Letter From The Editor

This is the time you should be wrapping up all your fall activities in the garden. This week-end you'll find us pulling out all the annuals before the first freeze, harvesting the last of our everlasting flowers and herbs, and starting to put in irrigation. Yes, I said irrigation!

After 27 years of pulling around hoses and setting up sprinklers, the recent years of drought have finally taken it's toll on our yard. Tired of losing big established trees as well as having punk plants during the summer season, we are excited about this new endeavor and will be documenting its progress for future videos.

Speaking of the future, this month in our newsletter we will talk about what's hot now in gardening trends and what to watch for next year.

Enjoy the issue!

Julia

A Look Ahead at Gardening Trends

As we continue to put the garden to bed for the winter, I know that many of you are already thinking about your wants and needs for next year. Maybe you have moved into a new house which presents new opportunities, or maybe you have neglected your garden for a season and are ready to give it a new look for next year.

We, in the landscaping business, also look ahead to see what the experts in the industry are saying about new trends for next year. Recently, I saw an article in the magazine Livescapes on this topic which covered everything from trees to annuals. They looked at trends at home, abroad, and from outside the industry to put readers ahead of the game. As promised, we will pass these timely tips on to you.

Looking Ahead

• Annuals will be big and bold with bright vibrant colors. The plant industry is following the fashion industry with a trend away from pastels and toward hot colors. Plant Gazania, ostospermu, arctotis, geraniums, New Guinea impatiens, and hibiscus, verbena, and petunias which are coming out in hot new colors.
• Architectural plants, pots and accessories A strong emphasis on use of high-end containers and combination planters. Think cacti, succulents, anigozanthos, orchids, bromeliads, banana, cana and other tropical, large-leaf type plants.
• Foliage Some of the most popular foliage plants are mentioned above, but also consider coleus, ipomea and alternathera. If you want more information on individual plants just "google" the name.
• Vertical Gardening
Use of space is important in small gardens, but even in larger gardens, the use of window boxes and high-end tall pots to move plants up to more visible levels and bring additional impact in the garden is important. Also remember to plant lots of trailing plants like ivy geraniums or trumpet vine.
• Perennials Succulents and cacti are still popular, especially here in the Mid-South because of the drought conditions. We had great luck with Ice plants, Agave, and many other succulents. Combine these with ornamental grasses and mass displays of color and accents of garden furniture.

  Read More About Perennials Here

• Trees and Shrubs Fragrance is still big in woody ornamentals. Plant shrubs like Sweet shrub, viburnums, Gardenia, and dwarf gardenia. Trees with fragrant blossoms are the Fringe tree, Southern magnolia, Sweet bay magnolia, and Japanese flowering cherry.

Read more about types of trees for special places here

• Edibles These plants have multiple uses. Blueberries have great fall color and make a great back drop for other plants in the summer, and eating the berries actually makes your brain work better. Now we all need that, right?

Dwarf citrus trees can be fun not only in the summer, but if you put them in containers, you can bring them in for the winter. These are becoming very popular to give as gifts for birthdays as well as anniversaries.

• Consider potted dwarf conifers near doorways, walkways, or where ever they will make a visual impact. These evergreens come in shades of blue, green, yellow and orange. These are often overlooked, but can really add interest to your garden. We have a whole section of our garden dedicated to these treasures.

• This month is very dry. Continue to water
• Empty and clean clay pots. Store them indoors so they won't crack
• Save seeds for next year
• Dig up summer bulbs after first light frost
• Drain garden hoses before the first hard freeze
• Clean, sharpen, and lubricate tools before storing them for the winter

Now you can share your gardening stories and pictures with us by going to the page entitled Your Stories

Thanks to all of you who have already shared. We would love to see some more!

Our newsletter is for you. Let us know what you want to read about.

Until next time,

Julia and Alfred