Landscaping: Little Changes

Even a few little changes to landscaping can help. Every year we try to make small changes with perennial plants and in many cases native plants and edibles that will continue to come back year after year so that eventually we will have a beautiful, sustainable yard that brings us joy without the back breaking work or expenses that some landscapes require.

This year Evelyn and I came across several different plants to add to our landscaping collection.

Zebrina Mallow. It is a biennial which means it will reseed and come back the following year. It is an old flower that is always popular in the cottage gardens and English gardens. It will make a very striking background border plant along our front wall. Because it reseeds profusely, we will have to watch that it doesn't become invasive. It is an edible plant, leaves can be used in salads and cooked like many other green leafy plants, and flowers can be used as an edible decoration, but it is a mallow, and also has the slimy texture that this plant species is noted for.

We have a rather large front brick wall that is very bare. These will be a great plant to hide the wall and bring some color into our front yard. They are supposed to grow up to five feet tall.This year we only bought tw I am looking forward to seeing how they fit in over the next couple of years. For Mother's Day, Nathan and I put this found metal piece in the ground for a trellis. I'm not sure yet what will be put there, but something ...

 

We also picked up some Coral Bells and Hostas  for the area just inside of the brick wall. It has been bare for far too long and really needed to have something to brighten up this area and make it more welcoming...I think the brick wall needs a good scrub too, but I don't think that will happen this year.