Northeast front yard plants for more than summer flowers

Choose a summer border with a winter view in mind

Picture the same front garden in summer and winter

Keep the paths, windows and plant footprints in both views. Then look at what the summer planting hides and what remains after the leaves fall.

Sources: Cathy Dewitt, UMass Extension

A moist, partly shaded border with summer flowers

Six plants for a Northeast garden through the seasons

Choose the job you need: summer flowers, winter berries, evergreen foliage or red stems. These options suit different beds. Keep moisture-loving shrubs in the damper ground and save well-drained shade for Christmas fern and mountain laurel; check local hardiness and each variety’s mature size. Choose a few that share the light and moisture in your bed.

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  Summersweet

  Clethra alnifolia

  Fragrant summer flower spikes brighten a moist, acidic bed in sun or part shade.

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  Winterberry

  Ilex verticillata

  Red berries show after the leaves fall; a female in moist acidic soil needs a male that flowers at the same time.

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  Christmas fern

  Polystichum acrostichoides

  Evergreen fronds add a low layer in shaded, well-drained ground beneath deciduous shrubs.

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  Inkberry

  Ilex glabra

  Small evergreen leaves give a moist, acidic bed lasting shape in sun or part shade.

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  Mountain laurel

  Kalmia latifolia

  Cupped spring flowers brighten partly shaded, acidic, well-drained soil; ‘Olympic Fire’ is pictured.

• 

  Red-osier dogwood

  Cornus sericea

  Red winter stems stand out in a roomy, moist border in sun or part shade; allow for its spreading growth.

Sources: NC State Extension [6] [7] [10] [11] [12], Cathy Dewitt, Rutgers Cooperative Extension

Place the berry shrub, its partner and the snow space

In a moist, acidic front bed, put the female winterberry where you will enjoy it from the house. Its pollination partner and mature spread belong in the plan too.

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1. 1

   The female shrub takes the main view

   Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) loses its leaves, exposing berries on female plants. Place the shrub where you will see it from a window, with its mature branches clear of the route and outside the regular snow pile.

2. 2

   A compatible male gets its own space

   To set berries, the female needs a male whose flowers open at the same time. Ask the nursery to name the pairing and recommended pollination distance. The male can sit farther back, but it needs its own mature space and a place in the budget.

3. 3

   The open strip stays available for snow

   Keep the usual driveway-side snow storage free of important shrubs and check where meltwater goes. Salt-laden snow and runoff can injure planting even when the plants are cold-hardy.

Sources: Cathy Dewitt, UMass Extension

Change the plant list when your Northeast site changes

The region includes mild coastal gardens, colder inland sites and mountain conditions. Use the example's growing conditions to decide whether it transfers.

• Hot, dry ground beside paving

  What the example assumes: The summersweet example assumes moisture.

  What to change: Choose dry-site plants; don't extend a thirsty woodland palette into the hottest strip.

• Cold northern or elevated site

  What the example assumes: The named plants and varieties must survive local winter lows.

  What to change: Confirm hardiness and local performance before ordering.

• Exposed coast or salted roadside

  What the example assumes: A sheltered garden is different from salt spray or salty runoff.

  What to change: Use locally tested salt-tolerant choices and keep runoff out of sensitive beds.

Sources: NC State Extension, UMass Extension

Take both seasonal views to the nursery