Landscape Design and Ideas - What Types Of Plants You Should Use

Creating your perfect landscape design is the first step to landscaping your yard. Two common questions that I always receive are what types of plants should I use in the sun or shade? And, what's it going to cost me? Well, both of these questions are very broad and general. In terms of plants to use, there are so many plants available that it would take a long time to list them all! In terms of budget, some landscape jobs may cost $1,000, and some could cost over $1,000,000. It really depends on what you want, but no matter you want your end result to look like, a common goal is to use plants and shrubs that live long and thrive.

If the location of the area you are landscaping is shady, you may want to veer away from using plants that require a lot of sun. Even though your landscape design may include many beautiful flowers that would just make a specific area perfect, it would be impractical to plant something that is going to wilt or die rather quickly due to a lack of sunlight. I know it may seem that your options are limited if the area you plan to landscape is covered in shade and doesn't get direct sunlight, but there are plenty of options for you that I think you'll like. Some of the better plants to use are ones like ferns, astilbes, day lilies, monarchs, rhododendrons, and hydrangeas. Perhaps my favorite are the hydrangeas, they have beautiful vibrant colors and are a very popular among many landscape designers. One thing to keep in mind, though, is never to start fertilizing your hydrangea at the end of summer. Hydrangeas start to go dormant in the Fall, and the last thing you want to do is stimulate new growth.

If you plan to landscape an area that receives more direct sunlight, you are going to open a whole new world of possibilities! Most plants and flowers require an adequate amount of sunlight, so you'd do well to pursue landscaping one of these areas of your yard. Types of plants that do better in sunlight include the shasta daisy, coreopsis, verbena, aster, lamb's ear, purple coneflower, blanket flower, and Russian sage. While many people will include these in their landscape design, my personal favorite is the baby palm tree. Baby palms are just like palm trees only, you guessed it, baby! Adding a baby palm to your backyard adds a world of excitement. You may even feel like you're on vacation year-round! I don't know about you, but being on vacation year-round sounds like something I want to do.

I hope that you gained some knowledge and will be able to create your own landscape design to implement in your own yard that fits your needs and budget. It's usually not easy, but in the end, it's extremely worth it.