Adding New Plants to Your Garden Each Season

A wonderful thing about gardens is that they are ever-evolving, living entities. Mature stands of perennials need to be divided every few years to maintain vigor, giving you new plants to tuck into another few spots. Annuals give a burst of long-lasting color throughout the season and then die off, so you can try new combinations every year. It's easy to collect seeds from many annuals, so you can enjoy their beauty year after year without any additional expense.

If you want to try something entirely new every year to fill in bare spots or replace plants that aren't performing up to your expectations, do some research first, particularly with long-lived and more expensive perennials, shrubs, bushes, and trees. Decide what you want from a new plant. For something colorful and long-lasting but easy to care for, consider buying a plant that's noted for its striking foliage rather than its blossoms, such as an ornamental grass. To fill in a shady spot, hostas and ferns might fit the bill. If you have a small area in which to garden, think vertical; clematis vines, morning glory, and ivy grow fairly quickly.

Think also about the plant's water, soil, and sunlight requirements, and try to group plants with the same needs together. If a plant is going to take up a lot more space once it matures, consider filling in around it with annuals or a low-growing ground cover that can tolerate shade.

Consider also the bloom cycles of perennial plants, to ensure having something flowering in your garden all season long. Try to limit your color palette to two or three complementary colors to enhance the visual impact of your flowering plants. This kind of planning can pay big dividends over the years.