Twelve Ideas You’ll Dig

 By Teresa Woodard

Throughout the heartland this summer, private gardeners have graciously opened their garden gates for public garden tours. Whether it’s a pocket garden, estate landscape or suburban backyards, I always find plenty of inspiration. I jot down notes on new plants to try, clever plant combinations and innovative design details to borrow.

Here are a dozen of my favorites.

1)      Design a seating area around a container water garden. It’s a conservation piece, easier to install than an in-ground water feature and adds to the view from indoors.

2)      Look for a spot to plant an allee of trees like this one of hornbeams.

3)      Vertical gardening: Whether its a wall with fabric pockets, cement blocks or pots on a fence, these vertical gardening options offer a new way to garden up and maximize tight spaces.

4)      Underplant shade tree and garden bench with liriope. The plant blooms purple flowers in the spring and offers an attractive groundcover to thwart weeds. Simply weed-wack the liriope in the late fall or early spring.

5)      Support the craft brew craze and plant some hops.

6)      Be more creative and try the unexpected.

7)      Spray paint salvaged finds blue then add them to an all-green landscape bed like this one filled with hostas.

8)      Add this native Queen of the Prairie to a moist spot in the yard.  I love its showy June blooms.

9)      Go beyond the conventional turf.

10)   Find a spot for water-loving spring primrose.

11)   Incorporate more annuals. They add seasonal color and fill bare spots in the landscape.

12)   Create a small bog garden and fill it with pitcher plants like these.