Hiring a professional landscape architect is one way to get a great-looking landscape, but it’s usually cost-prohibitive. Especially during an economic slump.
So, how about buying a landscape designer in a box? That’s basically what you get when you buy a preplanned garden. A professional designer has already selected plants that look great together and thrive in the same growing conditions. All you do is put the plants in the ground according to the enclosed diagram. Viola! Instant garden!
Here are three great preplanned gardens that will make your yard look great:
Summer Dreams Garden
Every yard has a small, neglected space that could use a shot of summer color. That’s the idea behind the Summer Dreams Pre-planned Garden, a summer-blooming perennial garden that fills a small 5-foot-square space with harmonious color. All of the plants in this garden are easy-care, low-maintenance varieties that thrive in a wide range of soils.
Included in the garden are one each of Blue Fortune Hyssop (Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’), Fireworks Goldenrod (Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’), Goldstrum Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’), Purple Cone Flower (Echinacea purpurea), Rozzane Perennial Geranium (Geranium ‘Rozzane’), and two Meadow Blazing Star plants (Liatris ligulistylus). The perennials in the Summer Dreams garden are excellent nectar and pollen sources for attracting and feeding beneficial pollinators like bees and butterflies.
This pre-planned garden comes with a planting diagram and care sheet (for keeping the garden in top shape). The Summer Dreams Small Spaces Pre-planned Garden sells for $58.92 exclusively from High Country Gardens.
From Russia with Love
For years now, David Salman, chief horticulturist of High Country Gardens, has been threatening to start a Russian Sage lonely hearts club because of all the Russian Sage that gets planted all by itself – without a companion plant in sight. The unique, smoky-blue color of Perovskia looks so much richer and more interesting when complemented with other flower colors. Hence, the inspiration for the ‘From Russia with Love’ garden. The perennials in this pre-planned garden are well matched for ease of care and bloom time as well as soil, water and cultural preferences.
Garden comes with 19 plants including: one each of Perovskia ‘Blue Spires,’ Agastache cana and Helictotrichon; two each of Agastache rupestris, Achillea ‘Coronation Gold,’ and Hesperaloe parviflora; and five each of Hymenoxys acaulis and Gaillardia ‘Arizona Sun.’
The pre-planned garden costs $132.31, comes complete with planting instructions, garden schematic and maintenance tips, and covers approximately 75 square feet. Good for Zones 5-9.
Jumbo Waterwise Garden
Finally, here is the solution for that big patch of bare ground that cries out for something really bright and colorful. Just imagine how great your garden will look with a beautifully matched grouping of long blooming, low-care flowers. Best of all, no landscape design experience is needed as the collection comes complete with professionally prepared plans. The plants in this garden will thrive in full and part sun locations. This garden collection covers an area from 75 to 100 square feet in size. Included in the garden collection are three plants each of: Centranthus rubber ‘Coccineus,’ Salvia nemorosa ‘May Night,’ Achillea ‘Moonshine,’ Nepeta faassenii ‘Select Blue,’ Coreopsis grandiflora ‘Sunray,’ and Artemesia ‘Powis Castle.’ Note that this garden will perform best in morning sun/afternoon shade in hot desert climates. Good for Zones 4-9 at a cost of $93.82.
To order these gardens, and for other gardening ideas, call 800-925-9387 or visit High Country Gardens’ website.
