When you want to beautify your landscape, edges are the perfect place to plant a few plants. There are many options out there, but we’ll discuss the best ones for edges in this article. This perennial is suitable for most garden types and needs full sun and moist soil. It grows in hardiness zones three through nine. Its beautiful flowers are sure to charm any passerby! Snowbank atter is a great choice for edging, too.
Mophead hydrangeas
Among the many varieties of hydrangeas, mophead hydrangeas are the most popular. These flowers bloom in early summer and last until late summer. Mopheads form a rounded mophead. Because of this unusual structure, they tend to attract fewer pollinators and don’t provide much food for insects. They grow best in zones five through nine.
Despite their names, mophead hydrangeas are not the same as lacecap hydrangeas. These plants are similar, but mopheads are larger and resemble the flowers of a large flower. These plants produce clusters of flowers with rounded petals. Unlike lacecap hydrangeas, mophead flowers grow on bigleaf hydrangeas. Mophead hydrangeas produce blooms from late spring through midsummer. They are blue in acidic soil, while pink in alkaline soils.
The biggest mophead hydrangeas are the ones with large flower heads. The best way to choose them is by their shape. Mophead hydrangeas grow best in hardiness zones five through 11. They grow well in zone six. Despite being a hardy plant, they can be susceptible to cold. This means that the flowers may not survive winter. If you live in a zone five or six climate, you can plant lacecap hydrangeas along the edges of your yard to attract pollinators.
Another great plant for edges is the ‘Dharuma’ hydrangea. It grows up to five feet (1 m) tall and is densely packed with flowers. These hydrangeas bloom from late June to late July and last for two months. Because they don’t grow too tall, these plants are the best choice for smaller gardens. In fact, they’re perfect for gardens where space is limited.
Dusty Miller
If you’re looking for an easy plant to grow, consider a dusty miller. This plant produces flowers in terminal clusters that are highly reduced. Although dusty miller flowers are not particularly attractive, many gardeners remove them. They also detract from the plant’s foliage. Seeds are produced in slender cylinders. Dusty miller plants are suitable for planting in borders and containers.
The Silver-grey foliage of a Dusty Miller plant makes it a reliable perennial border plant. The foliage stays silver-white even after planting. If allowed to flower, it forms clusters of tiny white flowers in the summer. It likes full sunlight and soil with a pH of 5.5 to 6.0. It doesn’t require super-organic soil to thrive. Dusty Miller plants are hardy in USDA Zones 8-11.
For a more dramatic effect, try planting a clump of Dusty Miller plants in your garden. These plants are hardy and drought-tolerant. They do not need pruning, though you may want to pinch them if they become leggy or bare. However, they do require regular watering. You should not overwater them as this can cause root rot. They grow up to seven inches tall and eight inches wide.
While the name may sound like a detective film, dusty miller is an ideal plant for edges, where they will add contrast to your garden and require little maintenance. Their silvery leaves are attractive and provide contrast to other plants with flowers. Their flowerless appearance is considered insignificant by most gardeners. Moreover, these plants can last through late fall if properly maintained. Therefore, dusty miller plants are perfect for borders.
Largeleaf Brunnera
Among Brunneras, the Largeleaf variety is a beautiful, drought-tolerant perennial that grows well in acidic soil. It needs occasional water, cutting back in the fall and deadheading at the end of bloom time in May. This plant also seeds itself. Despite its low maintenance requirements, this plant can be quite ornamental and make a stunning addition to a naturalized garden or woodland landscape. Brunneras are low-maintenance plants that are also attractive specimen plants. Although pruning is necessary to ensure good health and a good look, they are deer-resistant and mildly drought-tolerant.
The most popular cultivars of Largeleaf Brunnera are Emerald Mist, Hadspen Cream and Jack Frost. They have silver-dusted leaves with dark green veining. Emerald Mist blooms in spring and is a great choice for landscape planting, container gardening and cut flowers. The leaves of these cultivars are not distinctively veined and have a thin white margin around the edge.
The Brunnera macrophylla variety produces tiny, blue flowers with five petals. These flowers look delicate when sprayed over the foliage. These flowers may be pastel to electric blue, and they can have a yellow center. Brunneras grow best in part shade or partial shade, but are fine in morning sun if the soil is moist. If planting in the shade, make sure to water frequently to keep the soil healthy and prevent brunneras from drying out.
Jack Frost’s variegated foliage item is produced continuously throughout the growing season. When grown at 65 degrees F, brunnera ‘Jack Frost’ typically takes about seven to nine weeks to reach maturity in a gallon container. If you are looking to plant brunneras in containers, try ‘Jack Frost’ – it’s very hardy. The Jack Frost cultivar is also resistant to deer feeding.
Creeping thyme
When choosing an herb to fill the edges of your garden, you want to choose one that doesn’t require much maintenance. It can stay green all year and bloom in the spring, but it doesn’t like to be pruned. You can use a weed-wacker to cut back spent flowers, but don’t do it more than twice per season. Thyme is a prolific grower and can spread easily. Divide the plants every couple of years to encourage new growth. You can also propagate thyme from cuttings or seeds.
Creeping thyme is an excellent groundcover, blending well with neighboring lawns and providing a soft accent for hardscapes. It tolerates foot traffic and grows quickly. Low-growing varieties will fill in spaces between stepping stones, patio pavers, and other hardscapes. They are ideal for areas where foot traffic will step on the surrounding hardscape. Creeping thyme is best planted in full sun.
A plant like creeping thyme is an excellent choice for edges because it adds an aromatic fragrance to your garden and borders. It grows to 18 inches and 6 inches and has a soft scent. The creeping thyme plant spreads quickly and forms a dense mat. The plant is easy to propagate and tolerates moderate foot traffic and drought. It also produces flowers that are quite delicate and fragrant.
Although creeping thyme is a hardy perennial, it does suffer from root rot if planted in wet soil. Loam soil is fine, but it doesn’t like clay or wet soil. It also needs at least six hours of full sun each day. In addition to its drought tolerance, it prefers a neutral soil pH. It has been used in many gardens as a substitute for grass.
Japanese onion
Adding a few Japanese onion plants to your border borders is an excellent way to keep unwanted herbivores and insects at bay. The flowers of these plants are cup-shaped and are adorned with white stamens and yellow anthers. They require full sun to part shade and average, well-drained soil. To get the most out of these plants, plant them along the edges of your border. You’ll find they grow fast and produce a beautiful border.
To make your Japanese onion plants for edges even better, use the following planting techniques: Begin by planting the seeds about one inch deep. Once you’ve started seedlings, thin them out to six inches. After the first year, you can repeat this process until you have a fifty-foot row. A single-pound packet will produce about 50 plants. Then, water thoroughly, ensuring that the roots don’t dry out.
After the first harvest, you can continue the cycle until the next year. You can pick the bunching onions between June and September, or even earlier if winters are mild. It’s easier to harvest them this way than to sow them. All you have to do is remove them from the ground. Once the onions are harvested, leave one on the plant to provide you with the crop for the following year. However, you need to remove the dead plant from the soil before it rots.
You can divide the bunching onions as they grow so easily. Divide them and plant them next to other vegetables. These onions will survive in nearly any soil and will tolerate drought, so you can use them in your vegetable beds or borders with confidence. Japanese onion plants are drought-tolerant and are excellent companion plants for slug-prone crops. They can even be grown close to chamomile or winter savory. Growing these plants near other veg will boost their essential oils, making them even more delicious!
