Climate change is an often overlooked consideration in landscaping and garden designs. Whatever the landscape design style you come up with, its components should go with the weather of your area. Functional, beautiful, and stable landscape designs will consider all the possible factors like climate before deciding on the different components and elements that will make up the design. Having severe climate changes that you’re not prepared for can affect your plants as well as hardscapes and other landscaping elements.
If you live in an area that experiences all four seasons, your garden will also go through the same climate changes. Paying close attention to your plans and ideas that may be effected by these changes is important to a successful long term design. Here are a few tips to help you design a landscape or garden that will stay beautiful in a changing climate.
Choosing the right plants for a garden or landscaping design will first consider what types of plants will survive serious changes year after year. Often, the best option is to go native. Going native, which is often only considered for desert and Southwest landscape designs, is a great option to create a beautiful landscape in any climate. Native plants are able to adapt well in their local soil, so compatibility isn’t an issue. Because they’ve been grown in your area, natives will also be adapted to your climate. Regardless of your location, there’s a good possibility that there are a lot of native plants available in your area.
You can also plant for climate by incorporating plants that are often used for Mediterranean landscape designs or tropical areas. Most Tropical flowers have very bright colors that can add a lot of life to the landscape. And many of them do great even in cold climates. Do a little research on tropical plants and you may find a few that will thrive in your area. Some of the tropical plants that often work well in non tropical climates are Bougainvillea, Agapanthus, and Hibiscus. Lantana, which blooms all the time and comes in several different colors, from light lavender to vibrant shades of yellow, is also a very good choice. Mandevillas, which have beautiful trumpet shaped flowers attached to long vines are also a great choice that is extremely fast growing. If you choose, there are probably enough tropical plant varieties that will work in your area and possibly give your landscaping some interest all year long.
Another important element for a multi climate landscape or garden design is diversity. If, for instance, you don’t like the idea of having only annual plants, you can choose plants with different blooming patterns and combine all of them in your landscape design. In this way, when one type of plant finishes its season, you’ll still have something blooming to look at in your landscaping or garden. The key here is a little research and planning for the different bloom schedules of your different plant choices. Choose at least one or two that blooms in each season.
Along with your plant choices, you can also use other decor in your garden for even more visual interest. Trinkets, ornaments, and other decor items are good since you generally don’t have to worry about them getting damaged because of climate changes. You can also use different elements like fountains, statues, pavers, pathways, and other hardscapes to make your landscaping more appealing.