What Is The Difference Between Annual And Perennial Plants?
Opening words
When it comes to designing your outdoor living area, plants create a beautiful, vibrant, and eye catching addition to any landscape. There are two main types of plants used in landscape designs, annuals and perennials.
What are annuals?
Annuals plants stay alive for a single growing season compared to perennials that come back on a yearly basis in the spring. Annuals stay alive during the growing season until the first frost of the year. Adding annuals to your garden beds provide an instant pop of color that can be added from spring to fall. Some examples of annuals are Petunias, Marigolds, Zinnias, Vinca, Verbena, and Calibrachoa to name a few.
What are perennials?
Perennials grow back for years to come. After the winter, new bud growth appears in the Spring. This new growth comes from the same root system that was initially planted, so once you plant perennials, there is no need to replant. Perennials tend to have a shorter bloom period, about 2-6 weeks, compared to annuals. The best time to add perennials to your yard is in either Spring or Fall. When planting in the Fall, roughly 6 weeks are needed to allow the plant to get established and rooted into the ground before the first freeze comes round mid-November historically. Some examples of perennials are Black-eyed Susan’s, Catmint, Japanese Sedge, Lavender, Aster, Peonies, Coneflowers, Royal Candles, Sedum, and much more.
Final thoughts
A variety of annuals and perennials in your outdoor living area would provide for a variety of bloom times and long-lasting color to enjoy year round. Proper watering, sun exposure, and maintenance is essential to the longevity and overall health of these plants after being initially planted. When it comes to perennials, you need to be patient. There is a common saying in the Green Industry which is, “crawl, walk, run”. Homeowners need to be patient with perennials when it comes to growth. The first year, they tend to grow slowly, second year they grow more prominently, and the third year they take off in their growth.
Contact us
If you still have questions about different kinds of plants, look no further than Golden Wolf Landscape & Design LLC. Our professionally trained staff knows everything about annuals and perennials. We take the worry out of your hands by knowing when to install plants, what design would be best for your property, what plants compliment one another, how to fertilize your plants, how to water your plants, and how to maintain the help of your plants.
If you are not currently a clients of Golden Wolf Landscape & Design LLC, would love to add you to our growing family of customers. Our focus is on residential and commercial properties in New Jersey. Our goal is to provide the best experience and value for each and every once of our customers. Contact us at (908) 578-1179 . You can fill out a request for form for a quote under our “Contact Us” tab. We are looking forward to hearing from you!