Autumn and spring are the seasons when our Mid-Atlantic weather invites us to get out and enjoy our gardens. They are absolutely the most colorful and enjoyable months of the garden year. October is a great time to evaluate your whole landscape and to make any needed improvements. A thorough clean up in the autumn is also advisable. It not only keeps your landscape looking good, it helps keep plantings healthy by removing dead leaves that may harbor insects or disease vectors.
Is your garden beckoning you with a display of fall color? If not, there are many healthy, easy to maintain plants to add a splash of red, yellow, orange, blue and purple to brighten autumn days. Both flowers and foliage can create a riot of color right up until winter’s icy hand descends. If your fall garden is not all you wish it to be, discuss your ideas with a Wallace landscape designer.
A change of container plantings is a great way to add fall color. The ubiquitous Chrysanthemum may come to mind, but there are so many more interesting and dramatic container plantings that bridge the period between summer and the winter holidays. Wallace designers love to use their creative talents to put together containers that will stop traffic.
Autumn is also time to think of the spring garden. Spring blooming bulbs are planted in fall. They need months of cool moist soil to develop the bright blooms we love in early spring. Jonquils (daffodils) are the most foolproof bulbs. Mice, voles and deer won’t touch the bulbs or their emerging foliage and flowers. The jonquil family of bulbs will happily naturalize in almost any well-drained situation. Their sunny blooms and pleasant fragrances welcome spring, when planted alone in drifts or accompanied by the sky blue of Chinodoxa and Scilla.
There are many other spring blooming bulbs to add a rainbow of colors to the early garden. Some of them may be permanent; others are best treated as annuals, giving you an opportunity to try different color schemes each season. In early spring, pots of pre-sprouted bulbs can be added to your containers to bring their delicate beauty to the still sleeping landscape.
For more ideas to brighten your spring and fall, call Wallace Landscape Associates, Inc. with landscape architects in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland.