Keeping your outdoor living space lively and fresh makes summer even better. Kathy Pastor, owner of Blue Sky Gardening in Northfield Center, urges homeowners to focus more on the perennial aspects of their space such as foliage and plant shape. Going outside your comfort zone and being artistic is also key to bringing your outdoor living space to life. Here are her five tips for making all of that happen.
Be foliage-focused: “First you’d want to look at the foliage of the plants, so you don’t want to have all the same texture of foliage."
Consider the plant shape: “There are spiky plants like salvias or delphinium, or there are round blue blooms like allium. There are flat-topped flowers like yarrow and then there’s the daisy. You want to have a variety of blooms and shapes.”
Add a natural element: Add another natural element to your outdoor living space such as stone. “You can do that inexpensively with a few stepping stones in the garden or some accent boulders or even creating a dry creek bed through the garden or in a part of it,” says Pastor. Including natural elements adds dimension to your space.
Be artistic with your space: Don’t be afraid to go outside of your comfort zone and try something new with your outdoor living area. Consider adding a piece of garden art such as glazed pottery or a water feature like a pond or fountain.
Attract new species: “Another element would be attracting hummingbirds or butterflies to your garden, so you’d want to look up lists of plants that attract them,” says Pastor. She adds that you may want to put up a bird feeder in order to invite hummingbirds, but simply adding new species to your space will bring more color and life.
