3 Perfect Places to Plant a Perennial Garden

Hey friends!  I’m excited to share with you 3 perfect places to plant a perennial garden. I’m laughing though because if I were reading this, I would be thinking…“is there a bad place to plant a garden?” Ha! Not in my book.

I do remember a time I felt differently however, the first time I tried my hand at perennials.. It was the 2nd house we owned and I had already dabbled quite a bit in annuals, but wasn’t sure about crossing over into the world of perennials. I understood that they would come back every year but wasn’t keen on the fact that they had shorter bloom times. Annuals had to be bought every year but their blooms lasted all summer. Hesitantly I got some from my Mom who divided a few of hers, dug out an area next to the garage and planted them in there. The thing that made it fun at the time was that me and my neighbor friend dove into this new adventure together, neither of us knowing a thing about planning a perennial garden. To my surprise we really enjoyed them and continued to learn more and more. They really weren’t as scary as I had thought.  I have learned a lot since that first little side garden. I went on to plant over 15 garden beds in a 3 acre lot at our next home and was featured in Country Gardens Magazine. So needless to say, it can be a bit addicting, BEWARE!

So today I will be sharing about the WHERE, the 3 perfect places, and in the weeks to come I’ll share more about the actual planning, prepping, buying, planting and caring for the garden. Whew, that sounds like a lot! Not to make it sound overly complicated but there is a lot of thought and time that goes into it.

So if you’ve been thinking about planting a flower bed …Here are the 3 perfect places to plant a perennial garden.

1. Foundation Gardens- plantings around the perimeter of your house or any another out building, perhaps a barn, shed, gazebo or greenhouse.  
2. A Border Garden- plantings at the edge of your yard, around a patio or pool,  along the street, driveway, sidewalk or path.
3. A Garden Berm- a raised garden bed where ever you desire as a focal point in the yard.

FOUNDATION GARDEN

Foundation gardens are always a little easier for me because they have a backdrop already, obviously the actual structure you’re gonna plant around, but possibly hardscapes (non-living elements) as well. Such as a porch, retaining walls, pavers, etc. There might even be some trees and a few shrubs in place.

If not that’s the first thing I try to achieve is some sort of hardscape as well as plantings that can serve as a backdrop. Maybe an ornamental tree, a couple larger shrubs, possibly a bench, trellis, pathway, etc. Something that creates a permanent focal point for each season.

There’s also the case where we might want to hide something, an air conditioning unit, an electrical box, etc. That can also be done with some bigger shrubs or evergreens.

In the Spring perennials can take a little time to emerge or leaf out so your hardscape items and larger plants, especially evergreens will give visual interest until the perennials can steal the show! Evergreens literally mean just that..foliage that persists opposed to dropping its leaves in the winter, as well as retaining their color throughout the year rather than changing color in the fall. They aren’t necessarily always green, you can get evergreens that have more of a blue foliage as well as gold.

A BORDER GARDEN 

When it comes to creating a Border Garden, depending on what you’re bordering, the plant choices need to vary in height. If I’m bordering the edge of my yard, I think through some of the same things as with a Foundation Garden. Will I create a backdrop with a fence, possibly some larger evergreens for privacy? What will be my focal point? Something as simple as a birdbath can create a fun focal point in any garden area. If I’m bordering a patio or pool area maybe an arbor would be the perfect addition to create a focal point. Who doesn’t want to walk through an arbor covered in a beautiful flowering vine? Or maybe just a simple path of stepping stones to walk down.

Gardens bordering driveways, sidewalks or paths should usually remain fairly simple and low growing as to not hinder your view. These areas are great for utilizing the dwarf varieties of shrubs and the shorter varieties of perennials. Ground covers are great for these areas, they cover a lot of space but don’t get too tall. 

A GARDEN BERM

Garden Berms are the most intimidating..creating something out of nothing! I have an area in my backyard where this might be an option.. There are 3 bigger pine trees that are fairly close to each other yet far enough away that we have to mow around each one.

It would be nice to create a berm that included these 3 trees and create a garden in amongst them. We would be able to see this area from the house and it would be less mowing. Obviously more garden to care for though. The main thing I would say when creating a Garden Berm is to make sure there is a water source close enough. Either drip irrigation, sprinkler heads or a spicket close by to hand water. Usually Berms are a full sun situation that require more water. Or if you’re surrounding bigger trees with a garden berm it might be the perfect opportunity for a shade garden. If you’re starting from scratch, maybe planting a tree off to one side or a few main shrubs down the middle and stairstep the plants down as you get closer to the edges, with the tallest ones in the middle and the shorter ones along the edge.

So there they are… 3 Perfect places to plant a perennial garden! So what’s it gonna be… A Foundation Garden, a Border Garden or a Garden Berm? Pick a garden any garden!

I will be sharing in my next blog post how to plan out your garden so you can create visual interest for every season using varying shrubs, plants, grasses and bulbs. Also how to use heights, bloom times, textures and colors to have a never ending supply of color. Until then, pick a spot any spot ..to start your new garden bed!