Whether you’re planning on sprucing up existing plants in your garden or adding some new plants to the mix, start with a visit to the plant nursery and garden supply store. You will be sure to get the landscape rejuvenation you seek. Here’s how a plant nursery and garden supply store can assist with your summer landscape in the Lancaster, PA, area.
Related: A PLANT NURSERY SUGGESTS THESE PLANTS TO REALLY MAKE A LANDSCAPE POP IN THE LANCASTER, PA AREA
Know Your Landscape
To ensure the survival of every new plant, you’ll need to know the environment where it will go: specifically, moisture and sun exposure. Take some photos of the to-be-rejuvenated parts of your landscape at different times of day to see what kind of sun exposure they receive. A few days after a normal rainstorm, dig 6 inches into the soil and take notes about the soil moisture. Both of these tactics could help you immensely in choosing the right plants.
Prioritize Native Plants
No matter how beautiful a plant is or how it fits into your landscape design, it doesn’t truly fit unless it’s a native. The plants native to the region have evolved over millennia to make the most of the local environment. They will make an aesthetic and practical contribution to your landscape: they are evolved to use only the water that the weather provides in rain and snow, need minimal maintenance, and rarely require fertilizer. The wide range of native plants in Pennsylvania will flower at different points of the year, so you can count on year-round color.
Select From the Nursery
The plants growing at your local plant nursery and garden supply store have been nurtured by experts in a controlled environment, so by the time they’re ready for planting, they have established root systems and are robust enough to thrive. It’s far easier to transfer plants grown at a nursery once they’re more mature versus trying to grow them by seed yourself, and you’ll benefit from a more lived-in and mature-looking landscape right away.
Expert Advice
Nursery and garden supply store experts are ready to offer advice for helping your landscape to grow into its full potential. They can recommend the plants, tools, and other supplies that would give you the right starting point for your landscaping needs. Best of all, you’ll also have access to the best local contractors to begin your projects if you don’t want to DIY the project.
To Mulch or Not to Mulch?
Many landscape professionals like to put a layer of mulch around individual plants in plant beds. Others prefer to use decorative stone. The choice of which material to use is both practical and aesthetic. If you’re on the fence about which material is best for your landscape, your local nursery and garden supply store experts can help you make the best choice.
Grass, or Something Else?
While lawns will probably remain a landscape design staple, many landscape professionals are going in a different direction with native, water-wise plants that add much more visual interest (along with color and fragrance) to their landscapes than a sea of grass. Rely on the advice of experts in choosing how much of your landscape to convert, and how.
Plan Bigger Projects
Once you have a good idea about how you want to use the plants in your landscape, you may get inspired to plan bigger projects. For example, you can talk to experts about installing raised planter beds or to plan bigger projects such as an automatic irrigation system.
Photo courtesy of Unilock