Choosing Gardening Plants: Annuals or Perennials?

| Whether you are a first-time gardener or you have practiced this art for decades, there’s always the thrill that comes in knowing that the beauty and character of your lawn will hinge squarely on your choice of plants. And that’s where the art of proper gardening comes into play. Typically, you will have a variety of sods, depending on color and species, which will form the backdrop of your landscape. And, with sods supply, in particular, it is crucial that you take the time to choose your supplier carefully.

As a Salt Lake City gardening and landscape supply specialist explains, sods cover the most extensive parts that would not look as elegant as if you had used landscaping plants. So, choose the right one. Once you’ve figured that out, it will give you an easy time to know which plants to use in your gardens.

It is that seamless blends between the sods and your gardening plants that will determine how best your landscaping will enhance your curb appeal. With the chances of raising your property value through a well-designed and -tendered lawn being high, you should not be deliberate in committing to finding the right set of plants to use in your garden.

So, what options do you have? Read on to find out.

Annual or perennial plants?

Annual plants will only last a single growing season, and then they only bloom from spring to months to winter and die. That means if you are choosing annuals for your gardening, you will need to replant them every year to keep your landscape at its best. It is so much to ask for, considering that annual plants are the most colorful. Therefore, they will brighten up your landscape for the single season that they will be blooming.

Can you wait for the bloom?

Gardener holding a pot with plant in garden

Having to wait until spring to give your garden this touch of picturesque beauty can be quite limiting. Well, some gardeners may advise you to cross-plant your garden with annuals of varying lifespans. And yes, that will do. Moreover, you will have a better chance of changing the look of your landscape whenever you will be replanting these annual plants. With that, you can change your landscape design to suit a particular yearly event.

However, be keen to consider the plant supply and labor costs that you would need to part with every year in replanting these annuals. It is on this premise that landscape designers note that the best option is to either cross-plant with perennials or to have your garden planted only with perennial plants.

The beauty of having perennial plants or a blend with annuals is that you will need to wait until a particular season for your landscape to brighten up. One good thing is that you also have a variety of perennials to choose from and these will range in color, leaf size, height, and crown size. That is unlike annuals, as most of them are short and have a small crown size. With the different physical features of perennials, you can have a garden that will remain as beautiful as new every year.