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Is it time to shake things up in your container gardens? After all, modern container garden trends have evolved, the same as modern foundation plantings and shrub borders.  Not only have the plant varieties changed, so have pots and soil mixes.

Now, people are using an enormous variety of plant materials, including improved cultivars. They are also combining plants together in exciting new ways.

Homeowners and renters alike demand the “curb appeal” that beautiful container gardens lend to their doorway, staircase, garage door. They want the “wow factor” on decks, patios and kitchen windows.

Today’s containers may include shrubs, perennials, grasses, annuals, succulents, evergreens, and even cactus or tropicals.  The mix of plants, colors and textures is endless.  Learn what does best in your area and pay attention to see if those favorites are grown i

We would be remiss if we did not mention that Boxwood have been used as trimmed hedges as far back as 4,000 BC, in the gardens of Roman villas.  Boxwood have been used in Italy, France, Germany and England - all throughout Europe because it makes incredible clipped hedges. 

Boxwood remain wildly popular today. 

Their popularity comes from the innate ability to train this plant into many different forms.  They were used to create English knot gardens, topiaries, creating pieces of sculpture in the landscape.  Boxwood can be easily sheared in to tight forms.  The small, rounded leaves are evergreen and remain on the plant year round. 

How to Use Boxwood in the Landscape

Not only do Boxwood make classic low hedges-- governing direction and movement through the landscape with the structure they bring – they do so year round because they

You know you love to get your hands in the dirt come springtime. Even before the weather turns nice, avid gardeners are out there finding jobs to do: winter cleanup, pruning your dormant oak or fruit trees, mulching beds, and most importantly, planning for all the new plants you want to try this year. We totally get it!

Now, in fall after a wonderful growing season spent enjoying your garden, you may find yourself not quite ready for your long winter rest. So, what can you do now?

Take a close look at your garden. Are there any late-blooming perennials that could be divided to fill in bare spots? Have you been thinking about adding a garden bed? Or are you tempted by some of the fabulous new cultivars on the market? Would you like to add more spring color?

The most important thing to know about deer is that when they are hungry, and food is limited, they may eat just about anything. Please keep in mind that deer tastes change with the season, with the region, and with what is available to them. 

Deer Resistant Trees

Deer Resistant Shrubs

Deer Resistant Perennials

Here’s How To Train Deer

We hear about it all the time …  a plant that is listed as deer resistant gets damaged by deer browsing on that plant.  What we have learned is that when you plant new plants a

Nature Hills fields a lot of calls from our customers who are looking for something to grow in a specific spot in their yard...and with the huge palate of plants offered, there is really no better place to call than Nature Hills Nursery to find something that will work for you.  

Use the Nature Hills Plant Facts listed on every product page to help you determine if a plant will tolerate the conditions of the spot you have in mind.  During this post, you’ll get an in-depth understanding of the most important factors to consider.

Use Nature Hills Plant Facts to understand exactly what a specific plant can tolerate.  The Plant Facts provide details about the specific conditions a plant needs to survive and thrive (which is what we want for your new plant!)

Study Your Landscape to Make the Best Plant Selection

As you research your Pl

To reduce the possibility of plants escaping gardens and becoming invasive, Nature Hills has been working with a breeder to bring us Nature’s Best Plants™ - “plants that stay put.” From that first round of breeding brings us a sterile Spirea that we call PowderPuff™.

PowderPuff™ can be planted without concern of becoming invasive because it is seedless and very well behaved. Best of all, it’s gorgeous and offers reblooming through the summer season.

Get to Love This New Spirea PowderPuff

Soft pink flowers are born in clusters on the tips of each branch in profusion. Flowers become showy in June. Closer inspection of the flower clusters reveal a raspberry red eye of each of the florets intensifying the soft pink color with an almost lavender cast overall – just beautiful.

Watch as Ed Laivo, one of America's top fruit tree experts, checks the growth on his latest high density planting of Burgundy Plum, Santa Rosa Plum and Emerald Butte Plum. During this video, you'll learn how how he makes summer pruning decisions to keep his fruit trees around 6 feet tall.

Growing 3 Trees in 1 Hole Delivers Great Fruit Set in a Small Space

Successfully planting 3 partner fruit trees together in 1 hole has a lot of benefits for your backyard orchard, including cross-pollination and enjoying an extended season of fruit. Keeping your high density plantings at a small size makes for easy homegrown fruit picking.

Summer is the best time to prune your high density planting. Ed says "The goal is to get good sunlight in the center of the three tree canopy. Pruning the aggressive spring flush of growth keeps your fruit trees to a manageable size."

Call us to talk about which partner fruit trees are right for your garden: 888-864-7663

Nature Hills grows many different kinds of Cedar trees, one that should work in your area.  Traditionally, wood from some Cedar trees is very fragrant and resists decay and it gets used for fence posts, shingles and siding for buildings.  It seems that all grandmas had a cedar chest and kept things in that chest that would be protected from bugs getting into it as well.

Wide Selection of Cedar Tree Varieties For Your Garden

Deodar Cedar is a large grower that has arching branches so very graceful in appearance and many times in warmer climates it is used for a living Christmas tree.  An elegant evergreen, great in natural groups for screening, or even a specimen as a focal point in your yard or perhaps a potted plant on your patio.  Beautiful fine textured silvery gray evergre

Boxwood - sometimes known as Box - has been around for a long time. They were introduced to North America from Europe in the 1600s. There are almost 100 different species and almost 400 different selections that have been made over the years, and the popularity of Boxwood continues today.

Boxwood (Buxus) is a broadleaved evergreen. The small, round green leaves remain on the plant year round.  Different Boxwood species can be grown from zones 4 to 9, so when selecting Boxwood for your home, be sure to select the type that will grow where you live.

This fine textured, green-leaved plant is equally attractive year round as it really does not change throughout the seasons.  For that reason, they have remained extremely popular in the landscape.  They are easy to maintain and can be ma

Nature Hills grows two different species of Arborvitae:

1. Thuja occidentalis selections
2. Thuja plicata selections

Why Arborvitae? 

Arborvitae are super-fast growing, make the perfect screening plant, and have plenty of surface area to absorb sound.  You have no better way to eliminate ugly views, block some wind, catch some snow, and give you the perfect green backdrop to design around. 

Most upright forms of Arborvitae can grow two feet or so each year.  There are some globe selections that are rounded and some that have yellow colored foliage.  Today we are focusing on the upright forms that are many times used for hedging or screening plants. 

The fine textured foliage is born in a flat plane, but the plants are soft and dense, and they make beautiful hedges. 

Expert Tip