3 Mansfield landscaping considerations when selecting perennials

The grass is growing, plants are blooming, and pollen is painting cars yellow. This is the time of year that you might be considering adding new plants to your landscape. Some of the longest lasting and most easily managed plants are perennials.

When selecting perennials for your landscape, you should consider how they will incorporate into your entire landscape design. There are many factors, both environmental and aesthetic, to consider while doing this. However, we think that by focusing on a few key aesthetic factors, you can begin narrowing down your plant list to ones that suit your individual taste. Your Mansfield landscaping provider should be able to use your preferred list of perennials to advise you on what ones meet environmental requirements (lighting, soil type, nutrients, pH, etc.).

So without further ado, here are 3 aesthetic Mansfield landscaping considerations when selecting perennials.

1. Texture

There are basically 3 kinds of plant textures: coarse (largest), medium, and fine (thinnest). Combinations of these textures can really change the way a landscape appears. Using the same texture throughout your landscape can be pretty boring, so it is best to vary the textures of your perennials. You can also consider placing one texture, e.g., fine, in a group of another texture, e.g., coarse, to provide a focal point. Different textured plants can also provide different movements when blown in the wind.

2. Color (Foliage and Flowers)

Colors play an important role in your landscape design. Whether it’s a monochromatic, analogous, or complementary color scheme, you can bring out the color(s) you find most appealing. Both foliage and flower colors should be considered along with the times of year those colors will be displayed. One thing to make this process easier is by focusing on warm colors, cool colors, or a combination of the two. The combination of warm and cool colors can provide great contrast and eye appeal. Cool colors can provide you with a feeling of relaxation and can even make small spaces appear bigger. Warm colors can make you feel energized, make spaces appear smaller, and can create interesting focal points.

3. Size

Perennial size is a pretty obvious feature to consider. For example, you should always check to see if the space you have available can suit a given perennial. You will also want to make sure that your perennials are to scale with your landscape as a whole. If you are working with a small space, using large perennials might not be the best choice. Varying perennial sizes can also provide added interest to your landscape. Typically, you will want to place larger perennials in the back, with smaller perennials toward the font. But, you might also want to bring some larger perennials towards the foreground to keep your plants from appearing as if they are all on risers.

Focusing on texture, color, and size can provide you with a good start when selecting perennials for your Mansfield landscaping. Deciding on your aesthetic preferences before you go out to purchase perennials will help you keep your design goals and prevent you from making spur of the moment selections. Of course, there are many other features to consider, but a focus on these 3 can significantly narrow down your list. What do you look for when selecting perennials for your landscape? If you would like our Mansfield landscapers to help you choose perennials that best fit your garden, contact us for a free consultation.

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Image credits: jonathanjonl, Jinx!, Mike Bowler, jimd2007, goingslo, *FlowerGirl*, A.Poulos (Iya), patrick_standish, sleepyneko, Jack W. Pearce