Abbotsford Gardens: A Guide to Designing with Perennials

We know you’re all busy bustling about in your gardens right now, watching your spring annuals shine, your blossoms turn to leaves, and your perennials from last year begin their annual flourish. Watching perennials return every spring is one of our favourite parts of the season, especially when they’re part of a beautiful, diverse, eco-friendly, and well-designed perennial garden! If you also can’t get enough perennials in your Abbotsford garden, let’s talk about some amazing design ideas that’ll help you use them all over your outdoor space for a continual show of colour and intrigue. 

What Is The Best Perennial Garden Plan for Abbotsford?

Getting a perennial garden or container design right often involves some serious trial and error. There are no definitive rules for making your perennial gardens perfect, but there are some guidelines that can help you get the most out of your plants all year. Here are a few ways you can make your perennial garden the talk of Abbotsford this spring!

Colour!

When designing your Abbotsford garden, you’ll want to consider the overall ‘vibe’ you’re trying to achieve and choose flowers that fit your scheme. Try a purple, blue, white, and green combo for a calming garden, or add a few orange accents for a splash of drama. Remember also that while perennials return each year, their flowering time is much shorter than annuals, so consider how you can add annuals into your garden design to keep the colour going all season. If you’re looking to spice things up with some exciting accent flowers in your garden, there are some great varieties available in viva magenta, this year’s Pantone colour!

Texture & Style

Much like designing a home’s interior, you want to think about the texture and style of your perennial gardens before you start shopping and planting. A great way to give each of your plants room to shine is to keep the taller ones at the back of a border or in the centre of a container and gradually add shorter ones closer to the front. Another great tip is to edge your gardens or planter boxes with dramatic plants that spill over or act as a ground cover in a garden bed. 

To add texture to your Abbotsford garden, choose plants with different foliage that make a strong visual impact, like hostas, ornamental grasses, sedum, and lamb’s ear. You’ll also want to choose perennials with exciting foliage so they continue to add visual interest to your outdoor space even when they’re not blooming. Many perennials will also add winter interest to your Abbotsford landscape, so look for plants you’ll be able to enjoy at different times of the year. 

Shape 

Not all perennial gardens need to be equal, and we encourage you to try creating something unique in your Abbotsford landscape this year! Play around with curvy lines or island gardens that give your outdoor space a playful feel and modern appeal, and don’t restrict your garden design to straight lines unless you’re lining a fixed pathway or other structural feature.

Ponds

Because many perennials are hardy, they make great additions in or around a backyard pond or other water features. We especially love hostas as pond borders because they love the shade and damp environment they provide. Some other pond favourites for the Abbotsford area include cattails, water hibiscus, water plantain, elephant ear and canna.

Many of these perennials also provide much-needed cover for birds, insects, and reptiles that eat, rest, or live in our local ponds.

Containers 

In our eyes, the best way to use perennials is to create moveable, changeable container gardens with some of your favourite, long-lived blooms. Container planting with perennials is great for those with limited or even non-existent garden spaces or who don’t have the right soil or light requirements for a dedicated perennial border.

Fill some containers with potting mix and plant some pollinator-friendly perennials like salvia, honeysuckle, and penstemon, then adorn your patio, balcony or front step with your colourful displays all year long. You can also dedicate each container to perennials according to their flowering season, rotating them out as needed.

If you’re hoping to give your Abbotsford perennial gardens a boost in 2023, we’ve got everything you’ll need to get started. Whether you’re looking for flowers or just some more friendly advice on where to put things, come visit us today at Windsor Greenhouse for all your gardening needs!