5 Best Landscaping Ideas

1. Greet Guests with Flowers

Flowers always make a home seem more welcoming. Adorn your entrance with assorted annuals and perennials to keep your home awash with color all year long. Petunia, Snapdragon, Lily-of-the-Nile, and ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ roses are great additions to your entry mise-en-scene. Also, if you have only a small space between your house and the street, try constructing a low fence out in front of the yard. This little trick gives the illusion that your house is farther from the street than it really is, and it also makes a great space for planting flowers and vines. Perhaps there’s something to that “white picket fence” idea after all.
If you have a small space beetween your house and the street, try putting a low fence in front. It gives the illusion that your house is farther from the street than it really is, and it also makes for a great space for planting flowers and vines.

2. Plant Rambling Vines
Another way to make the most of your yard landscape is by planting lovely rambling vines. There’s nothing more stately or romantic than deep green tendrils winding around fences and columns, especially when you’ve chosen a delicate, flowering vine species. Clematis is one of the showiest vines we have, and it would look great in your yard. It offers blossoms of blue, purple, red, pink, or white. We recommend growing this versatile vine on a fence, on a trellis, or in a container. Or, for a more laissez-faire gardening style, let them ramble and scramble over your shrubs and perennials.

Clematis Planting Guide
When to Plant: Fall and spring are good times, because the weather is cool.
How to Grow: Plant clematis in fertile, loose, well-drained soil with lots of organic matter. It likes cool roots, so plant where the leaves get sun but roots are shaded.
How to Fertilize: Feed monthly in spring and summer with an organic fertilizer labeled for roses or tomatoes.
When to Prune: Some types bloom on new growth and some on old growth. When you buy, ask at the nursery what type you have and when you should prune.

3. Dress Up Your Driveway

By carefully sculpting the landscape and choosing the right plants and materials, you can hide an unattractive driveway. With only a few steps, that less-than-picture perfect portion of your home can be transformed into a gardener’s paradise. Start by creating a slightly raised island of lawn in the center of the drive. Then, add a low boxwood hedge toward the back of the island with roses, annuals, and perennials rising above the hedge in the front. Blend a variety of colors, textures, and heights for a great look. Try ‘Crystal Fairy’ rose for height, lamb’s ears for texture, and ‘Butterfly Deep Rose’ pentas for color.

4. Plant No-Fuss Lilies

When we talk about a rough-and-tumble, resilient plant, this is what we’re thinking of. Crinums laugh at drought, don’t need fertilizer, and welcome hot, humid summers with lily-like flowers that perfume the air. Because they grow into huge bulbs over time, they’re practically indestructible. If you need a low-maintenance, high-impact flower, this low-fuss lily will be your go-to plant. They come in an array of rainbow hues, ensuring that your yard will be adorned in your favorite vibrant colors. These plants like sun and don’t care much about the sort of soil in which you plant them. We wish more plants were this low-maintenance.

Crinum Planting Guide
Why You’ll Love Them: Fragrant, trumpet-shaped flowers in many colors appear in spring, summer, or fall.
How to Grow: Most prefer at least five hours of sun a day. They’re not picky about soil.
Where to Grow: Most do best in the Lower, Coastal, and Tropical South (zones 8-10). Some, such as Crinum x powellii ‘Alba’ and ‘Ellen Bosanquet,’ are hardy farther north.
Where to Buy: Order from Jenks Farmer or Plant Delights Nursery.

5. Deer-Proof Your Garden

To keep your flowers from being gobbled up by deer—one of the most heartbreaking of all garden misfortunes—choose flowers that people find glorious and deer find disgusting. It’s not as hard a chore as you might imagine. We recommend that you choose deer-averse perennials like butterfly weed, globe thistle, ‘Royal Red’ butterfly bush, or even purple cornflower. Deer won’t touch them, and, at the end of the day, you’ll still have a flowerbed full of gorgeous leaves and blooms. You can find any of these varieties at garden centers, but be sure that you plant them in well-drained soil.