Many log homeowners find themselves browsing the plant aisles at their local nursery, looking at beautiful flowers or shrubs, thinking “That would look perfect next to my log home!”
Select plants that will thrive in your zone while requiring minimum upkeep. Here are a few suggestions:
1. Daylilies
At its heart, one of the best ways to reduce work on log cabin landscaping is using native plants that have already adapted to your local climate. Daylilies (Hemerocallis) is one such easy-care perennial which can be planted across your landscape – offering vibrant hues in over 50 cultivars! Plus they combine beautifully with ornamental grasses and shrubbery, adding texture and adding dimension.
When selecting a cultivar, take into account color, size, bloom time and scent when making your selections. Some bloom constantly while others rebloom later in the season. Look out for flowers with an appealing fragrance; these will draw bees and butterflies into your garden.
Check if the plant can tolerate extreme temperatures; certain daylilies can do better in very warm environments than others. Finally, select one that will thrive with the soil type and pH levels present in your location.
Planting daylilies is relatively straightforward, though care should be taken when planting them. Dig a hole that is slightly wider and deeper than the root ball of the plant. Remove any clumps of dirt surrounding its roots before placing it into its new home in the hole. Backfill lightly while lightly tamping down to prevent air pockets forming before watering thoroughly afterwards.
Mulching daylily beds is an effective way to decrease weeding workload and save time on gardening tasks. Organic mulch such as wood chips or pine straw is perfect, while inorganic options like leaves, lawn clippings or crushed lava rock work just as well to retain moisture in the soil, cool surface temperatures on warm days, and suppress weed growth.
2. Coral Bells
Coral bells are perennial shade plants that come back year after year. They prefer partial to full shade locations with moist, well-draining soil with neutral to slightly acidic pH levels (6.0 – 7.0 pH).
Coral bells make great additions to log cabin gardens as they create an intimate ambiance around your home. They pair perfectly with woodland plants such as heuchera, astilbe, bleeding heart ferns and hosta. Hummingbirds often visit coral bells too if watching these small creatures is something you enjoy doing!
Heucherellas are heat tolerant plants with many colors to choose from, making them an excellent addition to log cabin landscaping. When selecting your Heucherella varieties, make sure they suit the climate as they’re heat resistant with attractive veining running throughout their leaves – such as Berry Timeless’, which features stunning white leaves with green veining that look like running lightning; Venus features light silvery leaves with dark green veins that look like lightning streaks; or perhaps you prefer Marmalade’s autumn gold leaves that have reddish-pink undersides!
While most people plant Heuchera for its beautiful foliage, some varieties also produce blooms on spikes that stand proud from its mound of leafy foliage. These blooms attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds into the garden when blooming between early spring and late summer; to encourage flowering further simply cut spent blooms to promote rebloom.
Heucheras require very minimal care beyond regular watering and feeding. In spring, apply a thin layer of compost or balanced slow-release granular fertilizer around the base of each plant for the best results. In warmer climates, overwinter these perennials in containers; pruning to remove ragged foliage is recommended in early spring; in fall fertilize again as an added measure against cooler winter temperatures.
3. Peony
Peonies (Genus Paeonia) perennial plants offer vibrant flowers each summer in your log home garden. Easy to cultivate once established, peonies require little maintenance – planting in spring or fall ensures that you will reap their long season of beauty in your landscape. Peonies come in all colors and flower forms imaginable from simple single blooms to large thousand-petal doubles! Herbaceous cultivars have long stems perfect for cut arrangements while intersectional varieties produce short sturdy stems but produce large blooms; all hardy in USDA zones 5-9 depending on cultivar.
To grow peonies successfully, prepare the soil by mixing in rich compost or well-rotted manure, digging a wide and deep enough hole at planting time to accommodate for their roots, then planting each peony so its eyes (located at the base of its leaves) are two inches below soil surface. Finally, cover it all with mulch in order to conserve soil moisture while helping prevent diseases.
Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that creates white coatings on plant leaves. To minimize humidity levels and avoid it, keep peonies in full sun with ample spacing between each flower to reduce humidity levels. Furthermore, regularly remove dead blooms as well as apply spring mulches that retain soil moisture levels.
4. Lavender
Lavender is an essential herb with an aromatic fragrance, perfect for flower gardens and borders alike. Easy to cultivate in containers, lavender also makes an elegant lawn edging idea or fills gaps around log cabin gardens. Lavender even thrives in colder climates if provided some protection such as straw mulch or leaves during overwintering (such as layering up).
When selecting lavender plants to experiment with, your growing zone and desired form are key considerations. Lavandula angustifolia, the classic English lavender, boasts fragrant, silvery-green foliage hardy to Zone 5. This variety produces fragrant spikes of flowers on long stems perfect for cutting or drying; furthermore its flowers attract bees which extract essential oils that give its fragrance.
Lavandula latifolia is an easier-to-grow variety suitable for warmer zones that is less hardy, bushier and produces attractive blooms in summertime. With a mounding habit and sprawling form, this variety provides a more pleasing display than more upright English lavender varieties and requires less maintenance than their counterparts.
Other varieties are less cold-tolerant but are still simple to grow, like the award-winning ‘Grosso’ with its vibrant purple blooms on greenish-white bracts or the widely grown lavandin-type cultivar ‘Impress Purple’ which features dark blue-purple flowers on long stems that make cutting easy.
When planting lavender, space plants 12-18 inches apart in a sunny location with well-draining soil. When selecting fertilizers, avoid high-nitrogen formulations as these can promote leafy foliage growth at the expense of flowers production. Once established, lavender is drought tolerant. Light pruning after flowering to maintain shape and encourage bushy growth without pruning more than one third of stems at any given time to keep compactness of stems intact; fertilize in early spring using low-nitrogen slow release plant food products for best results.
5. Yarrow
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is an easy-to-grow, drought-tolerant perennial that makes an excellent addition to garden settings of all kinds. It thrives through cold winters, dry summers, poor soils, and cold temperatures to flourish all season long – drawing birds, butterflies, beneficial insects into its flat clusters of blooms to increase biodiversity in your biodiverse garden setting.
No matter if you opt for common yarrow with delicate white blooms or cultivars featuring pinks, yellows and reds – or cultivars with thick feathery leaves in various shades of pink, yellow and red – for your log home garden, yarrow is an enduring perennial that makes an eye-catching statement in any landscape. Growing from seed or nursery-grown plants quickly from either source makes this attractive addition ideal for flower beds, wildflower gardens, cottage gardens settings or perennial borders.
Yarrow thrives best when planted in full sun and grows best when given well-drained soil, but can tolerate many different soil conditions, from sandy or loamy soils to clay-based terrain. It even thrives in slightly acidic environments! Once established, water requirements should be minimal; however supplemental irrigation may be necessary during periods of prolonged drought.
Yarrow’s low maintenance needs and deer resistance make it ideal for butterfly gardens or wildlife-friendly landscapes, while its easy division makes it perfect for butterfly gardens and other landscapes.
As soon as 8 weeks before the last frost passes, you should start your yarrow seeds indoors in a seed starting tray or small pots with drainage holes filled with an organic seed starter mix that has been premoistened. Or you could try winter sowing which will save space in your seed starting area and eliminates hardening off requirements; once ready to transplant into their outdoor home garden.