Need some definition in your life? Privacy can range from castle walls to wispy, see-through screens. You can always go with the standard chain link fence, maybe upgrade to a white picket or expensive privacy fence and rock walls are crazy expensive and heavy to build on your own.
For an amazing privacy evergreen that has it all - and provides all the benefits of a fence - the incredible Arborvitae will command attention!
Also known as Thuja, these pyramid-shaped, often narrow, or even columnar evergreens have soft scale-like needles and are faster growing than other evergreen varieties on the market! Arborvitae means ‘Tree of Life’ and it will breathe new life into your landscape!
Benefits
So are living plants that much better than a fence? No painting, little maintenance, respite for wildlife, and a friendly way to eliminate a neighbor’s camper or their messy yard... a living hedge is something that you can both enjoy! (and maybe even split the cost?)
Seclusion & peace that a wood or stone barrier can’t provide
Better noise & wind reduction than fencing
Rustling sounds, fragrant, cooling evergreen greenery & motion for a full sensory experience
Many Uses of Arborvitae
Arborvitae works hard to expand the amount of livable space outside your home. Create the walls of garden rooms. Push your fencing beyond the perimeter, and carve out smaller areas within your property!
Excellent backdrops to perennial or shrub borders
Windbreak and block dust - keep trash out of your yard & slows the wind
Noise abatement - block out a busy road or noisy neighbor or block sounds of a children’s play area
Create outdoor rooms - zen gardens, meditation rooms, a yoga spot, coffee nooks, and peaceful seating areas
Blur the line of sight of a neighbor's window
Private Backyard in a Hurry
Add a curved berm by mounding extra soil 2-3 feet high, or creating multiple tiers of high and low mounds. Plant your privacy trees in the berm, and you'll jump-start your privacy by several feet! This also works if you have compacted ground or poor drainage issues.
Buy the largest container sizes we have in stock for a big head start. Larger container sizes mean older trees with a larger root system.
Types of Arborvitae
The goal is to create a lush, solid screen without sacrificing healthy air circulation. Study the Plant Highlights on every product page to find the height and width your tree will reach at maturity.
North Pole® - Pointed & columnar, fast-growing, matures 10-15 feet tall & 4-5 feet wide. Doesn’t need pruning for a fluffy natural look.
Green Giant - Big fluffy, fast-growing to 40-50 foot tall & only 8-12 feet wide. Fast-growing once established. Shear/prune for a formal look.
Emerald Green - Bright green popular choice 10-15 feet tall & 3-4 feet wide. Can be spaced close for immediate screening that needs no trimming.
Degroot's Spire - Dark green pyramid maturing 18-20 feet tall & 4-5 feet wide. Fantastic living walls, can be planted in pots, slower grower, and always stays skinny.
American - Thick & elegant 25-40 feet tall and 10-15 feet wide. Robust and can be spaced a bit farther apart Overall a fairly fast-growing plant once established.
Techny - Dark green and compact, maturing 15-20 feet tall and 6-10 feet wide
Sugar and Spice - Creamy bright green & petite, maturing 7-10 feet tall & 1-4 feet wide
Considerations for the choice would include:
What will the mature height and spread be?
How thick or dense are they?
How long do they live?
How fast do they grow?
How much care will they need?
Are they drought tolerant?
Do they need full sun?
What Spacing is Best?
Plant your Arborvitae in the center at their mature spread apart (or a bit closer), measuring from the center of one to the center of the next. Going by the smallest number listed for the mature spread. These plants planted in a dense row will make a nice 2 sided green barrier that can be allowed to grow naturally without any pruning at all if you like.
You can also plant Arborvitae closer together than the estimated mature widths so the plants will quickly grow together making a solid screen. Finally, use an old farmer's trick. Stagger two rows in a zig-zagging planting pattern that fills in fast.
Conclusion
All of NatureHills.com Arborvitae available today can be found by clicking here! Filter the results you want by height, mature spread, and Growing Zone. Always use Nature Hills Root Booster with important landscape trees and shrubs. This symbiotic formula supports the tiny feeder roots over the whole life of your plant and never wears out.
Create a landscape that reflects your personal style! Water, minimal pruning, fertilizer, and mulch are all it takes to create a lasting fence for curb appeal and privacy! Get planting now and watch your fence grow better with each passing year!
Buy healthy, well-rooted, fast-growing privacy trees and shrubs from NatureHills.com! We make it so easy with expert shipping right to your doorstep.
One would think that if you googled summer a picture of a Gardenia should come up. In the dictionary, if you looked up the word summer there would be a description of the fragrance of a Gardenia flower. Gardenia flowers have a sweet, heady, fragrance that really just says summer. That is why everyone wants to have Gardenias in their landscape, as cut flowers, and as popular bridal bouquets. The foliage is deep, dark, shiny green and evergreen, wow!
How Do I Use Gardenia Plants?
What Is the Best Way to Care for Gardenia Plants?
Pruning Is Simple and Not Excessive
Gardenia Plants Are Typically Hardy From Zones 7-9
How Do I Use Gardenia Plants?
Did you know there are over 250 different species of Gardenias? That means one for every situation. Most people buy Gardenias so they can smell the flowers. That translates to using them close to where you will be spending time in your home or landscape. Walkways, front entrances, patios, and let's not forget foundation plantings so when your windows are open you can smell them. They make great smaller hedges with that incredibly elegant evergreen foliage so even with not bloom, they rock. Keep Gardenia plants up close and personal by growing some in containers that can be moved to where you are.
What Is the Best Way to Care for Gardenia Plants?
It seems the best way to keep Gardenia plants happiest is to be sure their soil pH is lower (a bit more acidic). Our growers make sure the plants you get are going to be shipped with soil that has a lower soil pH to insure great health of the plants. It is a great idea to keep your Gardenia plants happy by using an Azalea or Camelia fertilizer (or other acid liquid fertilizer) in March to maintain healthy plants with dark green foliage color. Another application of fertilizer 4-6 weeks after the spring application will really help the flower power. Keep in mind that Gardenia plants love even moisture (meaning they should not dry out, or they should not sit in water). Consistently even moisture, with a well-drained soil well keep them happy and keep the flowers coming. They are very shallow rooted so limit digging around the base of the plants, plant them a bit high, and use a good organic mulch like shredded bark to keep the soil evenly moist and prevent weed pressure. It may seem a bit fussy, but the wildly handsome plants sport the most incredible flowers with the best fragrance you can find anywhere. A regular spring feeding of a good acid fertilizer, and even moisture, and a sunny location will keep Gardenias happy.
Pruning Is Simple and Not Excessive
Basically, removing the flowers as they fade (as they transform from a pure sparkling white, to a not so pretty - brown). Removing spent flowers and shortening up any wild new growth to keep everything in check is an easy chore really. If you are using Gardenias as a more formal hedge, or a bit more natural in habit, remember that all pruning needs to be complete by late July to allow next year's flower buds to form and develop. Young plants may need some help training new growth inline as the plants mature.
Gardenia Plants Are Typically Hardy From Zones 7-9
Nature Hills has done our best to offer you plants that work out beyond these zones and have come up with one that is hardy as low as zone 6, and another that works way up into zone 11. Check out the selections that our nurseries are growing. Flowering typically starts in May and will continue for weeks, and many will produce another flush of flowers later in summer. It is imperative that pruning cease by late July or early August for keeping those plants producing flowers for the next season.
Happy Planting!
“Of all flowers, methinks a rose is best.” – William Shakespeare, The Two Noble Kinsmen
What do you call a Rose by any other name? What about one that smells divinely? Or one with no smell at all?
Unless there’s a bee inside, the first impulse we have when we see a big, voluminous Rose bloom - is to stick our noses in it! The power of fragrance! It can make or break the decision regarding many things! Roses being among them!
Anyone that has recently received a bouquet of flowers from a florist can attest to how little smell they have these days.
In our search for bigger, more colorful, fuller, and faster growing Roses, we may have inadvertently bred out this highly desirable trait!
The Science of Rose Fragrance
Why Roses Are Losing Their Perfume
How to Best Preserve Your Roses Fragrance
Ensuring The Best Perfume and Performance!
Stop And Smell The Roses!
The Science of Rose Fragrance
Long before humans began mixing Roses to create the dizzying array that is available to the consumer these days, Roses had a single layer of petals, and pretty green foliage, but more importantly - most of them smelled wonderful! Enough to spark the imaginations of artists and poets alike for centuries.
Roses and all flowers that have scent do so because of volatile oils. Volatile, not because they may burst into flames at any moment, but because they quickly evaporate in the heat of the sun and when exposed to air. The aroma is due to a gene that triggers an enzyme called RhNUDX1 and this chemical makes cells in Rose petals produce a chemical called monoterpene geraniol.
Roses and other flowers produce scents mostly to attract pollinators for that ever-important purpose of pollination! The time of day and age of the bloom will affect how strong the fragrance is. Some Roses have a stronger scent due to the presence of more of these chemicals and other naturally produced essential oils, produced within glands on the undersides of the petals. While some of the smell comes from the stamen as well.
The smell can range from damask and floral, maybe fruity like berries, or musky to citrusy, from honeyed and sweet, to licorice, spiced and herbal, to just plain fresh. They can be violet-like, or described as smelling like orrisroot (Iris rhizomes), sweet clover, or fresh hay.
Why Roses Are Losing Their Perfume
While some Roses have been bred specifically for their fragrance, others have been bred for other characteristics such as size, disease resistance, specific colors, and other factors that may inadvertently switch off this gene that makes them create those enzymes and fragrant chemicals.
The way a Rose or fragrant flower is handled after picking it can also affect how they smell. Rose breeders in the floral industry need big, showy blooms that can handle being transported for days after being cut. They’re also breeding Roses with fewer to no thorns, can last longer in the vase and have longer stems and larger blooms. Unfortunately, the trade-off is that luxurious fragrance!
Plus, the more (much-needed) disease resistance that is being bred into these blooms, the more we’re seeing a decrease in their smell.
So is the trade-off worthwhile?
How to Best Preserve Your Roses Fragrance
Rose breeders are also making a point to get back to basics. Creating new breeds and improving old ones, so we can enjoy the best of both worlds! Wild-Rose scent and hardiness, old-world beauty, and combined with modern resistance!
Luckily, modern and antique Rose bushes that are grown in your own garden, especially if you do not spray them with lots of artificial fertilizer and pesticides, still have a great scent!
Check out all the fragrant Roses available at Nature Hills, including many that are considered among the most fragrant like Scentimental, Mr. Lincoln, Tiffany, Rugosa Roses, Chrysler Imperial, and Fourth of July Climbing Rose, just to name a few.
Choosing a Rose bush that is fragrant is only half the battle. Roses can smell stronger or weaker depending on the time of day, depending on the age of the bloom, and even smell better or stronger from year to year as weather, temperature, moisture, and nutrient availability also come into play.
Clues a Rose Will Smell Good!
Besides buying a Rose that is well-known for its scent, here are a few other indicators that may let you know that the Rose you are about to stick your nose in will be fragrant!
More petals = more scent. Remember, the glands that make the oils are in the petals
Darker Roses often have increased perfume
The Rose color can often determine its fragrance profile.
Red and pink generally have a more traditional Rose smell
White and yellow are often spicy, licorice and citrus
Many orange and peachy Roses are very sweet and/or fruity
Plus, there may be some truth to the saying “The most beautiful Roses sometimes have the sharpest thorns” because these more wild and defensive shrubs have something worthwhile to protect!
Smelling, Snipping Cut Flowers, and Harvesting Rose Petal Do’s and Don’t’s
Whether you are outside for a stroll through your garden to smell the Roses, snipping flowers for your bouquets and floral arrangements, or harvesting the blooms and petals for potpourri, Rosewater, for health and beauty, making tea or preserves, for crafts, and dried décor, follow these few simple tips to enjoy their scent at its highest.
All About Timing
Smell, snip blooms, or pluck petals when the buds are just beginning to open
The strongest fragrance is around mid-morning to very early afternoon
Wait to pick or harvest after the dew has dried
Sometimes It’s The Weather
Choose a warm, clear, sunny day
Get out in the garden before the hot midday sun causes the oils to evaporate
Rain and chilly, damp weather can decrease fragrance
Good Scent Sense
Snip with clean shears to stop the spread of disease from one bush to another
Roses affected by disease or powdery mildew tend to lose their fragrance temporarily
Drought and insufficient moisture will greatly decrease the fragrance
Use organic fertilizers and pesticides, and avoid spraying the blooms
Avoid getting the flowers and leaves wet when watering - water at the roots
Mulch over the root system helps prevents soil born diseases
Preserving Fragrance in Cut Flowers & Petals
Remove any foliage that will fall below the water line cleanly
Cut the stems at an angle and plunge them immediately into cool, clean water
Harvest cut flowers or petals after the morning dew has dried
Keep cut flower water very clean, refreshing it every day
Keep petals and blooms out of the sun and away from heat
Dry petals right away in a dehydrator or other method, don’t wait
Ensuring The Best Perfume and Performance!
In addition to the above tips and tricks, the best way to enjoy the most fragrance from your Rose is to keep it happy and healthy!
While Roses of old were considered fussy and difficult, it really comes down to proper site selection in the first place!
Plant a Rose that is rated for your climate and USDA growing zone
Situate the Rose in full sun, with a focus on receiving morning sun to quickly dry dew
Choose a location with good Air Circulation
Plant Roses in enriched, highly-organic, well-drained soil that never gets soggy
Provide a 3-4 inch thick layer of compost and/or arborist mulch chips over the roots
Give them regular moisture access. Nature Hills recommends the ‘finger-test’ method
Don’t let Roses suffer through drought or hot summers without supplemental moisture
Water only at the roots and keep their area clean and sanitary
Fertilizer regularly with a quality organic, slow-release fertilizer.
Avoid high-nitrogen fertilizers, like those for lawns. Keep them far away from Roses!
Stop And Smell The Roses!
There are Roses… and then there are ROSES! Every shrub has a purpose in todays landscapes, and choosing the right shrub for your needs is almost as important as how it smells. While those garden workhorses and landscaping Shrub Roses serve their purpose as edging, color, backdrops, hedges, defensive barriers, and property definition, there’s nothing quite like having one frou-frou fragrant Rose that is there to just look - and smell - pretty!
Check back often and visit your garden at different times of the day and on different days to find when your Roses smell and look the best! Then visit NatureHills.com on a regular basis to see all the exciting new Rose cultivars that are being made available as growers are tirelessly working to breed the perfume back into our most beloved flower - The Rose!
Happy Planting!
There’s an amazing, dizzying, and incredible array of Roses out there! So many it may be difficult to narrow down which one you want! If only we had the room and an army of landscapers, we’d not have to choose!
But if you have to choose just one (or just a few) Nature Hills is here to the rescue! Here are the many different types of Roses and how they each have an advantage over the others for your specific garden needs!
Wonderful Rose Varieties Explained
Elegant Hybrid Tea Roses
Floriferous Floribunda Roses
Grand Grandiflora Roses
Versatile Landscaping and Shrub Roses
Grow Vertical With Climbing Roses
Sweet and Petite Miniature Rose Bushes
Low-Growing Garden Gems - Groundcover Roses
Go Big With Tree-Form Roses!
Nearly Infinite Choices!
Detailed Rose Care and Support
Wonderful Rose Varieties Explained
What exactly do all these Rose varieties mean for your landscape? Where is best for each type to grow? Nature Hills is here to explain the difference between each of these fantastic types of Rose bushes!
Elegant Hybrid Tea Roses
The fragrant, full, and posh English Rose garden beauty of Hybrid Tea Roses displays elegant single-borne blooms on long stems that just beg to be snipped for bouquets! Often taller shrubs, you can enjoy the beauty and smell of these spiraling buds that open into high-centered blooms from pointed buds. Often fragrant and continued reblooming, these large flowered shrubs feature high petal counts and a wondrous array of colors.
The notoriety of Hybrid Tea Roses has also been enhanced by the practice of naming Rose plants after famous people. In addition to the Amelia Earhart hybrid rose plant, you’ll find roses named after Betty White, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dolly Parton, Princess Diana, and other flamboyant personalities.
Hybrid Tea Roses in the Landscape
Must-haves for the Cut flower garden
Taller Garden Specimens
Rose Garden standards
Lovely in containers and planters
High petal count and repeat bloom
Solitary, large flower borne atop a long stem
Floriferous Floribunda Roses
Floribunda Roses are a hybrid cross between Multiflora (aka Polyantha Roses) and Hybrid Tea Roses. Revered for their long-lasting flowers and extended season of bloom, these Roses keep their Multiflora roots by forming clusters of multiple flowers at a time!
Often fragrant, this variety is fantastic in the cutting garden, as lower growing garden accents and available in a striking array of colors, Floribunda Rose bushes are easy to grow and bloom from late spring until frost in fall!
Floribundas in the Landscape
Flowers held in clusters
Bloom late spring through fall
Borders and Edging
Low-Hedges and Backdrops
Striking Mass Plantings
Extended Season Color
Grand Grandiflora Roses
Grandiflora Rose bushes are a cross between a Floribunda and Hybrid Tea Roses, keeping the full flower clusters of the Floribunda side of the family, but having the Tea Rose long stems and big flouncy blooms! Fantastic in bouquets as they are consistent rebloomers, Grandiflora Roses come in a wide range of sizes, colors, forms and scents. Often hardier in cold than Hybrid Teas, these are fantastic for bursts of garden color and as focal points in the landscape.
Grandifloras in the Landscape
Garden Accents and Focal Points
Versatile Additions - Wide Range of Size Options
Reblooming
Hardy Roots
Large, Full Flowers held in Clusters
Versatile Landscaping and Shrub Roses
The workhorses of the Rose family, Landscape and Shrub Roses act as living hedges and large-scale garden displays. Including the formidable Rugosa Rose, Landscaping Roses fill large areas and form thickets that birds adore. Fantastic nectar and pollen-laden resources for bees and butterflies, Shrub Roses are gorgeous leafy backdrops, often have fall Rose hips, and are fantastic for hedging and privacy anywhere in the sun!
Landscape Shrub Roses in the Landscape
Backdrop and Hedge Roses
Larger-Sized Mounding and Thicket-Forming Barrier Plantings
Landscape Definition and Structure
Very Rugged, Durable and Easy to Grow
Free Flowering and Pollinator-Friendly
Great in Containers and Perfect for Rows, Groupings and En Masse
Grow Vertical With Climbing Roses
Fast-growing and with long, flexible, sturdy canes, the Climbing Rose is available in a wide range of colors, sizes, and forms! Either upright or rambling, Climbing Roses are able to grow from 8 to 20 feet tall and can be easily trained to grow on a trellis, drape over an arbor, romantically clamber over a pagoda or create vertical walls throughout the garden! They can even be left to cascade and ramble over the ground as groundcover and en masse filler. Climbing Roses typically flower on old canes first, and the new flowers are formed on new growth in summer. They will need to be attached to structures to keep them in place.
Climbing Roses in the Landscape
Acrobatic Climbers or Rambling Groundcover
Strong Flexible Canes Easily Train onto any Structure
Wide Range of Sizes, Styles and colors
Vertical Garden Interest
Includes Grandiflora, Hybrid Tea, Floribunda and Landscape Rose in Climbing Form
Sweet and Petite Miniature Rose Bushes
Pint-sized versions of the other above Rose bushes, Miniature Roses may be small, but they have just as much impact on the garden when it comes to color and variety! Perfect in containers and planters, anyone with or without a yard can still enjoy Roses! Small-scale landscaping at its best, balcony and Container Gardeners in a wide range of growing zones can experience the beauty of a Rose bush in a fraction of the space.
Ideal as edging and front-of-the-border accents, en masse plantings of these versatile, mini flowering shrubs fill your landscape with drifts of reblooming color! From single-borne to clusters, the often perfumed little blooms are darling little pops of color and great gift plants!
Miniature Roses in the Landscape
Small-Scale Blooms are Big on Impact
Containers, Planters and Balconies
Lovely In Drifts, as Edging and Groupings
Fantastic Gift Plants
Dizzying Array of Colors and Sizes
Low-Growing Garden Gems - Groundcover Roses
Another form of Hardy Landscape Roses, hardworking and low-growing Groundcover Roses are the living mulch and finishing touches for your landscape! Often spreading much wider than they grow tall, but brimming in clusters of blooms from late spring until frost, these types of Rose bushes require the least amount of maintenance and fuss. Available in an equally dizzying array of colors and forms, from single to double, scented to unscented, Groundcover Rose bushes fill large swaths of area in lush greenery and drifts of colorful flowers! Often with remarkable disease resistance and cold/heat hardiness, we’re sure there’s a Groundcover Rose to match and enhance your landscape in our inventory.
Groundcover Roses in the Landscape
Low-Growing Garden Bed Definition, Edging & En Masse Color
Vibrant and Free-Flowering Spring til Fall
Very Tough, Hardy and Disease Resistant
Low Maintenance
Great as Spillers and Fillers in the Landscape and in Container Gardens!
Perfect for Low Hedges, In Rows, Groupings, and as Facer Plants
Go Big With Tree-Form Roses!
Super special Rose Trees feature everything you love about Roses, and then elevated! The same big, bold, beautiful blooms you love - only now held up higher for your inspection and closer to the nose to enjoy their fragrance! Go ahead and gaze at these eye-level Roses of all types listed above. From Miniature Rose Trees to Grandiflora Rose Trees, we’re sure there is a Tree Form Rose to match your favorite Rose shrub!
Expertly grafted atop a 2-3 foot tall standard Rose trunk that is straight, sturdy, and elegant! Over time, your beautiful Rose Tree will grow into a showy specimen. No one walks past a Tree Rose without stopping to take a long look! Container and planter ready, your Patio Garden can have a crowning jewel, the front porch or front garden gain a boost of amazing curb appeal, and back seating areas gain fragrant conversation pieces!
Rose Trees in the Landscape
Captivating Specimens
Container Accents & Garden Focal Points
Expertly Grafted Rose Bushes On Top of 2-3 foot tall Rose Standard Trunks
Floribunda, Miniature, Grandiflora, Shrub, and Hybrid Teas on Tall Straight Stems
Curb Appeal, Conversation Pieces, and Supreme Visual Interest
Nearly Infinite Choices!
Need help narrowing down your options? Check out these more Rose options to help you fill a specific garden requirement! There is an old-fashioned garden antique, hardy native Rose, or effortless-to-grow Modern Rose out there for you!
Maybe you are looking for the most Fragrant Roses Nature Hills has to offer, or perhaps the most deer-resistant Roses that feature fragrance and thorns that can even keep deer at bay. Though when desperate, Deer will have a nibble at the new growth.
Narrow your search first by Plant Hardiness Zone, and further fine-tune it based on height, color, and sun needs! Check out these Roses that bloom in partial shade or Roses that are incredibly cold-hardy! There are Roses that bloom in the hottest climates as well! Can’t decide on one color? Check out multi-colored Roses!
Looking for a specific brand? Nature Hills Nursery is proud to offer Easy Elegance® Roses, Drift® and Knock Out® Rose bushes, Proven Winners® and First Editions® brand Roses! Plus a large selection of Nature Hills’ Choice Rose blooms for you to choose from!
Detailed Rose Care and Support
The Nature Hills #ProPlantTips Garden blog has tons of information available to you so you can learn how to give your new prized Rose bush the very best of care! From finding the right Rose fertilizer to support these blooming machines. To the right methods of Pruning Roses. Since Roses are deciduous shrubs, you need to know all about winterizing your Roses and un-wintering Roses in spring!
Do you still need help with your Rose bush? Our helpful and knowledgeable customer service and sales department is here to help you grow the perfect Rose bush for your garden!
Nature Hills is committed to partnering with expert growers, and providing quality plant material and mature rootstock to guarantee the Rose you receive is of the highest quality! Plant breeders and Rosarians are constantly developing new and exciting varieties of Rose bushes to suit every possible garden niche out there!
So check back often to see what the future holds for Rose bushes and fill your garden with these elegant plants that have captivated humanity for centuries!
Happy Planting!
Want your Herb plants to do more for you than taste good? Hold onto your socks because the world of Herbs is blurring the lines between useful edible medicinals and ornamental plants! Now you can enjoy them for more than just tasty garnish and seasoning around the garden and landscape!
Flavorful and Scented Landscaping!
Decorating With Herbs in the Landscape
Decorating With Herbs on the Porch and Patio
Decorating With Herbs Indoors
Easy To Grow Herbs!
Scented, Flavorful & Double-Duty Herbs!
Flavorful and Scented Landscaping!
Don’t hide your herbs in the vegetable garden or use them as strictly Kitchen Garden herbs! Today’s newest Herbs are dressed up and ready for their close-up in your front yard and flower gardens!
No longer needing to be utilitarian plants, these beauties will kick up the edible landscaping scene with their pollinator-friendly and cut flower-worthy blooms, enhanced sizes, and forms, and heightened aromatics to improve your garden experience! Stimulate the senses and inject some aromatic greenery anywhere into your world with Herbs!
Decorating With Herbs in the Landscape
Edible landscaping means turning garden beds and landscaping borders into multi-purpose planting sites that not just look great, but also feed and perfume your world! Herbs are fantastic for bringing in butterflies and beneficial pollinators, filling in the gaps between plants, and their aromatic foliage even drives away pests!
Great Edging & Filler
Got some xeric spots that need to be filled? Maybe a garden bed that needs a lacy and eye-catching facer plant to hide the bare stems of larger plants and shrubs? Herbs are a fantastic way to add fresh bright greenery to your garden and ease the transition between lawn and garden. Try the lacy charm of Late & Spicy Cilantro as a filler and flowering plant!
Create frilly drifts of fine-textured Dill or accent small spaces with Chamomile.
Try a row of Sage instead of flowering Salvia
Use Highland Cream Thyme and Creeping English Thyme along garden edges.
Fill Rock Gardens with Rosemary or Lavender plants, and Oregano.
The spiky interest of Lemon Grass fills your garden and helps keep mosquitoes away!
Marjoram, Catnip, Catmint, and Lovage look gorgeous in groupings
Tall Herbs like Rue, Borage, Fennel, and Comfrey dress up the back of the border
Scented & Flowering Accents
Basil's big leaves and Parsley’s frilly foliage are wonderful skirting and fringe to use throughout the flower and shrub garden! Use Mints and Thyme as edging along pathways and sidewalks to perfume your garden strolls! Bee Balm, Lemon Balm, and Cat Mints are fantastic edible and medicinal landscaping plants that have drifts of unusual flowers.
A Hi Ho Silver Thyme or Chocolate Mint form dense clumps of perfumed greenery and blooms, plus they look fantastic in a garden of the senses and as edging along the edges at the front of the border. Creeping Thyme are traditional plants in cracks and crevices, happily rambling between the stones of your pathways and in rockery gardens and retaining walls!
Double-Duty Beyond the Herb Garden
Mints, Pineapple Sage, and Chives are wonderful for bringing in the butterflies and bees! Want more pollinators and beneficial insects? Then you need to include Herbs everywhere! Ladybugs, dragonflies, and more are highly attracted to these plants! But oddly enough, pests seem discouraged by the volatile oils in their leaves. Borage looks pretty in a salad or your drink and attracts a wide variety of beneficial bugs!
Many Dill plants like Late & Blue, or Parsley plants are host plants for the caterpillars of Swallow Tail butterflies and other butterfly larvae! Plant a few extra to feed them for flying flowers each year!
Anise Hyssops, Pineapple Sage, and Chive flowers even attract hummingbirds!
Fill Rock gardens with Tansy and Tarragon, or try a Tri-Color Sage
Sensory garden plants are fragrant and flavorful from top to bottom like Mint and Sage!
Many Herbs are great Companion Plants
Go big with a Bay Laurel tree or Kaffir Lime tree on your poolside patio for shade and double-duty culinary foliage!
Decorating With Herbs on the Porch and Patio
You don’t even need a yard to enjoy these space-saving aromatic beauties! Any sunny porch, balcony, terrace, seating area planter, or window box can house plenty of Herbs!
Container & Planter Fillers, Spillers & Thrillers!
Create a barbecue side planter with Rosemary and Dill within arms reach for the grill, or a planter of Mint by your poolside bar for fresh Suntea, Mojito, or other refreshing drink additions and garnish! A planter of Parsley and Basil in the middle of a bistro set means edible garnish and fresh salads pick-me-ups that also act as table bouquets and décor!
Why buy an annual flowering plant as fillers or spillers in mixed planters on your front or back porch, when a Basil or Parsley will look just as pretty? Let Creeping Thymes spill over windowbox edges, or add spiky height and drama with the unique blooms and foliage of a Pink Flowering Chive.
Include some pesticide-free edible flowers too! All Herb flowers are edible, and so are many other varieties of flowers that are more than just pretty faces!
Balcony, Porch & Patio Gardens
Hot front porches and balconies in the sun look better with a Mediterranean Tuscan Blue Rosemary or one of the many varieties of Lavender perfuming your reading nooks and gracing your pots either as formal or informal decorations! These space-saving plants are natural for growing in tight spots! Use a Cascading Rosemary as a spiller, or a Tall Dark & Traditional Oregano as an upright filler.
Many trailing and creeping Herbs even do great in hanging baskets!
Decorating With Herbs Indoors
Throughout the growing season, many Herbs offer up a wide variety of ways for you to decorate indoors too! In addition to flavoring your food and preserves, drying them as a seasoning, or using them as a garnish, Herbs have a ton of uses indoors!
Cut Flowers
Dill, Lavender, and Chive blooms look fantastic in the cut flower garden, and many in the Mint family like Spearmints, Sages, and Catmints do too! Try using the fine-textured foliage of a Burgundy & Late Fennel, Purple-Leaf Basil, or Curly Leaf Parsley in your bouquets as greenery! You’ll create gorgeous and aromatic bouquets and flower arrangements with an unexpectedly chic and country flair by including Herbs among the other more expected blooms!
The perfect centerpiece for a relaxed dinner or outdoor dining set, both living and cut Herb stems set the stage for a bohemian dining experience!
Houseplants
These plants even do fantastic in a sunny, indirect windowsill or sunroom, so as soon as the season is winding down, many of these plants can be brought in as houseplants for the winter, or kept year-round as windowsill gardens!
Dried Décor!
Instead of bringing in the last Herbs as houseplants for the winter, harvesting the entire plant before a frost and drying them is a great way to preserve your harvest and extend the enjoyment of the garden all winter!
Gather bundles of the plant and tie them into little bouquets. Hang them upside down as kitchen decorations that can be used as a seasoning, or use the dried flowers and stems in botanical bouquets and wreaths.
Great Gifts!
Herbs are easy-to-grow gift plants that anyone will enjoy receiving!
Easy To Grow Herbs!
The best location to grow Herbs outdoors is anywhere in the garden that has at least 6 hours of sunlight and enriched well-drained soil and consistent moisture to support their vigorous growth. Indoor grown Herbs need all day, bright but indirect sunlight and very close attention to moisture levels.
Full Sun
Well-drained soil - Never soggy
Enriched, highly organic medium & regular fertility
Regular moisture needs
Pinch back or snip plants for Branching & Keeping them bushy
Cut back most Herbaceous annual and perennial Herbs in autumn (or bring them indoors before frost)
Scented, Flavorful & Double-Duty Herbs!
It’s time to think outside the vegetable garden and use Herbs everywhere! These flavorful, aromatic, and beautiful plants deserve to be in your home’s spotlight! Check out all the amazing flowering Herbs, convenient 3-Pack Herbs, and unique varieties available today at NatureHills.com!
Happy Planting!
Houseplants, porch planters, and greenhouse potted plants are fantastically space-saving alternatives for many of us without the extra garden and landscape space! While for others, these containerized plants bring new dimension, height, and beauty to our landscapes by elevating plants and extending our enjoyment of these green leafy ‘plant pets’ both indoors and out! Allowing us to keep our green thumbs throughout the winter months!
One important aspect of Container Gardening and growing plants in pots is knowing when it's time to divide and repot your plants!
Know the Signs
When to Go Up a Pot Size
When It's Time for a Soil Refresh
When to Completely Change Out the Soil
Best Repotting Methods
Tips & Tricks
Happy Potted Plants!
Know the Signs
There are many reasons why you might wish to repot your plant. From decorative reasons to pure necessity, transferring a plant from one container to another is very simple and easy to do!
Regular moisture and regular fertilizer applications can only do so much to sustain a plant that has its roots enclosed in a closed-environment that doesn’t benefit from natural composting and soil recycling cycles that in-ground plants benefit from!
You’ll enjoy happier healthier plants when you regularly repot container plants at least every 12-18 months to refresh the soil and nutritional components and moisture-retaining properties of your potted plant.
It’s been 1-2 years since the plant was repotted
The plant seems to dry out very quickly between waterings
You can physically lift the plant out of the pot and see more roots than soil
You see roots poking out through the drainage holes
When repotting a plant into a new pot or container
You are transplanting a new plant from its nursery container
The soil in the old pot is old or was overly soggy and the roots began to rot
Your plant has outgrown its current home
Leaves are not as green, or are yellowing/falling off while still green
Water runs straight through and doesn’t seem to absorb at all along the way
Your plant has circling roots at the bottom
Your plant just isn’t putting on any new growth or blooming as well as it can
You see crusty salt/calcium/hard water build up on the soil surface or around the inside rim of the pot
Soil only holds so many nutrients and organic matter in the soil gets used by your plant over time and plants naturally grow and expand both above ground and below!
When to Go Up a Pot Size
You can tell your plant is due for a container size upgrade when the top looks disproportionately larger than the bottom, is top heavy (double to three times as large as its pot), has yellowing leaves or the foliage is wilting quicker between waterings. You can also tell it's time to upgrade when you can pull the plant free of its pot and see more roots than soil, conforming to the shape of the planter they just came out of!
It’s important to remember when repotting for size increases to only go up one planter size at a time for small plants (4-inch to 6-inch pot for example) or two sizes for much larger plants and fast-growing plant types. Going up too large too fast leaves those roots surrounded by soil that can hold too much moisture and begin rotting or suffocating them in an anaerobic location. Alternatively, not going up large enough will have those roots running out of room quickly and have you back in the same situation as before in a hurry.
When It's Time for a Soil Refresh
Plant roots dissolve the nutrients in the soil and absorb what they need as the organic matter breaks down. In nature, these nutrients are replenished by the soil cycle and natural processes going on under your feet. But container plants, especially blooming plants, use up their finite resources quickly and with the absence of newly added organic matter from leaves and microorganisms breaking things down, they run out of nutrients fast to support themselves.
At least yearly, it's important to give it a fresh boost of quality soil, stir in some compost, or completely change out its potting medium to give it the environment those roots need to support growth and flowering.
You can tell it's time because those flowers just won’t be as numerous or as large as they used to be. Growth just isn’t as vigorous, and the leaf color is no longer as vibrant.
When to Completely Change Out the Soil
Plants use different amounts of water throughout the year and plants need good drainage to have happy roots. Soggy, poor quality, contaminated, or changes in drainage (blocked drainage holes, changes in soil quality) can result in plant roots sitting in water and therefore rotting. Overly wet soil has less oxygen and air, literally suffocating them!
Maybe the pot got left out in a rain storm and saturated the soil, or maybe you weren’t paying attention the last time you watered your houseplants, but regardless of the reason, you now have a dirt soup that will kill the roots.
You’ll notice leaves falling off while still green, the plant wilting even though you just watered it, leaves turning yellow, and you may notice a distinct rotting smell from the soil. It’s time for a complete soil refresh!
Best Repotting Methods
It’s important to be careful with plant root systems when repotting and planting, they are how most plants get all their water, anchorage in the soil, and take up nutrients. The best way to repot your plants, large or small, indoors or out, is all pretty simple and straightforward.
1. Gather a pot or planter that is one size larger than the current pot. Ensure it has great drainage and a tray large enough to catch any water that drains. Avoid using gravel in the bottom of the pot as these can actually block the drainage holes and not allow excess moisture to escape! A good dribble tray is all you need.
2. Prepare a work surface to protect it from soil and water damage and gather tools:
Box Cutter, Scissors, or Garden knife
New soil or potting medium
Trowel or another suitable tool
Garden fork
Garden gloves - its a bit messy on the manicure
Nature Hills Root Booster (optional)
A water source
3. Lay your plant down on its side on the prepared work area. Gently pry your plant free of its container, you may need to run a knife or thin, long utensil around to dislodge stubborn roots from the inside of the pot. Sometimes gently tapping on the outside of the pot all around helps dislodge it. Remove the root ball as intact as possible and inspect it for circling/girdling roots
4. Gently remove loose old soil from around the root ball and fluff up the root system slightly. Root washing is a common method of removing old soil. Soak the root ball if the plant is very dehydrated or encrusted in hard water, clay, or other caked-on debris. Using a sharp knife or garden spade, slice off about 2 inches of any circling roots from the bottom. Cut away or remove any rotten, dead, or dying roots and plant matter.
If you are dividing your plant at this time, use a sharp spade or knife to cut it into even sections. Division is recommended for many plants every 3-5 years, or whenever they are outgrowing their containers.
5. Add a few inches of sterile potting mix into the bottom of your new container and situate the plant's roots onto it, centering it as best as possible. Backfill with the new potting mix, gently tamping down as you go to ensure there are no excessively large air pockets and settling. Ensure the top of your root system is situated at the same depth as it was previously! Too deep and your roots will smother, but too shallow or exposed at the surface, and they will dry out and die back!
6. Water well, ensuring excess moisture runs out of the drainage holes but also that the whole pot has been hydrated. Fill any settling areas with more soil. We recommend the Finger-Test method. Monitor moisture levels carefully and remove drained water so it doesn’t sit in it and end up rotting your fresh soil.
Now just baby your plant for a few days by keeping it out of direct sunlight and watching how much moisture it needs while the roots are acclimating to their new environment. Some plants are sensitive to changes and you may see some additional leaf drop, or leaf yellowing as they adjust.
Tips & Tricks
Optional additions to your soil can include:
Adding a slow-release fertilizer (not liquid or granular fertilizers that are instantly available because they may shock the roots).
Dusting the root ball with Nature Hills Root Booster to help them better get over any planting shock, increase feeder root formation, and foster a life-long symbiotic relationship between mycorrhizal fungi and your plant. This formula improves micronutrient and water absorption too!
Plants that spend a lot of time outside in the heat and sun appreciate a layer of mulch or florist moss over the surface. This not only enhances the look of your planting and dresses them up, but acts as a barrier to stop moisture evaporation and keeps roots cooler.
For outdoor plants in the sun and heat appreciate having some Vermiculite, Sphagnum (peat) moss, or Coconut coir mixed into the soil to help hold in moisture more consistently. You can also add a special moisture-absorbing product known as water gel crystals or water-absorbing crystals (similar to what is in babies' diapers) that absorb excess moisture and then release it slowly as the soil around them dries out. This helps reduce the frequency you need to be outdoors watering.
For plants that need especially good drainage, such as Orchids, Cactus and Succulents, mixing bark chips, sand, perlite, and even fine gravel into their potting medium can help improve the drainage of a basic potting soil mixture.
Happy Potted Plants!
Like a fresh pair of new kicks or that first sip of a perfect cup of coffee, a fresh pot of soil is a luxury to a pot-bound plant! Keep your plants happy, and healthy, and keep them blooming vigorously by refreshing their growing medium often!
Happy plants make for happy plant parents and beautiful gardens! Keep your container plants happy and healthy with the help of Nature Hills Nursery!
Happy Planting!