Now that spring is here and homeowners are turning their attention to making their outdoor spaces ready for the bright days ahead, we at Modern Landscapes wanted to share some tips on how to bring the season’s hottest trends to your home. In our last article, we talked about some of the top trends for spring 2020, like vertical gardening, organic gardening, and bringing the outdoors in with open concept design.
We also noted the growing trend towards maximizing space with plants and flowers that do double duty, whether they combine a beautiful appearance with an appealing scent, with the ability to be used in cooking, or with properties that repel mosquitos and other pests. In this article, we’ll share our top seven plants that do double duty, and tell you how you can use them to bring even more beauty and functionality to your outdoor spaces.
- Lavender
Lavender is known for its lovely blue-violet bloom and its calming scent. Certain types of lavender can also be used in cooking, and dried lavender can be made into a sachet and placed in drawers or closets to ward against moths.
- Roses
Roses are as versatile as they are lovely. In addition to being beautiful to look at, fragrant, and excellent for cutting and displaying, varieties that produce rose hips in the fall provide a second source of beauty. You can also dry rose petals to use in homemade bath bombs, potpourri, and skincare products.
- Marigolds
Marigolds provide a burst of yellow and orange to your garden, but on top of being lovely, they also repel mice, rabbits, and snakes who, it turns out, aren’t a fan of their scent.
- Sunflowers
Sunflowers are known for their tall, strong stems and large, bright flowers. However their seeds can also be dried and used for birdseed, providing you with a cheap and all natural way to stock your birdhouse with food.
- Geraniums
Geraniums are a versatile, fragrant plant—great for gardens and also good for transferring inside as houseplants. Because they have such a distinct and pleasing scent, geraniums are often used in potpourri.
- Catnip
Catnip is famous for providing felines everywhere with experiences of utter bliss, so cat owners may wish to grow it for the benefit of their furry friends. It’s also great for keeping a host of unwanted guests away from the garden, from beetles to weevils.
- Bay
Probably best known for the leaves you have to fish out of soups and sauces, bay provides excellent flavoring to recipes. Beyond its culinary application, however, bay is also an herb that grows well as topiary.
Wondering which double duty plants are best for your garden? Contact Modern Landscapes to see how we can make these beautiful plants work for you!
