Ohio Landscaping Ideas

Formal Landscape

• Delineate the edges of garden beds with manicured boxwood or privet. Create formal perennial borders filled with flowers along with plants that have interesting and colorful foliage. Plant formal evergreens around the house's foundation and framing its front door, such as juniper, yew, holly and arborvitae. Feature at least one large specimen tree, preferably one that produces flowers, such as flowering cherry, almond or dogwood. Position large, deciduous hardwood trees on the south and west to shade the house from hot summer sun.

Informal Landscape

• Create a cottage garden for an informal landscape. Position plants close together wherever they fit. Feature at least one flowering vine, preferably climbing up and disguising an unsightly view. Plant heirloom flowers, such as old-fashioned roses, delphiniums, hollyhocks, Canterbury bells, daisies, peonies, black-eyed Susan, poppies and calendulas. Scatter pots of flowers and vegetables throughout the garden and feature accessories made of natural materials, such as wood, stone and bamboo.

Edible Landscape

• Plant full-size apples, pears, plums or peaches for shade and as lawn specimens. Choose smaller fruit tree varieties as accent plants, especially apples, whose blossoms are quite showy in spring. Grow grapes or hardy kiwi on arbors, trellises or covering a border fence. The leaves of blueberry bushes turn a brilliant red in fall, and they make an excellent ornamental the rest of the growing season. Plant a border hedge of raspberries or blackberries. Their thorns will keep out even the most determined human or animal trespassers.

Small Urban Landscape

• Space permitting, feature one small specimen tree in your front yard. Choose a spring-flowering variety, such as a miniature crab apple or peach. Another choice for a specimen tree in a small urban yard is a Japanese maple. Their finely cut, burgundy leaves are showy throughout the growing season. Use containers with flowers and interesting-looking foliage plants to accent doorways and pathways. Hang baskets of annual flowers from the eaves of your porch or deck.