evergreen plants

We know how frustrating it can be-- you plant a few new trees paired with fresh shrubs, walk outside the next morning with a hot cup of soothing coffee just to see bark peeled off, broken branches and even devoured flowers on your nearby shrubs.  Welcome to a gardener’s worst nightmare, deer.  But, Nature Hills to the rescue! *cue hero music* If you live in the Western growing zones and seem to be in a constant battle with your backyard deer, we have the top deer resistant plants for you to add to your landscape. Even though there are plants that deer don’t bother, Nature Hills would like to state that there are no 100% deer proof plants-- only plants that deer seldomly bother compared to others.  Remember that if deer populations are running high and their natural food sources are limited, deer are more likely to browse on any plant of their choice.  Also, if you are adding a new plant into the area, deer are more inclined to sample it. This is to simply see if they like it or not. Therefore, we suggest spraying a deer repellent on all newly established plants, just to remind the local deer that they don’t like the taste of the new plant.  If your trees have already fallen to a case of deer rubbing their antlers on the trunks creating a vulnerable tree, read How To Protect Trees From Deer Damage. White trunk protectors, hardware cloth or even chicken wire wrapped around the trunks will now be your best friend.  Now, we have outlined below five plant varieties that are known to be specimens deer don't particularly enjoy eating and that strive in the Western growing zones:   Potentilla Shrubs Potentilla Shrubs are mainly grown for their ornamental features and they have positioned themselves to be an absolute staple in the West. They can thrive in full sun conditions where the going gets hot. But, plant them even where the temperatures are cool and they’ll grow! Because of their minimal pruning demand, you’ll see them proudly being used as shrub borders around an area or as a low hedge that replaces a dull fence line.  However, other landscapes prefer to use Potentilla Shrubs as edging plants for a sweet garden display or even in mass plantings because of their extended bloom period! As your garden lights up each year from June till frost, bet on neighbors turning their heads to catch a glimpse of your flowering shrubs.  With the various bright colors, one would assume that deer just can’t keep themselves away. But instead, butterflies are fans and deer find others to pick on! Our Most Popular Selections: Happy Face® Pink Paradise Potentilla (Potentilla fruticosa HAPPY FACE 'Kupinpa') Goldfinger Potentilla ( Potentilla fruticosa 'Goldfinger')   Lavender We may enjoy the scent of lavender refreshing an area, but deer sure do not appreciate the strong scent that Lavender Plants bring to the outdoors. These flowers are insanely perfumed, which is why they are often pruned and dried for a little indoor potpourri throughout the year.  But you won’t find deer near them! These purplish-blue flowers are easily spotted in various landscapes across the United States. From being grown strictly in a herb garden to being used as a landscape border, Lavender has a variety of uses that gardeners can’t get enough of.  These perennials opt for basking in the heat and they thrive in areas that are dry, making them drought tolerant. However, make sure you place them in soil that is well-draining for best results.  There is no going wrong with a few tough Lavender Plants in the garden! Our Most Popular Selections: Phenomenal French Lavender (Lavandula x intermedia 'Niko') Grosso Lavender (Lavandula x intermedia 'Grosso') Sensational!® Lavender (Lavandula x intermedia 'Tesseract')   Yucca Struggling to find a plant that can keep up with the heat and low precipitation of the West? Look no further, Yucca Plants are excellent broadleaved evergreens that do just that.  Find that these natural specimens are wonderfully carefree and very hardy, which makes them easy to grow! Not to mention, you’ll have them for years to come as they are long lived too.  Pick and choose which Yucca is for you. Looking for a plant that stays green year round for an added background texture? Grow a Yucca! Or would you rather a few blossoms sprout upon the evergreen color? Grow a Yucca! These plants are highly diverse and love to work hard in landscapes.  Deer hate Yucca Plants and we think it’s because of their pointy architectural ends. They simply get scared away. So Yuccas make for the ideal border plant or focal point that won’t get bothered by deer.  Our Most Popular Selections: Adam's Needle Yucca (Yucca filamentosa) Color Guard Yucca (Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard')   Barberry Bushes Never go wrong with Barberry Bushes added to a remodeled garden! This hardy shrub offers a variety of choices-- petite and rounded with an array of rich colored hues. Whether it be red, yellow or purple, find your preferred aesthetic with Barberry Bushes.  Of courses these shrubs are known for the thorny and wiry branches, which makes them an effective barrier! Especially for deer and other unwanted wildlife that may roam the backyard. But make sure you wear a good pair of gloves when working with them.  You could be wondering how would anyone use these gracefully in a garden setting? Easy! Serving as living fences is their specialty, but use them as foundation plants or even in mass plantings. Barberry Bushes give a sense of ruggedness that sticks out among other peaceful plants.  These are an excellent choice for deer resistant plants and will even do the honor of protecting your other plants too.  Our Most Popular Selections: Sunjoy® Gold Beret Barberry (Berberis thunbergii SUNJOY 'Talago') Orange Rocket Barberry (Berberis thunbergii 'Orange Rocket') Golden Rocket Barberry (Berberis thunbergii 'Golden Rocket')   Bluebeard Shrubs From late summer to early fall, marvel at the beautiful blossoms that grace over Bluebeard Shrubs. These low maintenance bushes are drought tolerant and will elect to be placed in full sun, making them the ideal plant for the West.  Here at Nature Hills, we like to use our Bluebeard Shrubs for mixed borders. And pick a few airy blue flowers to add in floral arrangements! The best part about this ground cover is its foliage is not the pick of the crop in deer’s eyes. They don’t prefer the smell or the taste, so your Bluebeard Shrub is in the clear.  Our Most Popular Selections: Arthur J. Simmonds Bluebeard (Caryopteris x clandonensis 'Arthur J. Simmonds') First Editions® Sapphire Surf™ Bluebeard (Caryopteris x clandonensis 'Blauer Splatz')   Not in the Western USDA hardiness zones? Take a look at our blogs covering Deer Resistant Plants For the North or Deer Resistant Plants For The East.  Add the above 5 deer resistant garden plants to your landscape and never worry about deer damage again! Happy gardening!

A Simple Look at Fruit Plant Pollination If You Want Fruit, Support Pollinators with Flowering Plants The Best Pollinating Partners Bloom At The Same Time! Self-Pollinating Fruit Trees Hand-Pollination by Human Gardeners Self-Fruitful Fruit Trees Love Pollination Partners, Too Selection and Planting Tips for Fruit Trees Additional Fruit Tree Growing Resources from NatureHIlls.com If you are craving homegrown fruit, there is no time like right now to get started! Turn even a small lot into a productive homestead with help from NatureHills.com. Let's take a closer look at pollination—one of the most important success factors involved in harvesting a crop of fruit. Simply put, fruiting takes place when pollen from the male parts of a flower covers the female parts to fertilize it. Some fruiting trees can pollinate themselves. Others need a second variety from the same species nearby and a pollinator to move the pollen from one tree to the second. Fruiting Trees That Need Pollination Partners: Pears Apples Plums Sweet Cherries A Simple Look at Fruit Plant Pollination Many fruit trees require a "pollinator''. But what does that mean exactly?  Pollen is produced by the male parts of the flower called the anthers, which are held on long filaments. Together, the anthers and filaments are called stamens. Pollen-producing stamen, © 2005 Karwath When pollen grains from the anther are introduced on the female stigma of a flower, pollination and fertilization occurs. A mature fruit is then created from the female flower parts.  In some cases, just having a source of pollen is not enough. Sometimes you need a pollinator, or an agent that moves the pollen from one flower to another. Pollination happens in many different ways. Wind, ants, beetles, honey bees, birds are all utilized by plants to fertilize flowers in order to bear fruit. If you've ever studied the way honey bees work over a flower to gather nectar, you might have seen that sticky yellow pollen clinging to their legs. As a pollinator flies from one fruit tree to another, they will naturally introduce the pollen to the stigma. Watch your fruit trees as the petals of the bloom fall away. Look closely for a round swelling at the base, which tells you that a crop is on the way!  If You Want Fruit, Support Pollinators with Flowering Plants Poor pollination can result in smaller harvests. Plant flowering shrubs and perennials to support honey bees and other pollinators to encourage them to visit your Apple orchard during the spring bloom period. Consider installing bee hotels or pollinator hotels and leave water stations out. This will bring more pollinators to your property! © 2007 Guerin Nicolas Many fruit trees like Apples, Pears and Paw Paw require pollen from a related tree nearby. To produce fruit, they need a set of chromosomes from a genetically different pollinating partner tree. In order for pollination to take place, the flowers have to be compatible. This means that they have to be the same species.  If you want to pollinate an Apple tree, you'll need Apple pollen. Furthermore, you will want your pollen-producing flowers to bloom at the same time as your fruit-producing flowers. Plant two fruit tree varieties with overlapping bloom times. Bees and pollinators visiting the flowers of one tree will deposit the pollen in the flowers of the other. The Best Pollinating Partners Bloom At The Same Time! European Pears and Asian Pears have only a small window of overlapping bloom periods. However, extended-blooming Ornamental Pear trees can successfully act as pollinizer trees for both Asian Pears and European Pears.  Extended blooming Dolgo Crabapple makes an excellent pollinizer for many other fruiting Apple trees. Sweet Cherry trees also need a pollinizer, and Black Republic Sweet Cherry is a wonderful choice. Work with existing fruit trees in your neighborhood to increase the chances of cross-pollination. If your neighbor has an early-blooming Sweet Cherry tree, select another one with a compatible bloom time...so that everyone benefits! Some species will not pollinate each other, such as European Plum (Prunus domestica) and Japanese Plums (Prunus salicina). These different species will not typically cross each other, and make poor pollination partners.  Sweet Cherries and Sour Cherries also show differences beyond taste! Sweet Cherry trees need to be pollinated to produce luscious harvests; but Sour Pie Cherries are self-fruitful. Choose two or more different fruit trees from within the same family and whose bloom times overlap. If the flowers bloom at different times, the pollen from one might not be around when the other is ready to receive it.  Self-Pollinating Fruit Trees The natural shape of the flowers determines whether a fruit tree is self-fruitful. Some, like Citrus trees have "perfect flowers" with both female parts and pollen-producing male parts.  Although there are exceptions to the rule, the following list of fruit trees will produce fruit with a single tree. However, please note that you'll get a larger crop with another tree nearby.<ul><li> Citrus Peaches Apricots Pluots Nectarines Sour Cherries Hand-Pollination by Human Gardeners People growing Citrus trees indoors in cold winter zones indoors can use a paintbrush during bloom! People become the pollinators as they swirl the brush on the anthers and move it to the stigma! Paw Paw trees are another variety of fruiting tree that you can hand pollinate. However, this type of tree is "self-incompatible", so you'll need two different types of Paw Paw trees from NatureHills.com to get fruit. You'll also want to consider doing hand-pollination with a brush if it's been a wet and cold spring. If you don't see many pollinators showing up, or if you live in an urban area with a pavement desert...hand-pollination can save your harvest. Self-Fruitful Fruit Trees Love Pollination Partners, Too Anna Apples and Golden Delicious Apple are both special cultivars that are self-fruitful. They will both produce fruit with a single tree.  But you will get much larger harvests with a partner! Try white-flowering Crabapples, Red Delicious Apple or Red Jonathan Apple with Golden Delicious for bigger yields. Sour Cherries are typically self-fruitful, they will set fruit with a single plant. But there are advantages to planting more than one, such as gaining a longer season of fresh harvest.  Peach and Nectarine trees are self-fruitful, so you will have fruit with just one tree. But if you love fresh peaches, consider planting a successive harvest with early season, mid-season and late season cultivars. Selection and Planting Tips for Fruit Trees Before you choose a new fruit tree, please check your Growing Zone. Type in your Zip Code in the Zone Finder on every product page. Some fruit trees require "chill hours"; which are periods of cool temperatures. Peaches, Apples and some Plums need a cool dormant rest period to grow and produce fruit. In addition, killing late spring frosts that harm flower buds are another consideration. Select a later-blooming Apricot and Peach tree if you have frost concerns. In these types of cold weather areas, it's best to plant on a north-facing slope. This position allows cold air to slow the spring flower bud development. Plant in an area that gets great air circulation. Don't forget to give your new fruit tree full sun and well-drained soil! Amend the soil with Nature Hills Root Booster during planting and saturate the area with water to eliminate air pockets after planting. Apply supplemental water on a schedule during fruit development. If you have existing fruit trees on your property, you can topdress with an application of Nature Hills Root Booster, too! Give them a life-long support with symbiotic ingredients that never stop working. Enjoy the process of growing your own fruit. You'll join a nationwide Backyard Orchard movement that is growing bigger every year! Additional Fruit Tree Growing Resources from NatureHIlls.com We list great pollination partners on the product pages to make it easy for you! For more resources on pollination and compatibility, check with an arborist or your local county extension agency. If you have a local university with a horticulture department, that is another good resource. When researching online, keep in mind that .edu websites are reliable sources for up-to-date, accurate information. NatureHills.com Garden Blog Articles Plants to Support Pollinators High Density Planting Techniques for Smaller Yards Plant Successive Ripening Cultivars for a Longer Season of Fresh Fruit

If you live in the Eastern growing zones and seem to be in a constant battle with your backyard deer, we have the perfect plants for you to add to your landscape-- specifically the perfect deer resistant plants. Gone are the days of peeled off tree bark, broken branches and devoured flowers. But, before we dive in too deep, Nature Hills would like to state that there are no 100% deer proof plants-- only plants that deer seldomly bother compared to others. If deer populations are running high and their natural food sources are limited, deer are more likely to browse on any plant of their choice.  When adding a new plant into an area, you may see that deer are inclined to sample it, merely to see if they like it or not. We suggest spraying a deer repellent on all newly established plants, just to remind the local deer that they in fact don’t like the taste of the new plant.  If your trees have already fallen to a case of deer rubbing their antlers on the trunks creating a vulnerable tree, read How To Protect Trees From Deer Damage. Now back to it, we have outlined below five plant varieties that are known to be specimens deer don't particularly enjoy eating and that strive in the Eastern growing zones: Honeylocust Trees Whether you are a tree enthusiast or an amateur, Honeylocust Trees are quite possibly one of the easiest trees to identify. It’s commonly planted as an ornamental specimen, but it can also double as a nice semi-shade tree in the backyard.  You’ll notice that these trees have alternating leaves that allow for a little extra light to shine through. Making it the perfect canopy for other plants to flourish underneath-- or a comfy hammock!  A true hidden gem of Honeylocust Trees is their adaptable stature. They will grow well in both urban conditions and in wide open meadows. They prefer moist, well-drained soil, but can also tolerate a drought.  If you’re wanting a marvelous back or front yard tree, look no further. Honeylocust Trees are hardy, handsome and deer don’t prefer the taste of Honeylocust. That calls for endless summer barbeques spent with neighbors who envy your tree.  Our Most Popular Selections: Sunburst® Honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis 'Suncole') Imperial Honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis 'Impcole') Evergreen Shrub Selections Evergreen Shrubs bring the power of structure to every landscape. From rounded to vertical foundations, you can use these shrubs to the best of their abilities.  Not to mention, you’ll be gaining a forever green shrub that is easy to care for and extremely hardy. Evergreen Shrubs can be seen in modern landscape designs, such as within a showy outdoor container that greets a patio.  Or, use them as accent topiary in every foundation planting. Our favorite use is anchoring our patio plantings with a few evergreens here and there.  A majority of our Evergreen Shrub selections are disease resistant and deer resistant. To further ensure this, apply a deer repellent spray upon planting and after! Our Most Popular Selections: Dwarf Alberta Spruce (Picea glauca 'Conica') Oregon Grape Holly (Mahonia aquifolium) ReJoyce Coast Leucothoe (Leucothoe axillaris ReJoyce') Ferns Once you have a Fern-- or a few, you’ll never go back. We assume that’s how it’s always been considering they are ancient plants dating clear back to prehistoric times. Who wants to grow a piece of history in their yard? We do! Although most commonly known for being a house plant, Ferns are also used as landscape plants and cut foliage. Shadier gardens are ideal locations for these plants as they prefer to be protected from the sun and wind.  The green foliage pairs well with other natural specimens that grow in their hardiness zones. Use Ferns for a balancing act to color gardens! It’s relatively easy to care for Ferns, but be patient. They grow slowly, yet surely! You won’t find deer damage on your plants either as Ferns tend to be deer resistant. They really are the perfect plant.  Our Most Popular Selections: Autumn Fern (Dryopteris erythrosora) Beautiful Wood Fern (Dryopteris pulcherrima) Ornamental Grasses Nothing gets better than plants that are: vibrant and colorful, extremely hardy, provide year round interest AND are easy to maintain. Not to mention, come with the additional feature of being deer resistant. But where would you ever find a perfect plant like that?  Allow us to highlight Ornamental Grasses as one of the absolutely, positively “have to have” landscape additions. With so many options that each provide the above garden benefits, you can use Ornamental Grasses in every way you wish to! Whether that be for texture, form or color.  They can be found as focal points among gardens that sit next to a small pond or as an eye-catching background that stands a few feet taller than the landscape ground covers and shrubs.  Ornamental Grasses can handle the heat and humidity that comes with being placed in full sun. These natural specimens will tolerate harsh conditions, along with higher altitudes.  However, they won’t tolerate a few deer picking at them. You will find that several grasses are plants that deer find not inviting. For all of your gardening projects, Ornamental Grasses should be heavily included! Our Most Popular Selections: Adagio Grass (Miscanthus sinensis 'Adagio') Boulder Blue Fescue Grass (Festuca glauca 'Boulder Blue') Little Bunny Fountain Grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Little Bunny') Catmint For an easy to care for perennial, Catmint is a shoe in winner being drought tolerant with lavender blossoms that last through multiple seasons. It tolerates various soil conditions and thrives in even the toughest weather conditions. You may have seen hummingbirds, butterflies and even cats going a good type of crazy at the sight-- and scent-- of Catmint, but deer tend not to.  Catmint carries an aromatic strong scent within its fine foliage that deer hate to be near. It’s spicy and minty-- not their usual cup of tea! Many Xeriscapes will have Catmint planted because of its water-wise feature. Or, it will be spotted as a prime edging plant in a front yard focal garden. Here at Nature Hills we use it to gently spill over a rock wall that needs extra bright colors bringing it to life.  Wherever you choose to place it, Catmint won’t be eaten by your visiting rabbits or deer! Instead, you’ll have long lasting blossoms that are gathered ‘round by soft floating butterflies and buzzing bees.  Our Most Popular Selections: Junior Walker™ Catmint (Nepeta faassenii 'Novanepjun') Walker's Low Catmint (Nepeta x faassenii 'Walker's Low') Not in the Eastern USDA hardiness zones? Take a look at our blog covering Deer Resistant Plants For the North.  By adding the above 5 deer resistant plants that thrive in the East, your garden won’t be living in constant fear. Plus, it will look spick and span all year round! Happy gardening!

Studies show that just 15 - 30 minutes of outdoor activity a day boosts your health in every way! Promoting physical, mental, and emotional well-being! You may not notice - but you’re using every major muscle group! Plus many other physical factors, both inside and out! Gardening for your Body! Gardening for Mental Health Gardening for Physical Health Gardening for the Spirit Benefits of Sunlight Fresh Air! Get involved & socialize Bonus benefits of the outdoors Lastly… Gardening for your Body! Using hand-held tools, instead of gas or electric, not only reduces your carbon footprint but also strengthens your body! It’s a full-body workout! Benefiting every major muscle group, and helps joints and increases blood circulation! Shovels and wheelbarrows for the back, shears and rakes work the arms, lifting bags of soil and mulch for the legs, and strengthening hands with hand tools. In addition, you’re up, moving, working up a sweat and getting fresh air. Gardening also improves:  Balance Flexibility Range of motion Endurance It’s Aerobic! Gardening for Mental Health: Quiet time - The mind wanders while pulling weeds, racing thoughts slow down. Forgetting your hectic schedule or worries, even for a brief period. Positive Outlook - It’s hard not to watch seeds grow or flowers bloom and not instill hope and positivity! Mood Boosters - Studies published about the microbe Mycobacterium vaccae, triggers the release of serotonin!  Reduces anxiety and depression.  Stress Reduction - Just 30 minutes in fresh air relieves stress, reducing cortisol levels! Empowers - Growing your own food, increases self-sustainability, and combats feelings of helplessness.  Sensory - Gardening stimulates the senses - The smells, sights, sounds, feelings, and flavors - for a fully fulfilling experience! Therapeutic - Aids recovering from injury, illness or loss Gardening for Physical Health Aids weight loss & increases metabolism Lowers high blood pressure Promote restful sleep Fights disease & illness by increasing immune system Recovery from addiction Gardening for the Spirit The feeling of getting back to your roots, feeling in tune with nature, and communing with the higher powers is important as exercise. Spending time in Nature, in a Garden like where it all began, is vital to health and well-being. Benefits of Sunlight Our skin works just like plants, but instead of photosynthesizing, we make Vitamin D! Even just 15 minutes a day of natural light boosts the immune system, improves mood, reduces stress, relieves psoriasis, reduces effects of Type II Diabetes, and reduces chances of some cancer!  Fresh Air! What’s the first thing you do when you walk outside on a fresh morning? The smell of earth, air cleansed for a new day, the smell of rain, petrichor - you can’t help but take a deep breath! Being cooped up, breathing recycled office air or stuffy air inside our homes - it takes its toll on our well-being.  Fresh air benefits: Immune system Oxygenates the body  Fighting off infection & bacteria Aids the digestive system Triggers serotonin  Sharpens the mind & senses Aids focus & concentration Increases energy levels Cleanses the lungs Lowers blood pressure  Get involved & socialize: Face it, it’s hard to stop gardeners or plant enthusiasts from talking about what they love! Fight feelings of isolation and connect with kindred spirits in the process! Plus it boosts self-esteem. Form or join a community garden Share your vegetables or armloads of flowers with neighbors Host seed swaps Make new friends in gardening forums Bonus benefits of the outdoors: Vegetable gardening provides fruit and vegetables to further boost your health! Don’t worry about growing too much, you’ll feel great sharing what you reap with your friends and family. Plus you’ll know exactly what went into, and onto, your food! We see headlines about food insecurity and shortages, and it can be overwhelming! Securing your family’s fresh food access can be done on any scale, and reduce the worry!  Lastly… Get the kids involved - Nurture a love for nature, and instill a lifelong healthy habit for young minds, bodies & hearts! Don’t forget bug spray, sunscreen, safety gear, a good pair of garden gloves & sunhat Stretch - don’t start your workout without a few stretches Good form - Lift with your knees Drink plenty of water - Gardening encourages those 8 glasses of water a day! Start small and start slow - If you are like me, gardening is a full-contact sport! Try not to overdo it and schedule your activities as you would reps at the gym! Stop & smell the roses - There’s no reason for all your hard work to go unnoticed, especially by you...take breaks and enjoy your handiwork! Your curb appeal never looked better & you’ll have armloads of flowers and veggies to enjoy! Spending more time outdoors and exercising outdoors is just what the doctor ordered! For the cost of a Gym membership, you’ll get all the benefits of nature and more!  As far as hobbies go - gardening is one of the healthiest! So let NatureHills.com help you create your own Green Space and lead you down the path towards a healthier you!

Anyone that marvels at their backyard landscape is almost always also cringing at the natural neighbor nearby-- deer. Any gardener would be a tad annoyed to spend hours planting, pruning and watering their yard just to have a pesky deer or two negatively affect its visual appearance.  Broken branches, peeled off tree bark and even eaten blossoms-- we see it all the time. You plant to enjoy the outdoors, but yet nature is merely a step away from destroying your peaceful garden.  Nature Hills knows that instead of running off the deer, and other wildlife, altogether, you would simply just like them to leave your happy plants be and go about their day roaming the woods.  To do so, we have outlined below five plant varieties that are known to be specimens deer don't particularly enjoy eating and that strive in the Northern growing zones: Birch Trees Being one of our top selling trees, Birch Trees are among the loveliest deciduous trees with their exquisite branching, unique bark and attractive foliage. Northern climates are often found using Birch Trees in any landscape they can.  These Northern beauties are seen gracefully spread out in open meadows in the Northern Hemisphere. However, because of their distinctive bark color and beautiful rustling leaves, Birch Trees are appearing more and more in small space gardens and backyards.  We can totally see why! With the year-round interest, also comes its deer resistant feature-- rarely nibbled on or back rubbed against.  Be sure to place it in a site that is full sun or partial shade, with well-draining soil. After digging the hole as deep as the tree’s root system and twice as wide, give it a good watering. Then apply a layer of mulch over the newly established roots.  To ensure extra wildlife protection, spray a deer repellant upon planting. It’s basically a stinky spray that deer don’t enjoy the smell of, so they stay clear.  With Birch Trees in the landscape, you’ll never have a dull season outdoors! Our Most Popular Selections: River Birch (Betula nigra) Heritage Birch Tree (Betula nigra 'Cully') Boxwood Shrubs Emerald green color and garden structure will always be abundant with Boxwood Shrubs. Across the United States, these shrubs are prized for their ability to bring a clean look to front and back yards.  The best part about adding Boxwood Shrubs, is their ability to be any shape or even size you wish for. Have a small, dull area that is lacking color? Add in a boxwood. Or, do you have a dying hedge row that needs to be replaced fast? Add in a boxwood.  Some gardeners get a kick out of creating shapes and figures with their shrubs! You can too with the right pair of shears and a slightly mediocre artistic eye.  Here at Nature Hills, our favorite boxwood design accent is a well-kept garden with various foliage colors. Use these shrubs for dark green foliage mixed in with lighter shades of leaves.  Upon plant arrival, you’ll want to dig your hole no deeper than the pot, but twice as wide as the root ball. They prefer well-drained soil and will need frequent watering during its growing phase and in late fall. Be sure to read your specific plant’s care instructions! And, even though Boxwood Shrubs are eye-catching to us, these are plants that deer don’t prefer for the most part. Therefore, you can keep your elegant green structure for years to come! Our Most Popular Selections: Green Gem Boxwood (Buxus x 'Green Gem') Green Mountain Boxwood (Buxus x 'Green Mountain') Winter Gem Boxwood (Buxus microphylla japonica 'Winter Gem') Butterfly Bushes These flowering favorites are pretty self-explanatory--Butterfly Bushes attract butterflies, not deer! You’ll have everything from Monarchs and Hummingbirds to Bumblebees and even humans admiring your native bushes.  The joy of Butterfly Bushes comes in the forms of colors. Mix and match or stay with your individual aesthetic. Each garden can look a little different with arched forms of bright reds, pinks, blues, whites, and purples. Not to mention the additional colors shown by the attracted butterflies! Use Butterfly Bushes in outdoor mass plantings for a garden full of unique blossoms. Or as a filler in one of your shrub borders-- although it will most likely steal the show.  Others enjoy growing their bush in a decorative container to place as a patio accent that greets their guests. Or, bring the fun indoors as incredible cut flowers that light a room up.  Deer avoid Butterfly Bushes more often than not even though they are strikingly beautiful. However, we suggest applying a spray repellant on planting day to ensure they stay clear.  Our Most Popular Selections: Black Knight Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii 'Black Knight) Buzz™ Ivory Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii 'Buzz Ivory') Miss Ruby Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii 'Miss Ruby') Arrowwood Viburnums Arrowwood Viburnums are four seasons of interest shrubs! In other words, they hog the stage year round-- the garden stage that is.  You’ll notice that these Viburnums are commonly used by professional landscape designers because of their good looks and ability to grow strong for years to come. In your garden, they will work hard for small space landscapes. On the other hand, they can help define a large-scale garden too.  We like to use our Arrowwood Viburnums as a hedge row for extra privacy. That way we get to admire the blossoms, foliage and attractive berries.  During the winter, natural wildlife will pay a visit for the colorful fruit that grows on Arrowwood Viburnums. Birds are a top fan, but the berries are not a favorite food source for roaming deer. Never worry about your shrubs being eaten on by them!  Our Most Popular Selections: Autumn Jazz Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum dentatum 'Ralph Senior') Blue Muffin® Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum dentatum Blue Muffin 'Christom') Feather Reed Grass Gardeners plant Feather Reed Grass for a stunning vertical accent that most other plants cannot fulfill. With feathery topped stalks, this ornamental grass provides a unique texture.  In the spring and summer seasons, green foliage shows through. But once autumn hits, an elegant brown takes its place.  Most people use Feather Reed Grass as a marvelous garden background that adds dimension. Since they can grow taller, Feather Reed Grass will stand silently behind a few flowering shrubs and ground covers, but they won’t go unseen! You’ll appreciate their low-maintenance care requirements and the fact that deer aren’t the least amount attracted to them. From full sun to partial shade and wet to dry conditions, you have a hardy ornamental grass on your hands. It’s a staple to have in a landscape! Why not get a grass that is here to stay? Our Most Popular Selections: Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster') Korean Feather Reed Grass (Calamagrostis brachytricha) Nature Hills would like to explain that when deer populations are high and natural food is limited, deer are more likely to browse on any plant-- no plant is labeled 100% deer proof plant. It is important to remember that when adding any new plant into an area that has a lot of deer, they may sample the newly installed plant just to see if they like it or not. For that reason, it is always a great idea to have Bonide’s Go Away Deer & Rabbit Repellent handy to spray all newly planted plants before going to bed the first night. Just to remind deer that they will not like what has been added to the garden.  Lastly, remember that in the fall season, deer can cause a lot of damage to younger trees from rubbing their antlers on the trunks.This strips off all of the bark from these young trees causing it to be vulnerable. To help prevent back rub damage on your trees, read How To Protect Trees From Deer Damage.  With the 5 above deer resistant plants that thrive in the North, your landscape will never look better year round! Now, instead of running off your natural neighbors-- you can sit back with a hot cup of coffee and enjoy the early morning scenery each day.  Happy gardening!