Improving Your Landscaping

Posted on: 21 April 2016

Does your landscaping seem a bit flat and boring? Often a yard seems uninteresting because it consists of little more than a lawn with a few garden beds. Although the flowers and shrubs in the bed provide some interest, there is very little to catch the eye. One way to combat this is to add some vertical gardening aspects to your landscape. Plants growing in structures or at different heights force the eye to move around the landscape to see the whole view. This makes the landscaping more exciting and visually appealing. The following ideas can help you add some vertical elements.

Idea #1: Plant Climbing Vines

Vines can hide a lot of problems in a yard. You can train them to cover an ugly fence or a boring wall. When trained over free-standing lattice panels, you have a living screen for privacy or to divide the garden visually into different sections.

Flowering vines like morning glory, trumpet vines, and clematis provide coverage from spring through fall. If you prefer a vine that remains green year-round, look to some of the evergreen ivies. You can even grow edible vines, such peas or beans. Some varieties, like the scarlet runner bean, have both highly ornamental flowers and edible beans.

Idea #2: Add a Tower

Planting towers provides a living centerpiece in the garden. Pyramid-style towers have planting terraces on four sides, while corner styles look like half a pyramid and tuck into a corner of the yard. You can also use tall urns or obelisks with side-planting pockets, sometimes called strawberry towers.

You have several options for planting a tower or pyramid-style planter. Strawberries and herbs are popular options, and often what these items are actually designed for. Small annuals, like pansies and petunias, can also grow well in the small planting pockets. Succulents, such as those in the crassula family, can thrive in these containers since they are usually well drained.

Idea #3: Hanging Planters

Think beyond the standard hanging basket. One option is to create a hanging orb. To do this, you will need two wire-frame hanging baskets with coir liners. Cut slits all around the liner, about 3 to 4 inches apart. Then, plant annual flowers through the slits, adding soil to the basket to cover the roots as you plant. Once both baskets are filled, carefully place them together to form a ball and wire the rims so the orb stays together. Decorative mosses or groundcover plants, like creeping thyme, also look attractive on an orb.

For more ideas for vertical interest, talk with a landscaper from a company like L & L Excavation & Landscaping.