Is there such a thing as the perfect landscape? Yes! It’s the landscape that’s perfect for you: just the right mix of seasonal color; steadfast evergreens; lush grass… and special touches that reflect your personality. If you’re looking for a theme, here are 3 summer favorites from our garden center for Bergen County, NJ, landscapes.
Related: USE OUR PLANT NURSERY TO CREATE YEAR-ROUND COLOR IN ULSTER COUNTY NY
Low-Maintenance Plants
If you want less yard work this year or need to liven up a dark corner of the landscape where grass refuses to thrive, replace some of your lawn with low-maintenance plants. Even in ideal conditions, turf grass is one of the most high-maintenance plants out there, and giving up some of the sea of green will not only reduce your weekend chores but will also add variety and interest to your landscape.
Ground covers create a beautiful lush “carpet,” bring interest to dark areas of the landscape, and help prevent erosion. Favorites include pachysandra, Irish Moss, Blue Star Creeper, and creeping thyme. Irish Moss and creeping thyme are particularly delightful between stepping stones!
Ornamental grasses add a soft, billowy feel to otherwise dark parts of your landscapes. Feather reed grass, dwarf fountain grass, and rose fountain grass are popular in New Jersey. These grasses can grow from a few feet all the way up to taller than the average person, which makes them great privacy screens as well as interesting features.
You can’t go wrong with hardy and water-wise native perennials that are perfectly adapted to the muggy summers and thumb-numbing New Jersey winters. And, they are just as beautiful as exotics that require a lot more care! Purple coneflower, butterfly weed, and New England aster round out your landscape with long-lasting blooms.
If you’re in an area where deer love munching on your landscaping, consider deer-resistant shrubs like barberry and boxwood, and trees that deer avoid including dogwood, spruce, and juniper.
Edible Gardens
Edible gardens are a hot trend, especially with the COVID-19 shelter-in-place requirements and a trend toward eating organic and local. Even if you’ve never tried your hand at growing your own food, there are a few favorites that are easy to grow. These include herbs (which can be grown in a window planter), and easy-growing veggies like tomatoes, sugar snap peas, spinach, lettuce, zucchini, broccoli, and potatoes.
Blueberries and raspberries are great additions to your landscape if you can devote a bit of space to these shrubs, which tend to spread. Fruit trees like cherry, pears, plums, and apples will treat you to delicious snacks all season long.
Pollinator Gardens
You can do your part to boost native bee and butterfly populations by devoting a part of your landscape to them, with a pollinator garden. Whether you grow flowers in containers or create a small-scale “wild meadow,” you can be sure that pollinators will appreciate your efforts! Favorites include bee balm, ironweed, mountain mint, prairie dropseed, sedges, and viburnum.
Of course, roses and lilacs deserve a special mention because they attract pollinators and are often the stars of more formal gardens. Browse our garden center and choose varieties that will give you long-lasting blooms and the wonderful scent that only roses and lilacs can deliver.
Whether you’re new to gardening or want to mix things up with a few new varieties, our nursery experts are here to help you make the best choices for your landscape.
Related: VISIT OUR GARDEN CENTER FOR THE FOLLOWING EDIBLE PLANTS FOR SUSSEX COUNTY, NJ GARDENING
