges can give you different shades of green, height to an otherwise flat landscape, and the ability to prune your plantings into different shapes. Native grasses can provide texture in movement, gently swaying in the lightest of breezes. A variety of flowers that bloom in different seasons can add different colors year-round and continue to breathe new life into your landscape.

Related: HOW TO UTILIZE PLANTINGS TO SOFTEN A RETAINING WALL IN THE SADDLE RIVER, NJ, AREA

About the Author

GreenNature Landscape Design offers viable solutions to our clients. We provide residential landscaping services that are innovative yet competitively priced. Why choose us? We treat each client like our only client. We have the experience and knowledge to turn your most ambitious ideas into reality. You are the driving factor in our designs. Our designs are focused on meeting your unique preferences. Let us create beautiful landscapes you can be proud of, and outdoor living spaces you can’t wait to spend time in.