Keep reading for landscape lighting tips, including how it can increase your home value, add safety and more.

First of all, what is quality landscape lighting and how does it differ from the lights at box stores?

Professionally installed, high quality, low-voltage outdoor lighting is more efficient than ever before by utilizing energy efficient LED fixtures.  These new fixtures require roughly 80% less voltage!  Traditionally, fixtures became quite hot; LED fixtures create far less heat, resulting in significantly longer lamp and fixture life. Depending on application, LEDs can last 50,000 hours or more. Additionally, with FX Luminaire LED lights (pictured above), you have the option of creating different themes that vary the mood and ambiance in your outdoor space to fit a quiet evening with family or a festive gathering with friends.  LED lights are easy to come by but there is a wide range of quality.  The FX Luminaire LED light fixtures our Landscape Services team installs are durable, constructed of brass and/or copper and come with a great warranty.

Why install landscape lighting?

Simply put, landscape lighting is a cost effective way to both beautify your home and add outdoor living space without costly renovations. High quality, professionally designed and installed landscape lighting has been shown to increase the value of your home. Landscape lighting also provides everyday benefits such as safety and curb appeal. In addition, it enhances outdoor gathering areas as well as illuminates walkways, steps, entryways and of course, highlights your home’s landscape plantings and architectural details.

Who can install landscape lighting?

By hiring a lighting professional, such as The Good Earth Landscape Services team, you are guaranteed a custom designed, properly installed and maintained functional system for years to come. As with any project at your home, hiring properly licensed, insured and skilled experts saves you money and future hassles. Choosing unskilled labor to install high quality products such as the FX Luminaire line won’t result in lasting success.  Our Landscape Services team are experts in designing and installing these lighting systems, with a focus on safety and proper voltage requirements. Our skills insure that your lighting system will operate trouble-free for many years to come.

Where can landscape lighting be placed?

From specialty underwater lights to uplighting and downlighting, FX Luminare’s products can create a variety of effects at your home. In addition to the aesthetics, these systems can be easily controlled from your smartphone or tablet. Email The Good Earth Landscape Team today for your estimate!

The post Landscape Lighting Tips appeared first on The Good Earth Garden Center.

• • It’s the Goldilocks of grasses; doesn’t grow too big or stay too small. Mature size is 3 feet tall and 3 feet wide. Not only does ‘Red Rocket’ shine in landscape beds, it also makes an outstanding ingredient in fall combination planters!
  • You might have noticed the dark plumes in the image above; the darker color is unique to this particular variety.  The plume color contrasts nicely with medium green blades.
  • As with many grasses, ‘Red Rocket’ is drought tolerant once established. Use Good Earth brand Jump Start at planting to get the roots established faster this fall.
  • For best results, plant in a full sun location (six hours of full sun exposure). However, if you have a spot with at least four hours of sun, that should be adequate as well.

The post All About ‘Red Rocket’ Pennisetum appeared first on The Good Earth Garden Center.

Looking forward to making changes to your landscape but aren’t sure how to create a plan that works?  The Good Earth has landscape design tips to get you started in the right direction!

Research Before Planting

• Sun or shade… or both? On a sunny day, stand in your landscape areas every two hours from 8 am to until dusk.  During the winter, consider tree shadows and how much shade you might have spring, summer and fall when leaves are on the trees.  Take into account that winter sun is lower in the southern sky than in the summer, when the sun is more overhead. Take pictures and make notes.  Four hours of morning sun is much different than four hours of afternoon sun.

• Plants grow, we all know this, right?! But here’s the thing; it’s easy to forget that when you are looking at a shrub that is 2 foot tall right now, just the height you wanted. Read the plant details; that 2 foot plant may grow to 10 foot tall at maturity; and you have just created a long term maintenance nightmare!   Choose based on the mature size of the plant not the size it is now.  If you want a more mature looking landscape right now, purchase a more mature, larger plant instead of purchasing more plants.

• Scale and space matter. If you want the layered look, you will need to accommodate that in your space.  A 3 foot deep landscape bed won’t allow for much layering, unless you are planning to layer perennials and annuals.  To layer most shrubs, you will need at least a 6 foot deep bed.  Keep the scale appropriate.  Design to accent the home, not hide it.

• Before you dig, draw it out, on paper and in your landscape. It’s much easier to change bed lines before the sod comes out and the edging goes in.  Use spray paint to easily mark bed lines.  Run a mower around the lines to check the ease of maintaining them.

Other Design Elements to Consider…

• Choose focal points carefully. Large pots at your entrance, a boulder accent here and there, a large seasonal color display; anything that draws the eye to a focused point should be worthy of it.  Framing your garage, for example, should be avoided (unless you have one heck of a garage!).

• Design for visual interest. This can be contrasting leaf color or size, groupings of blooming plants, specimen trees… or ideally, all of the above! Repeat plant choices, plant in odd-numbered groupings, and consider planting both evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs.

• Traffic flow is real and retraining our brains is harder than you think. Work with how your family uses the space instead of against it.  Or, for example, learn to live with basketball-dented rose bushes.

• Changing the bed lines and plantings means changing the irrigation system. And the lighting system, and maybe even addressing drainage issues.  For long term success, don’t skip this step!  Change the sprinkler system AS you change bed lines, before planting.  Doing so afterwards is often a bigger headache and is often put off until the nebulous ‘later’.  ‘Later’ can quickly result in dead plants.

Plan for the Future

• Make a maintenance plan. Here is a link to The Good Earth’s Gardening Calendar for Arkansas.  And our team is also available via email, phone, Facebook… you get the idea.  Ask questions during the planning process to head off plant decline.

• Yup, ask more questions. Our team (many of whom are Certified Nursery and Landscape Professionals) is experienced; put that experience to work for you. We have created an entire online Learning Center with tons of articles and helpful tools.  We have organized our plant materials at the garden center to help you; shade shrubs together, sun shrubs together, perennials all together, etc.  Cultivating your success is our mission.  So ask us questions; we are the experts after all!

Still not sure how to get started on your do-it-yourself landscape project?  Take pictures of your space, bring those to the Good Earth team, as well as measurements and we will help you get started in the right direction.  You can also start the process by following this link.

Interested in our experienced, award-winning Landscape Services team installing your next project?  We would love to connect with you.  Follow this link to get started!

The post Landscape Design Tips for the DIY Homeowner appeared first on The Good Earth Garden Center.

What is a paniculata hydrangea?

This post is really about growing tips for all panicle (Hydrangea paniculata) hydrangeas but we thought this title would catch your attention since Limelight is the most popular one right now! These hydrangeas have blooms in panicles, which means a branched indeterminate inflorescence, which forms a cone shaped flower head. The blooms are usually quite large, up to 15 inches in length, depending on variety.

When you think of hydrangeas, you might think of the traditional bigleaf hydrangea, the macrophylla species, which features large round inflorescence of blue, pink or white flowers. The paniculata species of hydrangea features bright lime or cream color blooms. The bloom color is not altered by soil pH, as in the macrophylla.  Panicle hydrangeas blooms often fade to pink or even red, depending on variety. Another difference between the two species is the leaf shape; panicle hydrangeas have a smaller, more narrow leaf than macrophylla. For details on the different species of hydrangea, visit our All About Hydrangeas blog post.

We suggest planting hydrangea paniculata varieties in morning sun, with some protection from the sun during the heat of the day (more on this below). Hydrangeas like regular water and rich, well drained soil.  If you aren’t sure how well your soil drains, check out this post for details on how to perform a drainage test.

Can they really take full Arkansas sun?

The biggest difference between all other hydrangeas and the paniculata species is sun tolerance.  This specific species has identified as one that can take full sun. A hydrangea that can take full sun… what?!  Is that even possible?! For Arkansas gardens, the answer is no and yes.

No, not when planted in heavy clay soil that holds water, with no amendments, in a hot space, such as against a wall, with sporadic water. We have a team member that has had outstanding success with his panicle hydrangea in full sun; this isn’t the experience of most of our customers.  Here is why; when the plant stresses in full sun during mid-day hours June through mid-September, the stress symptom is a wilted appearance.  When the plant is shaded again, the leaves perk up.  However, in the meantime, most people panic and water it… usually too much and too often, especially if the soil doesn’t drain well.  This then causes root rot and the plant fails to thrive.

Yes, panicle hydrangeas can take full sun when planted in an ideal growing environment, in rich soil that drains well, in a space that gets proper water, no more, no less.  In areas with less intense summer sun, such as in the northern states (or even northern Arkansas), successfully growing this plant in full sun is easier.  Most plants come pre-tagged from the grower; most of them have categorized panicle hydrangeas as full sun.  At Good Earth, we place them with our part sun shrubs and have our Good Earth plant sign denote part sun in an effort to communicate where they will be most successful for the majority of landscapes in our area.

Remember our team member’s outstanding success?  He assessed then properly amended his soil and provides the right amount of water; not too much or too little. We think of this plant similar to the way we think of a Japanese maple; can they grow in full Arkansas sun? Yes, it’s possible if the planting situation is just right, however, they will fare better with some protection from the afternoon sun.

Hydrangea trees are a thing?

Yup! The growth habit of paniculatas is also much more upright than some other species.  Paniculatas are the only hydrangeas that can be pruned into a tree.   This type of hydrangea blooms on new wood so it can be pruned after it blooms in the summer, during the winter or even in very early spring before it leafs out with no reduction of blooms; however, do not prune in the late spring or early summer as they are preparing to bloom.

‘Limelight’ and ‘Quickfire’ are two of the most popular panicle hydrangea trees on the market right now.  ‘PeeGee’ used to be more popular but these newer varieties are more popular now because they have stronger stems that hold the blooms up better, although by the end of the season, the large blooms may still weigh down tree form plants. As of today (early July 2021) we have plenty of gorgeous ‘Limelight’ trees in stock, all in full, gorgeous bloom!

‘Limelight’ is a large growing variety (6- 8 feet tall and wide), and can be grown as either a tree or shrub. ‘Little Lime’ is very similar in look but grows to only 3- 6 feet in size and is grown as a shrub. We have plenty of both of these varieties in stock right now, and through the year, we have others as well. For more information about our current hydrangea selection, please visit this link.

The post Growing Limelight Hydrangeas in Arkansas appeared first on The Good Earth Garden Center.

Even if you love your neighbors, you can still want a barrier dividing your property from theirs. Looking for a beautiful, natural way to provide some privacy? Here are Gregg’s suggestions for you.

Gregg recommends the arborvitae to use as a natural fence. They can be purchased when they’ve already grown 10 ft. tall, so the privacy they provide is significant. And if that doesn’t convince you, Gregg says taking care of these shrubs is incredibly easy.

Another option is to plant younger shrubs. This allows you to spend less and invest your time nurturing the plants yourself. The Elaeagnus hedge is one we recommend often. We use it for residential and commercial landscaping, and it has a great track record of being healthy and resistant to diseases. It has great growth potential, and just needs consistent pruning to promote a full shape! Fragrant blooms.

Sweet olives also work well as a screen. This plant blooms for about six weeks in the spring and is beautifully fragrant! It’ll need to be pruned to maintain its density and shape, but overall, caring for the sweet olive should be no trouble.

Ready to add the finishing touch to your yard? Take note of how much sun your area gets and how large the plants can grow then reach out to us. Budget is also a consideration; larger, more mature plants are more of an investment but you will get to enjoy privacy much sooner than if you go with a smaller plant.

Feel free to call us at (501) 868-4666 or stop by and see us at 15601 Cantrell Rd, Little Rock, AR 72223! We’re here and happy to help!

The post Using Natural Shrubbery Around Your Property appeared first on The Good Earth Garden Center.

Heuchera, also known as Coral Bells, are excellent shade garden plants with interesting foliage of various colors. Leaves are heart shaped and boldly veined; some feature bold dark, silvery, or chartreuse green foliage. Coral Bells bloom in the late spring or summer; blooms rise up above the foliage in a long slender stalk and feature small blooms. Plant Heuchera an inch or so above surrounding ground to ensure that the crown of the plant is above soil level. They are also semi-evergreen in central Arkansas, making them great plants for containers. You can grow them in planters, then after a season or two, plant them in a shady garden location.

• Shade to Part Sun
• Great in containers
• Plant in fertile, well-drained soil
• Can be divided every 3 to 5 years, during fall
• Plant size and foliage color is variety specific

The post The Beautiful Hues of Heuchera appeared first on The Good Earth Garden Center.

Do you live on a busy street or need to build in some privacy around your home and outdoor living space? Then you may want to consider planting a living fence, or privacy fence. The benefits of a privacy screen include blocking strong winds, limiting street noise, and defining spaces in addition to masking unsightly views. Read on for more information about screening plants for Arkansas landscapes.

Before you choose a screening plant, take a few moments to consider the following aspects of a privacy screen. These will help you choose the right plant for your space.

• Available space. Measure the area you can plant in and decide how tall you need your screen to be to block the unwanted view.
• Is your landscape formal or informal? Do you need a plant that’s neat and tidy, or will your yard accommodate a more natural, relaxed look?
• Evergreen or deciduous. Evergreen plants provide a year-round screen, whereas deciduous options offer more flowers and colors.
• Function in the overall landscape. Will your screen be an integral part of the look of the yard, or is it far from your windows? Does it provide a backdrop to a central flowerbed, or fade in the distance? This will affect the look of the plant you ultimately choose.

After you’ve determined the answers to the above questions, it’s time to choose your screening plant(s)! We have some recommendations below.

If you’re looking for year-round privacy, you have many evergreen screening plant options. A number of hollies, such as the Foster, Burford and Nellie Stevens Hollies, make for great screens. Green Giant Arborvitaes lend a stately presence to landscapes, and grow up to 3 feet each year! If you need a fast-growing screen, eleagnus is a great option with unique silvery green foliage. You can also consider Little Gem Magnolias, Japanese cleyera, sweet olive, large growing loropetalums, waxleaf privet and cryptomeria. Finally, don’t forget podocarpus, camellias and large growing azaleas if you have a shady area that needs some filling in!

Curious about what flowering or colorful options you might have in the deciduous screening plant department? Variegated privets have delicate, fragrant flowers and grow well in a variety of soil conditions. Viburnums come in a number of varieties and have showy flowers, require little maintenance, and tolerate shady environments. Also look into Rose of Sharon, crapemyrtles or vitex if you are would like summer blooms. Forsythia and large spireas such as Bridal Wreath work well if spring flowers are your favorite. If you’re looking for fall color, a burning bush will show off its red flair nicely in your yard.

Some folks may need screens for narrow spaces. In this case, consider installing a trellis and growing vines! From trumpet vine to chocolate vine, you have lots of options for flowers. If you’re hoping for color year-round, look into evergreen clematis or English ivy. Finally, depending on your interest in performing maintenance on your screen, you may find that a shrub mentioned above could be kept in check in your smaller space with regular pruning. Emerald Green Arborvitaes (pictured above) are another narrow screening option. The have a mature size of 3 to 4 feet wide and about 15 feet tall.

As always, come out and see us at The Good Earth Garden Center if you have questions about screening plants for Arkansas landscapes. We’re happy to talk through the specifics of your situation and help you pick a plant that will be successful in your landscape!  A visit to our inventory might be helpful too; check out the plant descriptions in the screening plants category.

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Butterfly Annuals

A lot of people want to attract butterflies to their garden, and understandably so! We have some tips to help draw these beautiful insects towards your yard.

Plan Your Flowers

While it’s true that butterflies are drawn to brightly colored blooms, a big bright flower is not a surefire way to attract butterflies.

Attracting butterflies is all about the length of the flowers. Salvias, for instance, have about a ¼ inch “throat”, and that makes them perfect for butterflies. The length matters because the nectar will be down in the bottom of the bloom’s “throat” and that’s what butterflies are looking for!

Lantana plants are another great butterfly (and hummingbird!) magnet. These flowers love full sun and the plants will fill out to be about the size of a basketball.

Angelonia blooms are another great bloom to incorporate into your yard if you’re trying to create a space butterflies will flock towards.

A popular butterfly garden feature is milkweed. We have tropical milkweed and perennial milkweed available, and both of these are great for attracting monarch caterpillars!

All of these plants are annuals, and will bloom all summer long and die off with the first frost.

Flower Care

If you want to maintain flower color and blooms, it’s time to whip out the BR-61! As usual, make sure the plants are well watered before introducing the BR-61 to the soil.

Ready to Get Started?

We’ve got everything you need to create a beautiful butterfly sanctuary. Come see what we have in stock, and we’ll be happy to give you personalized tips for your own yard. Call us at 501.868.4666 or visit us at 15601 Cantrell Road in Little Rock!

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June is Perennial Gardening Month

The Good Earth began as primarily a nursery and growing facility over 48 years ago.  Throughout the past four decades, we have become a full service garden center but that doesn’t mean we have forgotten our roots! We still grow most of the perennials we sell; just look for the maroon pots with our logo. These contain perennials we have grown right here, just for you.

‘Purrsian Blue’ Catmint

With June being Perennial Gardening Month, we thought we would introduce you to a few that are in bloom or about to bloom right now.  The first image (above) is a favorite; it is a catmint called Purrsian Blue (Nepeta faassenii ‘Purrsian Blue’).  This low maintenance perennial is more compact that most other catmints and offers more blooms that are closer together than other varieties. It’s also deer and rabbit resistant, attracts all kinds of pollinators such butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees. In addition, catmint has a long bloom season (early summer to early fall). Loves the sun and heat so it take summer in stride. Mature size of this variety is 14-16″ tall and 18-30″ wide.  Purrsian Blue, much like all catmints, has average to low water needs; plant in well-draining soil with a neutral to alkaline pH.

So, what’s the difference in catnip (Nepeta cataria) and catmint (Nepeta faassenii)? Same genus, different species and different effects on cats. A high percentage of cats (around 70%, based on genetics) go wild over catnip and will eat the leaves for the euphoric effects of Nepatalactone in the plants.  In contrast, when stems of the catmint are broken, cats may be attracted to the released scent.

Coneflower is a native flowering perennial in much of the eastern United States.  We carry many nativars of this plant.  A nativar is an improved variety of a native plants.  Bailey Nurseries, a plant breeder, offers these thoughts on nativars:

“Nativars allow us to retain the ecological benefits of native species while making them adaptable and accessible for a modern landscape. Whether that means a more compact size, cleaner foliage, better color, or a tidier appearance, nativars solve problems that can arise” with the genotype.

Since the introduction of nativars, there have been discussions on whether these plants are beneficial for pollinators like thier truly native cousins.  Several studies, including one performed by the University of Delaware, concluded that yes, nativars support insect and bird life.

‘Pow Wow White’ Coneflower

Coneflowers (Echinacea) have long been used for their medicinal qualities. New varieties are released fairly often; one we have grown for years is the Pow Wow series, including ‘Pow Wow White’ (pictured above). We also grow ‘Pow Wow Wild Berry’ (a deep rose, purple color bloom). Both offer prolific blooms, sturdy flower stalks, and a compact growth habit. They love full sun, are tolerant poor soil, heat, humidity and are drought tolerant once established. What more can you ask for in an Arkansas perennial? Oh, they make great cut flowers too and if the spent blooms are left on over winter, the seed heads offer a food source for birds.

We also have ‘Sombrero Adobe Orange’, ‘Cheyenne Spirit’, ‘Mellow Yellows’, and ‘Magnus’ right now (early June 2020).

‘Ruby Spider’ Daylily

We teased you a bit with this flower image and kept it for last, knowing you would keep scrolling… because wowza, is this eye-catching!  Daylilies are starting to bloom around town; you have most likely seen the mild yellow blooms of ‘Happy Returns’ or the gold glow of the ‘Stella de Oro’, both of which are outstanding reblooming varieties.  And yes, we have these available for purchase, as well as ‘South Seas’ (a beautiful color color), ‘Aztec Gold’ (a larger gold rebloomer), and ‘Gentle Shepard’ (which is known for being one of the best white daylilies available and features 5.5″ blooms).

So, about ‘Ruby Spider’… what you can’t tell from this image is the bloom size, which is quite large.  In fact, the blooms on this plant can reach up to 9″ across, offering big visual impact in any garden.  We also grow ‘Primal Scream’, new to us this year, which features up to 7.5″ bright orange flowers.

Good Earth Perennials

Since we grow our own perennials, when we sell out of a crop, it can be awhile before more are available, especially depending on the season.  Plants listed here are available today (June 4, 2020); tomorrow… they may not be! If you are looking for something specific and are coming from a good distance, we always suggest giving us a call to confirm quantities.

Last but not least, this post got long; we had many more perennial to talk about so expect more blog posts about perennials soon. Especially because June is Perennial Gardening Month!  In the meantime, learn more about all kinds of perennials on our Inventory page.  Look in the red bar above the photos and select your sun situation to find ones that might work best for your garden.

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Varieties of Vines

Read more to learn about the different types of vines, how they weather the winter, and how to give your vines the care they need.

Evergreen Clematis

Evergreen clematis, sometimes called Old Man’s Beard, does well in the Arkansas climate. It’s one of the earlier bloomers, and due to the especially mild winter, you might notice your evergreen clematis has more leaves on it this time of year than usual.

One of the highlights of this particular vine is the fragrance. If you have an outdoor seating area, planting them somewhere nearby is a great way to enjoy their pleasant scent! It usually flowers for about 6 weeks.

Jasmine

If you’re looking for a beautiful flowering vine, you can’t go wrong with the Carolina Jasmine. This lovely vine flowers for about 8 weeks, and can grow to cascade over large areas, if that’s the desired outcome. They can also be pruned and kept from spreading.

The Confederate Jasmine blooms white and is so lush and ideal for covering a broad area. Jasmine as a whole is a great investment if you’re looking to stretch your dollar.

Wisteria

This vine is making a comeback, and it’s no surprise. The beautiful flowers are a crowd pleaser. However, if you choose to plant this vine, just know it will grow pretty aggressively! Especially compared to jasmine, the wisteria vine is a fast grower.

Tips for Growing Healthy Vines

A good rule of thumb for all vines is to make sure they have well draining soil, as they don’t like wet feet. Start your vines in an area with plenty of sunshine to get the best blooms and full growth. Shadier areas make it harder for the vines to stay full top to bottom.

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