What is your garden missing? What’s on your wishlist that you never quite accomplished this summer? Early fall is the perfect time to take stock of your garden and consider new or different landscaping ideas. Rather than waiting for the spring to make any major moves, use autumn to your advantage!
At this point in the year, your garden is still fresh in your mind. You’re much more likely to remember what bloomed when, what seemed like it needed a bit more space, and really just what you wished you had in your garden. Now is a great time to write some landscaping ideas down, take some measurements, and start dreaming about what you could do with your garden in the coming spring season.
While what we plant and grow is an important part of landscaping, there are many more ideas to tackle outside of just flowers!
Assess Your Bare Spots
Gardening is meant to be enjoyable, so take some time to relax and assess your landscape now that the season is almost through. Does it feel like anything is missing? Did you have color throughout the entire growing season, or could you find something to fill in some gaps in bloom times, like late-blooming summer perennials? One of our favorite landscaping ideas is the sequentially blooming garden, which means that when one beautiful perennial is wrapping up its bloom cycle for the year, another one is just getting started. So, check out your bare spots and start thinking about what type of gaps you can fill in terms of bloom times, desired color, height, or spread in that empty space.
Play Around With What You Have
Newer gardeners are often surprised by how much they can actually change their yard and landscape with a few creative ideas and some basic understanding of dividing and transplanting perennials. This is another fun perk of gardening—while some plants really hate to be moved (we’re looking at you, peonies!), for the most part, you can divide and transplant tons of different perennials to fill spaces in your landscape.
Consider How Much Work You Put In This Year
…and how you felt about it! While we would all love to have lush, expansive gardens, the reality is that many of us simply don’t have the time for the upkeep that they require. So, think about it, were you ok with the level of care your garden or landscape required this year? If the answer is no, perhaps a landscaping idea you may want to consider is finding some low-maintenance perennials or shrubs that look amazing but don’t require a whole lot of TLC.
Look Beyond Just Greenery
While what we plant and grow is an important part of landscaping, there are many more ideas to tackle outside of just flowers! Take a look at the hardscaping in your yard—is there anything you had on your wishlist this summer? A water feature? Edison-style lights to add some ambiance while you’re relaxing during a warm summer night? A rock garden? Pick a project or two that you can start thinking about now and potentially work toward over the winter months to keep your gardening brain active all year long!
The beauty of gardening is that it is a continuous process. If you are stumped about where to go next with your garden or overall landscape, stop by Plant Perfect for a visit! We would be happy to help you brainstorm ideas and get stocked up for the season ahead as you plan out the next steps toward the garden you’ve always dreamed of.