Massachusetts Landscapers – Land Design Associates

Top 6 Early Spring Bloomers to Get Color in Your Yard

Land Design Associates — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:20:44 +0000

After a long and bleak winter, early blooming flowers can lighten your spirits in anticipation of spring. There still may be snow on the ground, but if you take the time to plant some of these, winter will feel a little shorter. Most people think of bulbs for spring however there are many other plants to enjoy. Flowers are more pronounced on plants where they bloom before leaves emerge.

Star Magnolia

Large, white fragrant flowers emerges before its foliage, engulfing this small tree like a cloud. Fat fuzzy buds on the tree in winter. The flower buds and flowers are susceptible to frost so plant in a somewhat sheltered location.Densely branched, it’s great for a small yard as it remains compact for many years. Star Magnolia flowers before the larger saucer magnolias.

Yoshino Cherry

This is the cherry famous for the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC. Considered one of the most beautiful flowering trees, the blooms have a slight almond fragrance. Fairly fast growth rate, reaches 20-30 feet tall so give it space to grow. Lots of sun leads to very showy, generous pale pink to white flowers.

This cherry yields a small fruit that is a source of food for many birds. Try to avoid the weeping varieties sold at big box stores because they are grafted on inferior root stock and are weak stemmed.

Shadblow

Amelanchier also known as shadblow and serviceberry is a large, native shrub or small tree 15-30 feet tall. Its lightly fragrant star-shaped, flat to saucer shaped flowers are white to pink. Leaves turn a bright yellow-orange in fall and are supplemented by red fruit that ripens in summer and is edible. Birds will feast on the berries if not picked soon after ripening. Try ‘Rainbow Pillar’ for a small garden.

Witch Hazel

Witch Hazel is one of the first shrubs to flower here in New England even if snow is still on the ground. The blooms appear anytime the temperatures go above 40 degrees making this plant a true harbinger of spring. The blooms have a spidery appearance and are lightly fragrant. ‘Jelena’ has copper colored flowers and ‘Arnold’s Promise’ has yellow. They like full sun to part shade but do not thrive in a too dry location. They are also native and can be found in woodlands. The plant also has many uses besides its ornamental qualities.

Kerria

If you like vibrant yellow try Kerria. It’s commonly called Easter Rose because it typically blooms around Easter and resemble roses. It has a loose branching habit that grows to about 8 feet tall and wide. Branches stay bright green throughout the year offering radiant winter interest. Kerria appreciates a shady spot and does well where it has the space to branch out. ‘Pleniflora’ is a double flowered variety readily available at garden centers in spring.

Flowering Quince

Hardy, long lasting and easy to grow. Branches are covered in apple blossom-like flowers before their leaves emerge. It can get twiggy and irregular looking so place it in the back of the planting bed or keep it pruned. Used in a shrub border, it creates a nice dark green background for later blooming shrubs. Many varieties are available that also produce fruits for birds to enjoy. Newer types are more compact ‘Toyo-Nishiki’ has large flowers that open in coral-pink and white on a single plant ‘Pink Storm’ has dramatic hot-coral blooms with a pleasant fragrance.

No matter what you’re looking for in a landscape for your home, the experts at Land Design Associates can help. Contact us today to learn more or give us a call at 781-769-3286

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How To Dress Your Home For The Holidays: Colorful Winter Landscaping

Land Design Associates — Tue, 11 Dec 2018 20:07:05 +0000

After the leaves fall, the flowers are long gone and cold settles in, your yard can look incredibly bleak; however, that doesn’t mean you have to settle for a monochromatic blanket of white…

While shopping for the bright and bold flowers for the spring and summer is fun, planning ahead for winter interest and color also offers its own rewards. To get some nice color in the winter, plant these trees and shrubs where you can easily view them from inside your house. There are a few other ways to add that much-needed pop of color in the bleak winter months.

1. Interesting Tree Bark

Plants with interesting bark are stars without their foliage and really shine in the winter. These trees and shrubs are beautiful in summer and winter when the bark is normally overlooked. Stems and trunks with peeling bark resemble cinnamon, such as the Paperbark Maple and climbing hydrangea.

Paperback Maple

Try a Stewartia with a camouflaged appearance. Stewartia is a small tree that flowers mid-summer. Both of these trees work well in smaller garden or closer to the home where you can view them up close.

Stewertia

2. Colorful Branches

Coral Bark Maple is a small tree with brilliant bark on its young branches. As the foliage drops in autumn, the tree’s bark begins to turn an attractive coral-pink which intensifies in cold weather. The winter bark color is deeper the more sun it receives.

Coral Maple Bark

Although fairly boring in the summer, red twig dogwoods add cheery colors in yellow, orange and fiery reds in winter. The branch color persists all season long and is dramatic when planted in masses. They require cutting back every few years as newer branches have the boldest color. ‘Mid-Winter Fire’ and ‘Arctic Fire’ are good choices.

Red Twig Dogwoods

3. Bright Berries

Beautyberry is a native shrub found in the southeast that grows 3-5 foot tall and wide with arching stems. Its foliage is not spectacular and is hardly worth looking at. As the foliage turns in fall and the leaves drop, the stems are concealed by bunches of small bright berries. The large amount of bright purple berries is striking during a time when there isn’t anything else found this color during winter.

Beautyberry

Winterberry provides a winter show of abundant bright red berries covering the stems that can persist into spring. It’s a large, native shrub found in wetland areas along the east coast. Once the leaves have dropped, you are left with an astonishing view of thousands of berries adorning every stem. The cut stems are a bright addition to holiday cut greens. The berries are usually red but yellow varieties may be also be found. (‘Berry Heavy Gold’) This is an easy plant to grow and has few problems but keep in mind that it suckers and will grow very large. One male winterberry (‘Jim Dandy’) is required to pollinate female shrubs for heavier fruiting.

Winterberry

Checkerberry is an evergreen groundcover that is native to eastern North America. Leaves are glossy, rounded and leathery and the plant grows 3-6 inches high. Plants will spread over time to form a groundcover. White flowers appear early summer and change into edible bright red berries. Leaves and berries have the aroma and taste of wintergreen. This plant grows well in shade with medium water requirements.‘Berry Heavy’® Heavier berry set than the species Try ‘Red Sprite’ for a more compact variety that grows to only 2-3 feet.

Checkerberry

4. Plant late winter/early spring bloomers

Kick winter gloom with early bloomers. Witch Hazel, also native, blooms February/March with yellow to copper blooms and is one of the first plants to flower in New England. Give it some space as it will can become more than 12 feet wide.

Witch Hazel

Lenten Rose has semi-evergreen foliage and blooms in February-April. The flowers pop up before new foliage and remain for several weeks. The foliage will look tired by spring, so freshen it up by cutting it back.

Not to be overlooked, crocus planted in a warm sunny spot are reliably one of the first harbingers of spring.

No matter what you’re looking for in a landscape for your home, the experts at Land Design Associates can help. Contact us today to learn more or give us a call at 781-769-3286.