You're Welcome!With a few simple touches, you can greet your guests before you ever open the door.Whether a palatial porch or stubby front stoop, there are lots of things you can do to spruce up your home's entryway. "The idea is to be a little more fun and to put some personality into it, so choose plants that you like but not necessarily those being used by the neighbor next door," says Tom Bodnar, marketing director and perennial rose department manager at Twombly Nursery. Plants There's almost no limit to the plants you can use in adorning your doorstep. Annuals are the first things that spring into everyone's mind, but perennials can be potted and wintered over from year to year, and you can even plant trees and shrubs in containers -- well, large containers. Topiaries They're not just for formal gardens anymore. "They look great all year," says Bodnar. "People are asking for them. The only thing with topiaries is that you do have to do trimming, but since they're mostly needled evergreen, they'll stay from year to year as long as you feed and fertilize them." Fragrance You can plan your plants based on fragrance. A number of easy-to-grow plants are also exceptionally aromatic, adding to the sensory experience. Petunias and marigolds are old standbys, but for ease of growing and aromatic punch, scented geraniums are hard to beat. The flowers on these plants are less showy than the geraniums you're used to buying every May at the garden center, but what these plants lack in visual flair, they make up for in fragrance. More than 50 types exists, and include lemon, orange, coconut, peppermint and chocolate mint. Plants helping plants Some of the wonders of Mother Nature are her savvy defenses. Many plants are renowned for their abilities to repel pests that plague other plants and pester us. Basil, for example, is said to repel flies and mosquitos, and catnip potted near doors can keep ants at bay. Edible Love to cook? OK, maybe not. Love to eat? There's no rule that says you can only plant a few herbs by your back door. For that matter, there's no rule that says you can't plant herbs and vegetables and edible flowers together for a display that's both beautiful and bountiful. Plant tomatoes together with basil and parsley and fill in with marigolds, a perfect way to greet dinner guests. The more, the merrier While it's true that you have to allow plants room to grow in containers, many gardeners skimp at the outset. "Most people in gardens to do not think big enough," says Bodnar. "They have this huge pot and they put in three geraniums that maybe by October will fill it out. When you think you have enough plants in there, find room for three or five more. You should stuff your pots. It's such a short time. You don't want to wait the entire season for them to get into their glory, so you should plant them heavily." Fill pots with lots of plants, keeping in mind to use plants that grow to various heights for maximum impact in a single space. Color "The theme this year." Bodnar says, "is more monochromatic or simplified colours. So that you have an all-blue pot or an all-silver pot and then just throwing in one or two colours of your personal choice to jazz it up." Containers Anything can be a container for plants. As long as it has drainage, it's fair game, and if it doesn't have drainage, you can fix that in a jiffy. A hammer and an awl will put holes most metal containers. Add landscaping rock -- had for cheap at any home improvement or garden store -- to the bottom and add soil and plants. Materialism You can use anything as a container, but containers should be considered. Terra cotta is traditional material for pots, but it's also heavy and breakable. And once you fill a terra cotta pot with soil and plants it may be darn near impossible to move. Plastic pots made to look like terra cotta still look painfully like plastic, but lightweight polyethylene containers that are made to look like terra cotta, concrete and stone are popping up everywhere these days. If you're a terra cotta purist, plan ahead and put the pot on casters before you fill it. Keep in mind, too, that terra cotta pots dry out quickly, requiring more frequent watering than their plastic counterparts. Keeping cool Two other quick key points about pots: In very sunny locations, lighter-colour pots will absorb less heat than darker pots, and keep roots cooler and happier. Containers made of wood absorb the least amount of heat of all potting options. Placement: abundant pots Use lots of pots of lots of plants, just not a lone geranium stranded on the front stoop. But don't pile on so many that your entryway becomes crowded. You want a feeling of lush abundance, not an obstacle course. Levels In order to accommodate more pots and add visual interest, get vertical. Create levels for your plantings, using anything from plant stands to stacks of bricks to a concrete paver set on a minnow bucket. Move it Just because you put a pot of flowers by your front door doesn't mean it has to stay there. As long as various containers have similar light considerations, switch pots around with other containers used elsewhere in your landscape. Waiting for a new landscape plan to grow in? Fill in with pots in the meantime. As your landscape matures, the containers can be used in other parts of the yard, on your back deck, to dress up the front of the garage, you name it. And even plant that thrive on sun can move to a shady porch for a special occasion. "You can get away with putting a sunny pot in the shade for a week or two," says Bodnar. "As long as you bring it back out, it won't suffer that much. It's a nice way to brighten things up if you're having a party." *Thanks to Sympatico.ca for this helpful information |