Adding landscaping to your yard makes your home look better and raises its worth. One beautifully designed garden can provide a retreat where you can go for some peace and quiet, a place to entertain friends and family, or a home for wildlife to move in. Choosing the right plants, along with the right garden design, makes a big difference in the overall look, whether you are a seasoned gardener or just starting out.
This blog shares some creative ideas and inspirations for using ferns, flowers that attract hummingbirds, and living moss for garden landscaping and goes on to answer some frequently asked gardening questions. We also share a special tool to help with your garden design.
Why Ferns Are Perfect for Landscaping Borders?
Ferns make a great landscaping choice that add a classic look of greenery and are also low maintenance. Plus, great garden borders can be created by ferns that do well in shaded areas and really stand out. Below is a short list of top-selling ferns that are available at TN Nursery.
Christmas Fern
Christmas ferns are very versatile evergreens that are very popular for borders and shaded gardens. This fern is evergreen, dark green in color, and adds a classic look that stands to 3ft. This fern also thrives in growing zones 3 to 8 and does tup very well in partial to full shade.
Hay Scent Fern
Due to its quick multiplication, the hay-scented fern can blanket an area of 30 feet, making it perfect for planting in larger spaces. It is also trouble free and does well in zones 3 to 8. Its feathery fronds release a very pleasant aroma of hay, which adds a scented dimension to the garden.
New York Fern
New York Fern is also delicate. It grows up to 1 to 2 feet and does well in moist, shady conditions. It grows in colonies. Its whimsical growth and random patterns make the garden charming too. This fern does well in zones 2 through 8.
Glade Fern
Glade Fern is a deciduous fern with very small leaves, thin, and scattered on its many branches. It grows to 3 feet tall and is very low maintenance. It is also very zone versatile, growing well in zones 3 through 8. Glade fern leaves can add a lot of texture and detail to your garden.
Ferns like these are great for making full, lush green borders and pairs well with many low maintenance plants like the hosts and astilbas for a more layered and textured look.
Bring Color to Your Garden and Attract Hummingbirds
Planting nectar-rich flowers that come in vivid hues, especially red, orange, and pink, attracts the colorful and lively presence of hummingbirds to your garden. Recommended plant choices are:
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Petunias: A hummingbird favorite, petunias are easy to grow and come in many colors.
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Bee Balm: A bright, vibrant flower that attracts hummingbirds and adds to your collection of butterfly and bee-friendly plants.
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Daylilies: These flowers are a favorite of hummingbirds and are a garden classic with trumpet-shaped blooms.
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Torch Lilies (Red Hot Pokers): Hummingbirds are especially fond of these tall plants with orange and red flowers and very tall, striking plants.
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Columbine: Unique and adorned with spurred flowers, these elegant plants add grace and beauty.
When designing the layout of your hummingbird-friendly garden, think about plant height and spacing. Hummingbird friendly delphiniums make a versatile and colorful ground-cover for your garden while blue hill sage adds a nice contrast at the higher levels. This creates an ideal garden sanctuary to provide a safe space for many hummingbirds.
Add A Touch of Magic with Live Moss
Live moss offers another opportunity to showcase the beauty of a rainforest in your garden. Even though it's a low-maintenance garden covering, the moss also helps purify the air, filters rainwater, and brings a certain calmness to the space. Here are some common types of moss:
Cushion Moss: Growing in round, cushion-like clumps, this light green moss is great for shady areas and preventing soil erosion.
Carpet Moss: This moss creates a lush golden-green carpet on the ground and is perfect for adding a warm touch to the garden.
Sheet Moss: Sheet moss is great for softening the look of paths and stepping stones as it thrives in shady areas and provides a bright green background for other plants.
Rock Cap Moss: This moss is a brilliant landscape cover for stacked or piled boulders, as it grows fast enough to cover in a various climes.
Ideal for enhancing the magic of a fairytale garden, moss can be used to surround stepping stones, to edge flower beds, or highlight ferns and other woodland flowers.
Excited to Change Your Backyard?
There is no limit to what you can do. To create verdant borders, use ferns, or have hummingbirds dance to the tune of your garden by planting lively hummers. TN Nursery provides expert guidance and, of course, the best ferns, flowers, and moss. TN Nursery is the best option to realize your garden dreams.
FAQS About Garden Design and Landscaping
What are the three fundamental principles of garden design?
The golden rules of garden design are balance, unity and proportion. Balance means achieving the harmony of the elements to create garden balance. Unity means bringing all the elements of the garden design together. And proportion means the plants and other garden features are of the right scale.'
What is the least expensive way to landscape?
Using native plants is the least expensive way to landscape, since native plants require less maintenance and less watering once established. Also, you are able to reuse stones or wood that you may have to create borders and paths.
What is the most common mistake of first time gardeners?
Overplanting. Beginners often do not realize the consequences of planting too many plant species into a small area, and the subsequent overcrowding and competition that occurs for water, nutrients, and light.
What is the 3-hour gardening rule?
That means that once a week you should spend three hours on gardening upkeep, weeding, watering, and pruning that will contribute to the overall health and aesthetics of the garden.
How do I design my garden layout?
You should first draw a sketch of the area you are working with. Be sure to note the sunny and shadowed spots of the garden area. It's best to cluster plants together that have the same water and light needs, and you may want to include a garden feature or sitting area as a focal point in the design.
