Green & Growing Landscapes Inc

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Welcome to greenandgrowing.com! Our website is meant to serve as a resource for those interested in landscaping, whether you want to plant your own landscaping shrubs and outdoor plants or you want to hire a landscaping service to do it for you. We have information on what makes a shrub good for a particular climate, and how to plan a yard that is beautiful now, and will be beautiful five, ten, or even fifteen years from now. We do not endorse any specific brand or company, and we strive to give impartial information on all topics covered here. If you have any questions about this site, please email us. We have an FAQ section, and who knows, maybe the next time you stop by, your question will be poster there, along with our answer!

Landscaping is an art. At its best, it combines the natural elements of your yard with the man-made element of your house. It melds the two using both living and nonliving materials. A retaining wall made of stone would be an example of a nonliving material. A flowerbed is an example of a living material. The end goal is to integrate everything into a pleasing whole. This has to take many different variables into account, such as your local climate, the orientation of your lot, the hours of sun per day in various spots on your lot, and the amount of time you will be able to spend maintaining your yard. The last consideration isn’t necessary if you hire a landscaping service, as they can usually be hired to maintain the yard they create.

Landscaping shrubs are really just domesticated versions of their wild brethren. They are normally genetically identical to the wild versions; the payday just isn’t there to genetically alter shrubbery the way it is for cash crops such as corn.
One of the most popular bushes in America is the rose bush. It is technically classified as a shrub, though its stems take longer than most to achieve the woody characteristics that differentiate a shrub from a flowering plant. Roses are heavily ingrained in our culture, with copious references in art and literature. They are prized for their scent, and roses have been used to make perfume for centuries.

A rhododendron is another popular (if more difficult to spell) landscaping shrub. Like a rose, the rhododendron is a flowering shrub. However, it is less time consuming to maintain a rhododendron than a rose bush. For one, there are no thorns to work around. For another, a rhododendron doesn’t need to be dead headed like a rose bush does.

Not all outdoor plants are shrubs however. Some of the most beautiful plants in existence are flowering plants, which die off each year. Perennials are plants that send up new growth each year, tulips are a great example of a perennial flowering plant. Annuals are plants that must be replanted each year from seed. Examples of annuals include corn, wheat, rice, and other food crops. The main difference between an outdoor plant and a shrub is that the shrubs go dormant, rather than killing off the above-ground growth every winter.