If your landscape needs just a little more polish, consider adding living borders to your lawn or gardens. Plants in a variety of colors and textures—from boxwood hedges to bright blooms and flowering shrubs—can be used to accent raised beds, line meandering walkways, soften a wall, or lend shade and privacy to your property. “If properly designed and maintained, they can add value to your home— curb appeal in the front yard and diversity around the perimeter of your house, ” says Kristen Smith, the new plants coordinator at Star Roses & Plants . With careful planning, the border can offer blooms or evergreen foliage from spring into fall. Depending on the size of the space, borders can be large and elaborate or simply a cluster of colored species interspersed along the garden edge. Plantings in containers offer extra versatility—tucked along the edge, they can be swapped out each year. Read on for tips on how to create your own photo-finished landscape.
Garden borders can add diversity to your landscape. “Plants can be selected to appeal to all the senses, such as fragrant varieties, grasses that create sound and swaying movement, or bright palettes to accent the house, garage, or an outbuilding,” says Smith. The ‘Peach Drift’ rose (shown) provides color from spring to fall and grows to about 1.5 feet, making it a good plant for the very front of a border.
To integrate new plantings into your garden, dig a hole twice as wide as the container, making sure it is flush with the ground. “Mulching is key,” says Smith. “It cools the roots, conserves moisture in the soil, and helps reduce the growth of weeds, which is important for a well-maintained garden border.” Low-maintenance and disease-resistant, the ‘Knock Out’ rose (shown) grows to a height of three to four feet and offers color from early spring to the first hard frost in fall.
With the right mix of plantings, borders can be vibrant at different times of the year. For texture and structure year-round, try evergreens such as boxwood, hollies, and junipers. “And grasses can fit into tight spaces between other plantings and come in a range of hues including bright gold, burgundy, and pink,” says Smith. This 'Franklin’s Gem’ boxwood is one of the hardiest varieties showing off a rich olive color in the winter.
