Shrubs Used In Landscaping
Shrubs are great plants to use in your landscaping project. There are many varieties out there so you should easily find one that works well with your scheme.
Using Shrubs In Your Landscape Project
Shrubs are a pain-free, easy maintenance solution to creating a neat looking border. They are not only stunning and add interesting colors, but best of all they require very little work on your part once planted. There are many different species available so you should easily be able to select one that fits in with your scheme to perfection.
The Various Kinds Of Shrubs
Whether flowering like lilac and roses or adding winter interest like dogwood, shrubs come in all shapes and sizes, giving you a lot of colors and textures to choose from. They are a great way to give some height to a low flower scheme, providing much necessary balance to the overall visual effect. A vibrant specimen will also add a strong accent to nearby features.
Successful Borders
The secret to achieving the perfect border design is to use a balanced mix of heights, textures and colors that work well together. Shrubs can be very useful for this purpose as they can add interest, style and color to your borders and home throughout the year: a small amount of trimming will ensure they keep their good looks and do not grow too big.
Shrubs can also be used to line your plot, for instance as a hedge between your neighbors’ garden and your property. They are perfect for this as they will clearly delimit the area without closing the view like trees and fences do, so both you and your neighbors can enjoy them.
Planting And Basic Maintenance
Like most plants shrubs require a healthy soil with good drainage to thrive. This means that you may need to improve your soil by mixing in compost before you plant your new shrubs. Before you proceed you should always check if the roots look healthy. If needed you can use a knife to loosen them up before placing into the hole you dug. Good, regular watering is an absolute pre-requisite when establishing new shrubs.
The shrubs may look quite spread out at first but be patient as they will soon grow to fill in the gaps: you do not need to plant many shrubs to achieve a great effect. If the gaps do bother you, you could look into adding flowers in between the shrubs: perennials work wonders for this and will contribute to creating an even more interesting look for your landscaping scheme.
Mr.Andrew Caxton
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Filed under: shrubs
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Should I use mulch or landscaping rocks around shrubs and flowers for our landscaping around the house?
I know mulch is good for adding more nutrients in the ground, but in the long run mulch becomes VERY expensive. Rocks on the other hand look great and are cheaper in the longrun, but they don’t add nutrients in the ground like mulch does.
I prefer Mulch. It holds moisture and helps plants and shurbs.
Rocks look nice but they get hot and do not help the shrubs, flowers etc and you will need to water frequently.
Stick with mulch.
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use a good mulch leave the rocks . if you choose rocks you will find em all over the place from kids . and if you changeyour mind later its easier to pick up the mulch.
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One problem with rocks is weeding. It’s a pain. Black plastic? Forget it. You’re left with chemical answers, like casseron or roundout. Go with mulch. Mulch doesn’t have to be expensive. Dedicate a corner to building your own pile from autumn leaf fall, lawn clippings and maybe even seaweed and straw…turn it occasionally and youll make the best stuff in town, free.
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Definitely mulch! Rocks are hard to weed and clean up fall leaves, weeds etc. After a few years, the mulch just needs a bit of topdressing to keep it looking nice. Weeds pull out easily with mulch. And mulch will keep plants and shrubs much happier!
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Rocks are not good for flowers and shrubs, they got very hot and take the moisture from you plants. Stick with mulch, you can’t go wrong.
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If you live in a hot climate, rocks can actually harm your plants by heating the plant roots and reflecting a lot of sunlight that can burn the plants.
It’s much better in most places to use mulch. It doesn’t have to be expensive. Many public utilities offer the wood chippings from trimming trees by utility lines for free. Some tree maintenance companies also offer wood chippings for free.
Check with your local utility company and perhaps call some local tree trimming companies to see what they do with their green waste.
If you’re going to spread any kind of mulch over your ground, I suggest you lay down a barrier of about 8 – 10 sheets of newspaper then put the mulch over it. If you dampen the newspaper once you lay it down, that will keep it from blowing around while you cover it. Old newspaper is free (much cheaper than landscape fabric), and it’s easy to plant through. It blocks a lot of weeds, and it will break down over time along with the mulch and will enrich your soil.
Good luck with your gardening.
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