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Shrubs are beautiful, lively additions to any garden or yard. They come in all shapes, sizes and colors, and can add gorgeous florals or vibrant greenery to your space. With so many choices, it can be difficult to know what works best in Cincinnati, as well as what works best for you and your maintenance routine. To help you decide, we’ve put together a list of some of our favorite proven shrubs.
Designing an English garden in Cincinnati can be a beautiful and fulfilling project. English gardens are known for their picturesque landscapes, charming cottages and classic beauty. To create your own English garden, there are a few key aspects to keep in mind.
Make the ultimate first impression with beautiful front foundation landscaping. Boost your curb appeal with gorgeous landscape design from Seiler’s Landscaping. We offer designs to fit your home’s style and only recommend plants and trees that are proven to grow and thrive in our Cincinnati climate. In this video you’ll see our front foundation landscaping examples and inspiration. Contact us to get started on your front yard makeover today.
Having a landscape with curb appeal requires year-round maintenance. At Seiler’s we offer an all-season landscaping package, Seiler’s 360, to help your home look great with less hassle for you. Here is what is included in your Seiler’s 360 service package.
When the weather starts to turn cold, spending time outdoors might be the furthest thing from your mind. But fall is actually a great time to start planning a landscaping project. Here’s why:
How did you enjoy your yard or landscaping this past spring and summer? Did you wish it had more shade, more color or more spaces to entertain? Maybe you noticed your deck was showing its age or some of your shrubs or trees were looking more and more overgrown.
Maybe you’re wanting to extend the season outdoors and wishing you had a fire pit or the exterior lighting to make your yard more welcoming on chilly nights.
With these ideas fresh in your mind, take the time now to write them down. They will help your landscape designer create the perfect outdoor setting for you.
Start by thinking about your dream outdoor spaces: Who will use them and when? Would you like to eat outside, entertain friends, grill or prepare meals or gather people around a fire? Or maybe you want to start or expand your garden space. Maybe it’s time to spruce up your home’s curb appeal. How much yard work do you like to do? Is it time for an exterior lighting plan to add interest and safety to your landscaping? Take the time to consider all these factors as you envision your new space.
Now’s the time to rough out a budget for your landscaping project, too. Will you need to finance the project? Talk to a lender about your options now. Unlike interior renovations, it’s easy to tackle a landscape makeover in phases. We’re happy to create your overall plan this fall or winter, then start creating one area at a time.
Like most landscape design companies, our schedules tend to be a bit more open in the fall and winter. Let’s talk about your vision now and start sketching out a plan. We’ll go over your ideas, look at photos that you like and discuss your budget. Then, we’ll visit your home to look at the site and take measurements.
After visiting your site, we’ll draw up a preliminary plan and provide a cost estimate. Over the next few months, you can review and revise the plan until it fits your needs exactly. If your plans include building a deck, pool or other structure, we can arrange meetings with contractors so they are on board and prepared.
Another advantage to jumping on your landscape design now is that everything will be ready to go when good weather comes around. In the spring, we can start removing any unwanted plant life or existing structures. Then, we’ll do preliminary site grading to get ready for hardscaping like patios, walkways or walls. Once those are in place, we’ll be ready to bring in your plants and you can start enjoying your beautiful new landscape.
Are you thinking of a landscape facelift or complete makeover? We’d love to hear about your ideas. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.
Who doesn’t love flowers? The blooms on these trees bring color and life to landscaping.
From sweet to showy, choose a flowering tree to amp up your home’s curb appeal.
The overlapping white petals of dogwood blooms do float like clouds. The early spring flowers give way to dark green leaves that turn red-purple in the fall. This species prefers partial shade but can stand up to full sun. This tree just explodes every spring with layers of gorgeous blossoms.
Why Choose This Tree?
Glossy red berries that birds love
Cold hardiness
15- to 30-foot height
Billows of petal-like blooms that measure 4 inches across
Horizontal branches that make good nesting sites
This tree follows its flower performance with a second act: brilliant scarlet purple spring leaves that mature to a deep maroon color. Easy to grow in well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. This is one of our top pick’s because it takes everything you love about redbuds and mixes it with gorgeous colored foliage.
Why We Love This Tree:
Pink flowers on bare branches in early spring
20-foot height
An upright, rounded shape
Unique, heart-shaped maroon leaves that may turn slightly orange in fall
There’s nothing sour about this crabapple tree. Slowgrowing and compact, this cultivar maintains a lovely shape year after year. Look for coral pink buds in the spring, followed by bronze-red ornamental fruit. Semi-double rose-pink blossoms arrive in early spring: the perfect antidote to gray winter days.
Choose This Flowering Tree For:
Deep green foliage
Mounds of fluffy flowers
Resistance to fireblight, cedarapple rust and mildew
Tolerance of poor soil
A burst of spring color
If you’re ready to bring flower power to your yard, contact us. We’d love to discuss the options with you in a free, no-obligations consultation.
Like a great piece of jewelry, ornamental trees add a bit of bling to your landscaping.
They might be small, but they are mighty in terms of visual impact. Putting an ornamental tree in just the right spot pulls a whole landscape together. In our last blog post we talked about our favorite shade trees; here are our picks for top ornamental trees:
Tuck this specimen in a corner of your home, in a courtyard, or by your deck or patio. If you are partial to an Asian garden look, this tree is a must-have. Be sure it has protection from strong wind and bright afternoon sunlight. This lovely tree is no diva: it shines, but won’t take over your landscape.
Choose this tree for:
Lacy, elongated leaves that create a delicate look
Fall color that ranges from orange to red
Its weeping cultivars, which have graceful arching branches
Mounding growth, which retains low height
The lavender flowers of redbud trees are always a welcome sight after a long Cincinnati winter. This new genus of redbud has unique weeping and twisting branches that cascade down to the ground. Unlike its wild cousins, this redbud cultivar remains compact between 4 and 6 feet tall. Sure this tree offers gorgeous flowers and pretty colors, but it’s also tough and hardy.
You’ll love this tree for its:
Pinkish purple flowers that bloom in early spring
Dark green heart-shaped leaves throughout the summer
Yellow fall foliage
Petite size
Low-maintenance character
Dense and deciduous, the Lilac on Standard is a sweet lollipop-like tree. Perfect for a formal garden, or as a pop of color near your patio or in a front yard bed. The tree blooms later than common lilacs to keep the color going in your landscape. You get all the beauty and fragrance of lilacs in a neat tree form.
What makes it a favorite:
Sweetly scented, bright purple flowers
Nickel-size leaves that resist mildew
Neat outline and polished shape
Dwarf height of 7 feet tall
Sun-loving nature and adaptability to all soils
These are just a few of the tree species we recommend for Cincinnati landscapes. If you would like to add year-round beauty to your yard, contact us for a no-obligation consultation.
Shade trees are some of our favorite trees to plant around Cincinnati homes. These workhorse trees offer benefits all year long. In the summer, a carefully placed shade tree can cool your deck, patio or house and give your air conditioner a break.
Colorful foliage is a visual treat every fall. And when the leaves drop, you can thank these trees for allowing winter sunshine to filter in and warm your home. Here are a few of our favorite shade trees:
A moderately fast-growing tree, this red maple cultivar shades a yard with green glossy leaves that turn first orange-red then brilliantly red in the fall. A moist site makes this tree happy. It adapts to a range of climates and tolerates full sun to partial shade. This is one of our top picks because you can’t beat the gorgeous foliage of the Red Sunset. It’s a showstopper.
Choose Red Sunset Maple for:
Superior fall color
Good branch structure
Reddish winter buds and winged summer fruits
Small red and yellow flowers in the spring
Impact: A full-grown tree will reach 45 to 50 feet in height with a 35- to 40-foot spread
Its ability to stand up to the cold
If you’re looking for a shade tree that stands out, this one is for you. Also known as a Chinese tree lilac, this species grows to 30 feet tall and 20 feet wide. It’s a trouble-free, low-maintenance lilac that prefers full sun. Don’t let the gorgeous flowers and beautiful shape fool you: This tree is tough and hardy.
What we love about this shade tree:
Showy, fragrant white flowers in panicles (long flower clusters) reaching 12 inches long
Rounded oval crown
Blooms after other lilac blooms have passed
Reddish-brown peeling bark on younger branches
Dark green leaves
Hummingbirds and butterflies love Japanese lilac trees
Make space in your yard for this tree—it will reward you with shiny dark green leaves all summer long. Lacebark elm is a tough tree with a graceful rounded shape. It’s medium- to fast-growing and easily reaches 40 to 50 feet in height with a 40-foot spread. With Cincinnati’s hot summers, we like a tree that can tolerate drought.
You’ll love this tree’s:
Multicolored bark that flakes to show gray, cream, orange, brown or green patches
Leaves that turn in shades of yellow to reddish purple in the fall
Good resistance to Dutch elm disease
Small dark green leaves
Adaptability to a variety of soil conditions
Durability
If you would like to add more shade to your front or back yard, contact us for a no-obligation consultation. Our landscape designers are thrilled to share their tree expertise.
