When planting for year-round colour, it’s all about planting a selection of different plants that will provide interest from texture, colour, scent, and more during various months of the year. By planting with every month in mind, you will have year-round interest, not just for you to enjoy but also for wildlife as well. It is much easier than you might imagine with just a little planning and knowing a few basic tips to help you.
How to Create Year-Round Interest in the Garden
- Shrubs and trees
Shrubs and trees are the most important part of having year-round colour. They will provide height, texture, and different shades of green and flowers throughout the year. Shrubs and trees can really prove worthwhile during spring for the pretty and fragrant blossoms and in winter for some surprisingly colourful and scented flowers, such as the Sarcococca (sweet box). Not forgetting fall when the leaves change colour and put on a spectacular display. Evergreens will hold leaves all year, and deciduous trees will fall over the colder months and leaf again when it warms up.
- Herbaceous perennials
These will mostly be from spring through to the first frosts, with the best displays from early summer to early fall. There are so many to choose from; we recommend checking out the months they are most likely to bloom and ensuring you have some for each month. They will die back over winter but will regrow again the following spring. Some will have seedheads that are not only great for wildlife but also provide interest over winter, such as Echinacea and Echinops.
- Annual bedding plants
The easiest way to add a blast of colour for the summer months is to plant annual bedding. They will mostly flower during the summer, but with plenty of deadheading and care, they can last into fall as well. From Petunias to Impatiens, Surfinia to Marigolds, your containers and hanging baskets will look pretty for months.
- Fruit and vegetables
There are many reasons to try growing your own food, and one of them is to add colour, height, texture, and much more to your garden. Fruit trees will blossom, and many will have berries. Plants such as Artichoke look spectacular at the back of a border, and many winter brassicas, leeks, and parsnips will last throughout winter, giving your garden plenty of interest.
- Bulbs
One of the easiest ways to add colour to your garden for most of the year is to plant a wide selection of bulbs, from Snowdrops flowering in winter through to Hyacinths, Tulips, and Daffodils in Spring, Alliums in summer and Nerines in fall.
