Perennials
Choose the Best Plants For Landscaping
From Garden to Home: The Best Plants for Every Landscape
The journey from garden to home is about more than just planting—it’s about creating a space that reflects your home's aura and fits your unique space. Whether you have a big backyard or a cozy patio, the right plants can elevate your outdoor environment, with both beauty and functionality. In this article, we’ll introduce eight standout plants and explore how their attributes can complement various landscapes, making it easier for you to build the garden of your dreams.
Ready to transform your outdoor space into a personal oasis? From Garden to Home: The Best Plants for Every Landscape is your guide to finding the perfect plants for any setting. Dive into the list, discover your favorites, and take the first step toward a garden you’ll love for years. Let’s make your dream landscape a reality—one plant at a time!
Choosing the Right Plants for Your Garden Space
Creating a stunning outdoor space starts with selecting plants that align with your garden's unique dimensions, conditions, and design goals. Whether you’re working with a sprawling backyard or a cozy corner, the right choices can elevate your landscape’s appeal while ensuring healthy growth and longevity. Here's a guide to help you make the most of your space and pick plants that will thrive.
Assess Your Garden Space
Begin by evaluating the size, shape, and features of your outdoor area. Is it a large, open space that invites bold, structural plants, or a compact garden that benefits from vertical growth and compact varieties? For urban spaces or small patios, think about potted plants, climbing vines, or miniature trees that can add greenery without overwhelming the area. Larger landscapes allow for layering, with tall trees forming the backdrop, medium-height shrubs in the middle, and low-growing flowers or ground covers completing the scene.
Consider Functionality
Think about the purpose of your garden. Are you aiming for a peaceful retreat, an area for entertaining guests, or a space that supports pollinators and wildlife? For a tranquil atmosphere, opt for greenery with soft textures, such as grasses and pastel perennials. To create a lively garden for gatherings, use plants with bright colors, like roses or ornamental grasses. If attracting pollinators or birds is your goal, incorporate plants that produce nectar, berries, or seeds. Plants like milkweed, black-eyed Susan, and blackberry trees are perfect for this purpose.
Complement Your Garden Design
Your plant selection should reflect the style of your garden. A formal design often includes symmetrical layouts and neatly trimmed hedges, while a cottage garden embraces a more natural, free-flowing look with an abundance of flowers and foliage. For modern spaces, plants with clean lines and simple forms, like bamboo or ornamental grasses, can enhance the sleek design.
Think Long-Term
Finally, consider how your plants will grow over time. Choose trees and shrubs with growth habits that fit your space even when they mature. Plants that grow too large can overwhelm your garden, while those with the right proportions will maintain balance and harmony.
A charming native perennial, Wild Geranium is celebrated for its delicate beauty and ecological benefits. Its palmate leaves and bright pink to lavender flowers bring color and texture to gardens from late spring through early summer. These blooms attract bees, monarchs, and other pollinators, making Wild Geranium an excellent choice for eco-conscious gardeners.
Wild Geranium
This plant thrives in woodland settings, naturalized areas, and gardens with partial to full shade. Its preference for rich, moist, well-drained soil mimics its native woodland habitats, but it can adapt to a range of conditions, including drier soils once established. Wild Geraniums are versatile, making them a fantastic option for underplanting trees and shrubs or as ground cover in shaded borders. Their ability to form low mounds of lush foliage provides structure to shaded gardens, and their blooms add a cheerful burst of color.
For placement, consider adding Wild Geraniums along pathways, in woodland edges, or mixed with ferns and other shade-loving plants. Their low maintenance and natural charm make them perfect for creating tranquil, inviting garden spaces.
Whether you aim to attract wildlife or enhance a shaded landscape's beauty, Wild Geranium fits seamlessly into various outdoor designs.
With its graceful white blooms shaped like tiny bells, Lily of the Valley captures hearts in any garden setting. This shade-loving perennial naturally brightens darker corners of the landscape, from beneath mature trees to sheltered garden paths. Its bright green foliage forms a lush carpet, while the nodding flower stems add gentle movement to shaded spots. The plant's enchanting perfume drifts through spring air, making it especially delightful near seating areas or entryways where its sweet scent can be fully appreciated.
Lily of the Valley
Perfect for compact gardens or larger landscapes, Lily of the Valley works best as ground cover in areas that require a low-maintenance, charming touch. It spreads steadily, forming dense carpets that suppress weeds while adding visual interest and texture. Its fragrant blooms appear in mid-May and continue through early June, providing a refreshing sensory experience that elevates shaded areas.
This versatile plant thrives in gardens where peace and serenity are the goals. It's particularly well-suited to spots with rich, moisture-retaining soil and moderate temperatures, making it a reliable choice for gardeners in cooler regions. The plant's natural hardiness helps it flourish even when conditions aren't perfect, allowing gardeners to focus more on enjoying its calming presence than worrying about intensive care.
Bring home the Lily of the Valley to create a sophisticated garden look in no time!
Blooming Season | Blooms in spring months, from February through May |
Planting Instructions | Make a hole that is twice as wide as the roots area and just a bit deeper than the root's height. Place the plant in the hole, ensuring the top of the roots aligns with the soil surface, and then fill it back in with soil. |
Mulching | Add a thick layer of organic husk around the plant to retain moisture content. |
Watering | Provide thorough watering, particularly during the starting year, to support strong root growth. |
Fertilizing | In the spring, apply a slow-release fertilizer according to the shrub's specific needs |
Whether planted at the base of shrubs, around larger perennials, or in decorative containers for shady patios, Lily of the Valley adds timeless beauty and a fragrant allure to your garden.
Larkspur Delphinium
Experience the architectural grandeur of our homegrown Larkspur Delphinium, a perennial masterpiece that transforms garden design from horizontal to vertical. Unlike typical border plants that create a carpet of color, these stately bloomers attract attention with their bright flower spikes, adding a dramatic dimension to your lawn setting. Their flowers cluster creating beautiful columns will add sophistication to your garden setting.
What sets Larkspur apart is its remarkable versatility in lawn design. While many tall plants can appear isolated, Larkspur prefers group plantings, creating a breathtaking wall of colorful flowers, the perfect backdrop for lower-growing plants. The deep green palmate foliage, featuring 3-7 leaves per plant, provides a rich contrast to the vibrant blooms and maintains visual interest even before the flowering begins.
As a drought-tolerant perennial, Larkspur combines its stunning aesthetics with practical benefits that modern gardeners appreciate. Whether gracing your garden beds, enhancing container arrangements, or starring in cut flower bouquets, these elegant bloomers deliver season after season. Their natural tendency to form clusters makes them ideal for creating focal points or garden room dividers, while their cutting-garden potential means you can bring their majestic beauty indoors. Plant these timeless beauties once, and enjoy years of vertical drama and sophisticated charm in your garden space!
Goldenseal Plant
Discover the enchanting beauty of homegrown Goldenseal, a remarkable woodland perennial that transforms shaded garden spaces into thriving natural sanctuaries. This native North American herb, reaching heights of 6-20 inches, brings unique character to those challenging spots beneath trees where other plants struggle to flourish.
In May, delicate white flowers emerge like stars against the backdrop of distinctive palm-shaped leaves, creating an understory tapestry that captures the essence of natural woodland gardens. As summer progresses, these blooms transform into bright red berries, providing a stunning color transition that attracts nature's most beloved visitors – birds, bees, and small wildlife.
What makes Goldenseal truly special is its adaptability to woodland settings, particularly thriving beneath sugar maples, walnuts, oaks, and other shade-casting trees. Create enchanting natural communities by pairing it with companion plants like trout lilies, bloodroot, and mayapples, mimicking the harmonious relationships found in nature. Its ability to prosper in challenging shade conditions makes it an invaluable addition to any naturalistic garden design.
Perfect for shade gardens, woodland settings, and native plant collections, Goldenseal offers year-round interest with its lobed foliage and seasonal transformations. Whether you're creating a wildlife-friendly habitat, developing a shade garden, or simply seeking a unique and adaptable perennial, this versatile woodland gem delivers natural beauty and ecological value to your lawn setting.
Bloom Season | Spring |
Bloom/Foliage Color | White |
Height at Maturity | Under 12" |
Care | Goldenseal thrives in well-drained, rich soil. Keep it evenly moist but not soggy. Fertilize sparingly in early spring. Protect from extreme temperatures and pests. Harvest roots in the fall, ensuring the plant has matured for optimal potency. |
Plant Reproduction | Goldenseal plant spreads by growing its rhizomes and fibrous roots into the surrounding area. |
Pink Flowering Dogwood
The Pink Flowering Dogwood is a stunning addition to any garden, celebrated for its elegant rosy-pink bracts that bloom in early spring. These vibrant bracts, often mistaken for petals, encircle the tree’s small flowers, creating a striking display that deepens in color as the season unfolds. This deciduous tree grows about thirty feet tall, forming a rounded canopy that fits beautifully into various landscapes.
Adaptable to sunny or partially shaded areas, the Pink Flowering Dogwood thrives in well-drained soil, making it suitable for many outdoor spaces. It can serve as a scenic view point in open yards, adding charm and interest throughout the year. Its lush green foliage provides shade in summer, transitioning to rich crimson and burgundy tones in fall, while clusters of red berries attract birds and other wildlife.
This tree is more than a visual delight; it supports pollinators and contributes to biodiversity. Its timeless beauty and ecological benefits make it an exceptional choice for gardeners who want to create a harmonious and colorful landscape.
Leland Farrow
9/21/2024
Low-maintenance
I’m impressed with the Wintergreen Boxwood from TN Nursery. It’s perfect for creating a neat, low-maintenance hedge.
Wintergreen Boxwood
Bring privacy and beauty in your landscape with our homegrown Wintergreen Boxwood, a masterpiece of versatility that brings year-round structure and sophistication to any garden design. This exceptional evergreen shrub, growing to a manageable height and width enough to give your lawn a provacy wall, offers the perfect blend of classic charm and modern functionality that today's gardeners seek.
What sets Wintergreen Boxwood apart is its remarkable adaptability to shaping and pruning. Whether you envision crisp geometric hedges, perfectly rounded spheres, or elegant topiaries, this accommodating shrub responds beautifully to your creative vision. Its dense growth pattern, characterized by small, oval-shaped leaves in a deep emerald green, creates an impeccable canvas for both formal and casual garden designs.
During the winter months, when other plants retreat into dormancy, Wintergreen Boxwood truly earns its name. Its glossy, dark green foliage maintains its rich color throughout the coldest seasons, providing essential structure and life to winter landscapes. Each leaf, arranged along the brown stems, contributes to the shrub's uniform, glossy appearance that never fails to impress.
Whether shaped into formal designs or left to grow naturally into its graceful oval form, Wintergreen Boxwood brings timeless elegance and year-round beauty to any landscape setting.
Old Fashion Snowball
Step back in time with our homegrown Old Fashion Snowball bush, a cherished garden classic that has graced American landscapes since the 1700s. While contemporary gardens embrace new trends, this timeless beauty continues to captivate with its spectacular display of giant, three-inch snowball-like blooms that transform from soft green to pure white, occasionally blushing pink as they mature.
Nature puts on a three-act performance with this magnificent shrub. The spring and summer showcase belongs to the massive flower clusters that float like clouds throughout the branches. As autumn approaches, the show continues as the lush green foliage transitions into a breathtaking palette of reds and purples. Even in winter, the architectural structure of this 6-12 foot shrub adds character to the dormant garden.
Beyond its ornamental splendor, this heritage shrub serves as a vital hub for garden wildlife. Pollinators flock to its blooms, while birds feast on the later-season fruits, creating a living sanctuary in your landscape. Gardeners appreciate its versatility as a privacy screen, focal point, or fence line accent, especially when underplanted with complementary plants like lobelia, bacopa, or flowing vines of vinca and English ivy.
Whether you're recreating a nostalgic garden memory or designing a modern landscape with classic appeal, this adaptable shrub delivers impact and elegance in sun or partial shade. The Old Fashion Snowball brings together centuries of garden tradition with the enduring beauty that makes it as relevant today as it was generations ago.
This hardy tree survives in direct sunlight as well as in partial shade areas, making it ideal to plant in many outdoor spots. Additionally, it fits seamlessly into naturalistic gardens, complementing other colorful species like Sourwood, Red Maple, or Sweet Gum.
The Black Gum Tree
The tupelo or the black gum tree is an awe-inspiring tree highly renowned for its stunning fall leave colors and ecological contributions. Throughout North America. This tree can flourish in many climates and soils. This makes it a point of safety. This plant offers not only beauty and flexibility but also environmental value which is beneficial for gardens and outdoors.
One of the Black Gum’s most striking features is its smooth leaves, which transition into beautiful shades of red, orange, yellow, and purple during fall. Its blue-black fruits attract wildlife, adding an ecological dimension to its exotic appeal. The tree’s flowers provide essential nectar for pollinators, such as butterflies, supporting biodiversity in your garden.
Black Gum trees typically grow between 30 to 50 feet, although they can reach up to eighty feet in ideal environment. When young, they have a pyramidal shape that becomes more rounded as they mature. This slow-growing tree is highly adaptable, tolerating a range of soil conditions, including acidic, wet, or poorly drained soils. Once established, it is drought-tolerant, requiring minimal maintenance.
Black Raspberry Plant
Decorate your lawn space with our homegrown Black Raspberry plants, nature's perfect blend of beauty and bounty. Often crowned the "king of berries," these remarkable native plants offer what few others can - stunning ornamental value alongside harvests of incredibly sweet, nutrient-rich berries that put store-bought varieties to shame.
Imagine stepping into your backyard on a summer morning to harvest clusters of perfectly ripe, glossy black berries, their intense sweet-tart flavor bursting with antioxidants and natural goodness. These versatile berries transition beautifully from fresh snacking to homemade jams, desserts, and smoothies, giving you endless opportunities to enjoy your garden's rewards.
But Black Raspberries aren't just about their delectable fruits - they're landscape performers too. Growing 3-5 feet tall, these graceful plants create living architecture in your garden, with lush green foliage that transforms into brilliant reds come fall. Their manageable size and natural elegance make them perfect for creating edible hedgerows, defining garden spaces, or adding seasonal interest to mixed borders.
Whether you're a seasoned gardener or new to edible landscaping, Black Raspberries bring together beauty and practicality. These versatile plants combine ornamental charm with the joy of harvesting flavorful berries, making your garden as delicious as it is visually appealing.
Laura White
12/09/2024
Amazing fragrance
The Carolina Allspice in my garden has been nothing short of amazing. The fragrance is intoxicating and the blooms are stunning. It’s an easy-to-grow plant that adds a lot of charm.
Carolina Allspice
Native to the southeastern United States, Carolina Allspice (Calycanthus floridus) brings more than just beauty to the garden—it offers a sensory journey through all seasons. This hardy shrub, sometimes called Sweetshrub, combines practical benefits with delightful features that make it a standout choice for diverse landscape designs. This well-behaved shrub reaches a manageable height of 6-9 feet with a similar spread, creating a naturally rounded shape. Carolina Allspice proves remarkably versatile, its dense growth pattern makes it perfect for making natural privacy screens, garden boundaries, enhancing sitting areas of your garden. Beyond its ornamental value, this native plant supports local ecosystems.
For its maintenance, apply a layer of organic husk in spring to retain moisture and suppress weeds, pruning only if needed to maintain shape, though the plant naturally maintains an attractive form. During summer, monitor water needs during longer dry spells—the plant's glossy leaves will usually indicate when excess water is needed. In fall, allow fallen leaves to decompose naturally at the plant base, contributing to soil health while enjoying the yellow autumn foliage display. Winter reveals the shrub's architectural form, requiring no special protection as the plant handles cold well within its growing range.
When incorporating Carolina Allspice into your landscape, consider placing it near outdoor living spaces where its fragrance can be appreciated. It works beautifully as a backdrop for smaller flowering perennials or as part of native plant gardens supporting local wildlife. The shrub combines effectively with spring bulbs and summer-blooming perennials, and its dense growth makes it ideal for informal hedges along property lines. This versatile shrub offers a perfect blend of beauty, function, and ecological value. Whether you're designing a new garden or enhancing an existing landscape, Carolina Allspice deserves consideration for its year-round appeal and easy-care nature.
Frequently Asked Questions
🌳How do I select plants for my specific landscape?
During selection of plants for your garden ensure that climate zone, exposure of sunlight, type of soil & the space.
🌳Are TN Nursery plants suitable for beginners?
Absolutely! Our plants are low-maintenance and come with clear planting and care instructions, making them ideal for gardeners of all experience levels.
🌳What's the best way to plan a garden layout with multiple plants?
Begin by assesing the area of your outdoor space and observe different light conditions throughout the day. Combine plants with similar water and sunlight needs. Place taller plants toward the back of the garden, with shorter plants in front. Consider each plant's size to avoid overcrowding.
🌳 What plants are best for creating lawn provacy
For lawn privacy, shrubs like Wintergreen Boxwood and Green Mountain Boxwood are excellent choices. Their dense evergreen foliage provides year-round coverage and can be shaped into hedges or natural walls. Additionally, taller shrubs like the Old Fashion Snowball or Purple Swamp Rose Mallow add both privacy and stunning visual appeal with their seasonal blooms and lush greenery. These options combine functionality with elegance for a private, beautiful outdoor space.