My Plant List and Other Landscape Tips

In 1999, I graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture. One of my favorite parts of my studies was woody plants (trees & shrubs), perennials, and grasses. I still have thick books describing ideal soil, flowering habits, and sun exposure buried deep in a plastic bin in the closet. It’s been a while since I dusted those off. I remember vividly how my planting design instructor waxed poetically about how the residential landscape can be an expression of how nature places trees, shrubs, and understory in its harmonious order. Sometimes, that’s easier said than done because so many factors influence how well a plant performs in any given location in the yard. We thought it’d be fun to ring in the spring with an article about what plants you can consider when our winter thaw has fully taken hold and given way to the warmer and sunnier days of April & May. I will share my favorites and some that I only use with caution or steer clear of altogether. First, I want to give you some introductory landscape maintenance and design tips.

I Have a Pet Peeve…. 

How often do you put down mulch? Every year, every other year? It’s expensive and time-consuming, right? When you have sparse or small plantings, each plant around the yard can look awkward and lonely, so mulch dresses it all up a bit. Those are some reasons my goal is to achieve a no-mulch position, meaning I’ve planted a combination of plant materials that will fill up the space and choke out anything undesirable. And it is possible. We’ve personally gone from spreading yard after yard of mulch, year after year, to having only a couple of spots in the yard that are still in an incomplete or immature phase. 

And while you’re at it, please keep those mulch piles from building up around the base of trees and shrubs. They don’t like it. It stunts their growth and makes them sick. It also looks bad. No arguments on that last point. When you’re doing new plantings, use the mulch to your benefit. Groundcover and many perennials can be planted right into a 3-4” deep layer of mulch, and trees and shrubs like mulch to keep the ground moist but not so much so that they suffocate. A good 3-4” layer Is sufficient. I won’t even go there about my loathing of colored mulch. I hope I haven’t offended you yet! Hardwood shredded bark mulch is my go-to. I love that smell, too.

Foundational Concepts of Design

Start with the big stuff and fill in with the smaller stuff later. By that, I mean buy large specimens (my son makes fun of me for using that word about plants) to anchor the design. That could be a larger focal point at the front door or a flowering tree on the corner of the house. We had one spot right at the front door where I kept trying different little plants, and nothing ever took, or it looked completely out of place with the rest of our mature landscape. Last summer, I decided to go in search of a mature plant to fill the space, and it made all the difference. Now, the front of our house looks complete. Over time, you can let plants that were small to begin with fill up space to their mature size in masses of the same plant.

Another word on size. A plant may look nice and cute in the 3 or 5-gallon pot in the garden center, but when the tag says it grows to 6 to 9 feet wide and high, the tag means it. The lesson here is to plan for the mature size of all of your plants so you don’t leave too much space between plants or crowd out desirables with other plants you thought were cute.

Generally, I’m picking plants that either have multiple seasons of interest or the combination of plants gives interest throughout the year, so I’ve got some plants that are early spring, some later, some summer, and others that are showstoppers for their fall colors or late blooms. If the plant is for structure or winter interest, I want to make sure its location anchors the planting. I also look for varying textures of leaf size and branching habits. I don’t want all my plants to be upright or mounded. I want some groupings or specimens of each. But be careful about mixing and matching too many different plants. Otherwise, it can look disorderly and lose its curb appeal.

Here are a few other random tips:

• Water new plants early and often in the cool of the morning. The first few weeks of water are especially important for establishing your plants. If you stay diligently committed to watering now, it will turn into plants that can care for themselves.

• Garden centers will have plants that look beautiful when you see them in the spring or summer, but they just aren’t made of our climate, or they must be in such a fine-tuned location that it’s most likely not going to work out. You’ll see the term hardiness, and it simply means suitable for our climate. Don’t let the allure of those plants that are front and center at the garden center fool you if they are borderline for your area.

• Stay away from plants that smell BAD, like a Thornless Cockspur Hawthorn or Ornamental Flowering Pear, unless you are going to put them far away from the front door or back patio. They really do smell like a garbage dump when they are in full bloom.

My Landscape Favorites

There are plenty of other plants I haven’t mentioned below. If you pick all the ones I list, you’ll likely have a yard that looks much like mine! I only picked ones I know, but I’m sure there’s much more out there.

Use With Caution

The following plants are snobby about where they live, so I am cautious about using them.

• Rhododendrons – these have beautiful profuse flowers when you first buy them, but if they are in our typical clay-filled and alkaline soil, they are destined to decline and look terrible or die. I say, keep them off your list.

• Boxwood – I love boxwood. In fact, I have some in our foundation plantings. However, they are prone to winter damage unless you buy a type particularly suited for your area. They are also subject to the same alkaline soil issue, and I’ve had to treat the soil around them with an acidifier to keep them healthy.

• Roses - Wow, they can look good, but boy, they can look downright dreadful with the typical insect and mildew attacks. Even the ones a garden center will call “carefree” are not so carefree. I have soured on them more and more over time, but it’s hard to resist when they can look so good in some spots.

• Aggressive groundcovers – This includes Ivy, Euonymus, and Vinca. These are great for getting to that no-mulch look, but if you don’t watch, they will choke out other plants with their intricate tangling root system. Vinca is the cutest, with its periwinkle-colored flowers in the spring.

PJM Rhododendron

Green Velvet Boxwood

Diseased Rose

Favorites for the Sun

Shrubs

• Koreanspice Viburnum – this is one of my favorites because of its three-season interest, versatile planting location, and amazing fragrance. I like to use it as a specimen right by the front or back door.

• Hesse Cotoneaster – I mix this in for its unique branching pattern, attractive whitish-pink flowers, beautiful berries, and reddish-purple fall color. It likes dry and sunny locations, and its structure adds winter interest.

Perennials and Grasses

It’s so hard for me to pick just two or three perennials for the sun. There’s so many to choose from. These all offer pizazz to the relatively stoic shrubs I mentioned above.

• Siberian Iris – This is an upright plant, and flowers early in the spring and likes it wet. When the flowers are gone, it lends a grassy texture to mix with other plants.

• Moonshine Yarrow – Want a splash of pure yellow? This is the plant for you with its clusters of flowers and ferny leaves. It takes hot and dry and keeps on tickin’.

• Catmint – This plant has a finer texture and soft lavender flower spikes but stays low and can be used to fill in open spots. It tolerates dry conditions well.

• Shasta Daisy – This beautiful classic white daisy stands out in later summer with a long bloom time and resilience in hot weather.

• Autumn Joy Sedum – An odd broccoli-shaped, colorless flowerhead makes this plant stick out as it emerges from the ground and grows through summer, but in the fall, that broccoli turns a rosy red and carries interest to the first frost.

• Karl Forster Feather Reed Grass – This is another plant that is geared to give you interest from late summer into the fall and even lends its interest to the winter because you don’t have to cut it down until early spring. I love the structure this gives behind some of the other shorter perennials above. These combinations result in a rich prairie-type look without the unkept look of the plants you find in an all-natural prairie.

Favorites for the Shade

Trees & Shrubs

• Eastern Redbud – My favorite small tree by far. It’s great as an understory tree, has a beautiful branching habit, and has the most glorious profuse lavender flowers in early spring. The vibrant yellow fall color is a nice contrast to the other red and orange fall foliage you typically see in your neighborhood.

• Annabelle Hydrangea – This is a staple of many shade gardens. One is nice, but massing many together really sticks out in the shade with its large white balls of flowers. This plant doesn’t like it dry, and can even stand sun if it has enough moisture.

• Bottlebrush Buckeye – This plant is less common and maybe a little hard to find in a large size because they are slow growers, but with its unique flower spikes, I can’t help but want at least one. I know just the spot right at the back of our soon-to-be shade garden where it can serve as a backdrop for the rest of the garden.

Perennials & Groundcover

• Francee Hosta - Just about any Hosta looks great in the shade. I like Francee because of its medium height and some white in the leaves (variegation). They are almost indestructible and can be multiplied like rabbits. Just dig them up, split them recklessly with a shovel, and plop them back in the ground, and they will fill back in. Wait, that’s nothing like how rabbits multiply, but you get the point.

• Japanese Painted Fern – In a few years, when I get to planting up our shade garden, this will be among the choices. It’s low and has such interesting leaves. Put a bunch of it in a mass and you have something special. 

I hope you had as much fun reading this as I did writing about something I enjoy. Here are a couple of links I liked if you want to explore more plants.

https://www.chicagobotanic.org/plantinfo/perennials_and_shrubs_tough_spots

https://www.highcountrygardens.com/category/plant-finder/

Koreanspice Viburnum

Siberian Iris

Shasta Daisy

Autumn Joy Sedum

Karl Forster Feather Reed Grass

Eastern Redbud

Bottlebrush Buckeye

Japanese Painted Fern