8 1/2 Steps for Better DIY Landscapes
Hey there, garden geeks! Ken Lain, the Top 10 Gardener, here with your ticket to year-round land-scape magic. We’re coming into planting season, and with it, a whole lotta choices! So, whether you’re a newbie navigating your first spring or a seasoned pro, let’s break down the secrets to a four-season stunner.
Step 1: The 20% Rule: Ever feel like something’s missing in your yard? Maybe it’s because you haven’t mastered the 20% rule! Here’s how it works:
• 20% spring bloomers: Lilacs, forsythias, wisterias – those showstoppers that scream, “Winter’s gone, baby!”
• 20% summer bloomers: Crape myrtles, rose of Sharon, even roses – keep the party going when spring fades.
• 20% fall color: Maples, aspens – those fiery masterpieces that remind you nature’s an artist.
• 20% winter evergreens: Don’t let the cold leave you feeling stark! Evergreens provide year-round structure and life.
Step 2: Think Layers, Not Lawns: Ditch the boring flower bed and embrace raised beds! Plant tall blooms like snapdragons in the back, shorter beauties like pansies up front, and mix in perennials with annuals for year-round interest. Perennials are your anchors, coming back year after year, while annuals like petunias, geraniums, and zinnias add nonstop, riotous bursts of color.
Step 3: Foliage Fun: It’s not just about blooms! Nandina, heavenly bamboo, euonymus, and cotoneaster offer stunning foliage that changes with the seasons, keeping your landscape dynamic. Remember, elevation matters! Do your research to ensure you’re choosing plants that thrive where you live.
Step 4: Annuals vs. Perennials: Not all heroes wear flowers! Sedums, agaves, and yuccas can be annual or perennial, depending on your elevation. So, check before you plant to avoid winter wipeouts. Red fountain grass, for example, might be a perennial elsewhere, but it’s an annual at higher elevations.
Step 5: Hardscape vs. Greenscape: Landscape lingo alert! Hardscape covers non-living elements like patios, fences, and ponds, while greenscape is all about the plants. Aim for a 60/40 ratio – 60% green-scape for that balanced, beautiful feel. Too much hardscape makes it feel lunar (think dusty and incomplete), while too much greenscape can smother things.
Step 6: Grassy Goodness: Don’t underestimate the power of grasses! Native options like pampas grass add motion, drama, and texture, even in the slightest breeze. They’re like landscape superheroes, especially at higher elevations where cacti won’t cut it.
Step 7: Fruity Bonus: Fruit trees are quadruple threats – spring blooms, summer foliage, fall color, and delicious treats! They’re nature’s all-in-one design packages.
Step 8: Sun Savvy: Remember, higher elevations mean more intense sun. Plants like Japanese maples that thrive in full sun elsewhere might need midday shade here. Geraniums, known for their sun-loving ways, will bloom longer and better with a bit of afternoon respite.
Bonus Tip: Play with textures! Combine smooth foliage with rough, tall with short, light with dark. Your landscape will become a living masterpiece, a testament to your gardening superpowers.
So, there you have it, folks! Your eight and a half steps to a four-season landscape that rocks. Remember, gardening is a journey, not a destination. Experiment, have fun, and let your green thumb flourish!
Don’t forget to check out my YouTube Channel for more tips and tricks, and share your own landscape victories in the comments below! Happy planting, everyone!
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Welcome to the top 10 Garden Show at Ken Lane listen to Ken’s tips tricks and garden shortcuts guaranteed to make your Gardens more beautiful than ever this year now welcome your host Ken Lane so if you have a new landscape going into your yard you’re you’re going to be landscaping or or adding
Substantial or remodeling your landscape uh this next spring we’re coming into the season where you’ve got a lot of choices so right now we’ve we’ve gone from mainly just winter Evergreens we’ve been planting we plant year round here but the winter evergreens are there’s a
Lot of selection a lot of choice but now we’re coming into the fruit trees and the spring blooming shrubs the spring blooming trees there’s a lot more choices perennials will be right after that then the veggies and herbs so there’s there season is there’s a ramp up and so you’re coming into that
Planting season how do you plant in a fourseason climate if you’re if this is new to you you’re from let’s say a tropical area you haven’t really seen snow before well this is a Four Season climate and I use the 20% rule So 20% of your plant selection should be dedicated
To springa Bloomers just that’s the lilacs the fcas and all the wisterias the just the inspiration of spring oh my gosh it’s been winter and now look at that that’s amazing I can’t believe Red Buds Bloom like that that’s crazy that’s beautiful I want more 20% should
Be dedicated to that 20% should be dedicated to Summer Bloomers that’s crepe myrtles a rose of Sharons even roses are that so you’ve got something going on because the spring Bloomers are going to bloom them and then they’re done they’re just green now so you’re left wanting if you want the bloom cycle
To continue plant some summer blooming Things fall color that’s your Maples and Aspens uh things that just go wow I can’t believe a tree could turn that color red that’s amazing 20% should be winter Evergreens that’s what we’ve come through if you didn’t have enough Evergreens in your yard you kind of felt
It know feels kind of Stark out there what what’s going on you didn’t have enough green to keep you going and then the last 20% So 20% spring 20% summer 20% fall 20% winter the other 20 is just what tickles your fcy if this is your summer home and you winter down in
Scottdale d at it to Summer put this put more uh burning bush put more butterfly bush put those things in if this is your winter home your you you summer in Alaska we’ll focus on the fall and winter stuff so put it towards or if you just love spring and I like everything
About blooms focus on Spring stuff that’s your plant mix that’s how you’ll get that that right rotation coming through another big mistake we do a lot of flower beds we don’t do Lawns here we do raised beds and when you’re when you’re layering your flowers go from
Tall to small so the backside should be taller flowers Snap Dragons the shorter flowers should be pansies also perennials and annuals so for me I love perennials they’re they’re anchors they come back year after year perennials they just don’t Bloom as well as annuals do so I’ll fill my taller uh um
Perennial flowers toward the backside there’s always something rotating through a lot of your wild flowers are perennials they they bloom for a while and then they kind of fade and then some something else will come out and Bloom what I do is to get to have my cake and
Frosting too I tend to Anchor everything with perennials they’re going to come back every year but they may not bloom quite as well but I always interject some some annual ual flowers nothing blooms like a petunia oh my gosh geraniums caloa zenas vinas These Are Over the Top
Nonstop rius Bloom nothing can compare to that so I’ll sprinkle some of those in at the front edge of my containers I put annuals but I’ll have an anchoring big perennial peral thing there excuse me so that’s some flower tricks that kind of kind of work out consistency so you need some color
Everyone wants to go all Bloom but you need some other foliage plants see foliage is is as interesting so Nandina or Heavenly Bamboo it’s a great foliage plant it does have a flower but it’s not that pretty you’re planting this for the foliage then the foliage actually es and
Flows right now mine is bright red so if Nandina are in the winter are in bright Sun they turn red then that red will turn back to green yamus will do that katoni Aster will do that it’s fun to play with the Fage piece of of those
Plants um annuals perennials we kind of touched on that there’s a difference and not just with flowers sedums this is a huge there’s hundreds of varieties of sedums dozens and dozens of varities of a Agave yakas some are annuals they’re not going to Winter over up here because
Of our elevation and some are perennial do your homework on that make sure you’re checking you’re getting the right variety I see to many mistakes where folks bring their collection from their previous home in Palm Springs they come up here and it dies in the winter uh uh
Red fountain grass frequently people go I love it I’ve grown it for years I always have it and then it doesn’t come back in the winter here at this elevation it’s an annual not a perennial everywhere else in the country it’s a lower elevation it’s a perennial comes
Back so but not up here and then Hardscape and greencape those are two terms you’ll hear often in landscaping hard Escape is non-living landscape pieces so your patio your fences your barbecue grill your statuary the pond these are all Arbors pergolas these are all hard Escape uh and then greencape are all the
Plants so trees shrubs grass flower beds and the secret is 60% you get this right and it will feel balanced and just just beautifully it will feel right you can’t put your your finger on it you go this just feels right 60% green plants should be covering your plot of land so that’s
That’s sounds like a lot but a tree takes up a huge area so but 60 you get that right and will feel right if you get too many plants you go to 70 80% plants to your to your plot plan it’s going to feel overgrown oh what they
Didn’t know when to do to stop oh my gosh if you get too little you know a rock a boulder sling some Crush Granite around and one tree it’s gonna feel like you’re wanting like what is this a rental do they do they run out of money what
Happen they got a million dollar house and no plants what’s going on it feels lunar it feels dust feels dirty feels like uncomplete so 60% is that is that is that marker so when we’re designing Landscapes we’re trying to go 60% we’re thinking mature size of that tree or
That hedge row or that uh screening plant or or or we’re framing a a Vista but we want 70% green plants to that to that space around you so that that’ll be a real helpful percentage for you play with textures one that I don’t think we use often enough but just loves growing
Up here at the higher elevations grasses we have so many Native grasses that grow here down the desert they have cacti up here we’ve got grasses and yakas so we do better with those anything else I love grass because it it adds motion it’s adds drama adds texture it’s always adds some something
To look at even in the slightest of Breeze we’re most famous for a pampus grass that’s a great big one get these huge plumes it gets head high or taller and the plumes are above that but there’s so many varieties and they all do well here I fruit trees they all do
Well here so fruit’s kind of nice it’s got a spring Bloom it’s got summer foliage it’s got fall color and you get an ornamental fruit on it it’s kind of has a lot of different to these these Design Elements all wrapped up into so many the other one that’s that really is
Tricky for my Midwestern folks um sun the sun is more intense here this elevation is brighter so you’re used to Growing let’s say Japanese maple out in full sun here in the mountains of Arizona at this elevation they’re not going to like that I know the tag says
It grows in full sun but Bo you really ought to have some protection that mid mid June 10 to two it’s not going to light growing there more shaded East Side Under The Canopy of a of a of another tree that’s where they’re going to thrive so geraniums I know the tag
Says blooms in full sun and it will grow in full sun but it just doesn’t Bloom very long it blooms longer better stronger and it has a little bit of that midafternoon shade to it so you you you’ll play around we call this gardening getting familiar with where
Your things are at but do that kind of homework check top 10 plants.com that’s that’s our our our plants are located there and we describe how they grow here how much sun for here here how big they’re going to get here not nationally okay gotta got to go after this break be
Right back with more don’t go anywhere right after this not everyone can grow wild flowers but we’ll make sure you’re not one of them at Waters we know which wildflowers Sprout Thrive and Bloom with success we’re wild about wild flowers with many of our own Arizona Blends like
Our Arizona native mix butterfly and hummingbird mixes and all are big bold and beautiful Waters we know wild flowers and Winter’s a season to spread new seed Waters Garden Center where people who love their flowers wild they love to shop for seed you’re listening to Garden expert
Ken Lane he can be found throughout the week at wat’s Garden Center in presc thanks for tuning in to the top 10 Garden Show