20 Plants to Use as Lawn and Garden Borders

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There are pile of ways you could dress up your landscape , and the details make all the difference . Your pick of garden edging for lawn and garden mete is one detail that can help unify the whole while adding a touch of your personal manner . You are n’t determine to plastic , alloy , and gem for your edging and pathway projects . Why not consider a “ living ” edge , using plants to limit the borders ?

Plants create a born appearing . They are dynamic , adding motion , attracting wildlife like birds and butterflies , and contribute to year - troll color or bloom patterned advance along garden path and as flower bed edging . Plant perimeter also complement and soften the edges of hardscape elements like pavers , bower , garden art , edging Harlan Fisk Stone , and other out-of-door structures .

Perfect Plants for Lining Your Path or Garden

Photo: istockphoto.com

A nifty border works must be of a scale to fit within the overall landscape painting plan . It should stick around in place without constant pruning . It must be suitable for the position and should not have acute pest or disease job . The texture and colour should complement the garden blank .

Check out these 20 plants to apply as lawn and garden borders .

1. Monkey Grass (Liriope muscari)

Monkey grassis a grass - like boundary line perennial that develop 12 column inch magniloquent and wide , in part sunlight to shade . It has been a favorite moulding flora for generation because of its attractive , bass evergreen plant foliation , and purple genus Muscari - alike blossom spikes in summertime . Best of all , it is a low - sustentation clumping works that stay where you plant it . USDA zones 5 to 10 .

2. Autumn Fern (Dryopteris erythrosora)

implant this semi - evergreen fern along timber pathways or in mottled clearing , where it produce 18 to 24 inches tall and wide . fall ferngets its name from the copper - colourise vernal fronds as they unfurl and later fledged to deep jet . The foliage persists well into winter . USDA zones 5 to 9 .

3. Hosta (Hostaspp.)

Hostasare a wonderful addition to any partial sun or full shade garden , where they surpass as boundary line plants . With a huge diversity of leaf patterns and sizes from which to choose , you are certain to rule ahostathat ’s a staring paroxysm for your garden . Some stay well under 10 inch tall , while others mature to more than 2 feet . As a bonus , their white , blue , or royal flower pull butterfly and hummingbird in mid - summer of USDA zones 3 to 9 .

4. Coral Bells (Heucheraspp.)

These dauntless , coloured , semi - evergreen foliage industrial plant will lighten up your specter or part sun landscape with mounding masses of purple , green , chartreuse , pink , or orange leaves . Coral bellsgrow 8 to 12 inch tall and 12 to 14 inches wide . Their bloom capitulum can reach 18 inch , but the tiny flower are very much an afterthought for most gardener — although they draw a miscellanea ofpollinators . USDA zones 4 to 8 .

5. Mop Head Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla)

The large pinko , blue , royal or white globe ofhydrangea flowersshow up well in their prefer dappled sunlight garden emplacement . practice these average - sized deciduous shrubs to separate garden rooms or corridor with masses of inscrutable unripe foliage and beautiful blooms . The size of it and mounding growth habit ofhydrangeasmake them desirable to either stand alone , or combine with a secondary perennial layer like autumn fern or hosta . USDA zones 5 to 11 .

6. Dwarf Fountain Grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides‘Hameln’)

Ornamental grassesare everlasting plants for sunny borders . Dwarf fount grassis a clumping , quick - time of year Mary Jane that produce 2 to 3 feet tall and 3 foundation extensive . It has fine green foliation that sways in the gentlest walkover and produce pink “ foxtail ” blooms in tardy summer and former fall . USDA zone 5 to 9 .

7. Daylily (Hemerocallisspp.)

Daylilieswill brighten your sunny border with early summer flower on thud - forming plants . You ’ll have scores of colors and sizes from which to choose . Dwarf daylilies grow only 12 in magniloquent , while some stock cultivars might reach nearly 4 feet . Bloom colors admit red , pink , yellow , orange , or purple . USDA zone 4 to 9 .

8. Dwarf Abelia (Abelia x grandiflora)

A low , mounding , semi - evergreen or evergreen plant shrub with gracefully arching branches , dwarf abeliahas what it take to specify a sunny bush mete without stealing the show . look at one of several cultivar for a flora border , including greenish leaf , icteric variegated , and whitevariegatedvarieties . Their white blooms in middle to late summer are a welcome source of nectar for pollinators . USDA zones 6 to 9 .

9. Winter Gem Boxwood (Buxus microphyllavar. japonica ‘Winter Gem’)

The showy , deep green foliage ofWinter Gem boxwoodneatly complement a manicured lawn . It grows naturally to 4 to 6 feet tall and blanket , but with seasonal pruning , you may easily keep it at 2 to 3 feet . This and other compactboxwoodsmake a fantastic border plant for formal gardens .

10. Lavender (Lavandulaspp.)

trace your sunny garden way of life or paseo border with French , Spanish , English , or hybrid lavender for a real delicacy . The silvery - unripened foliagereleases its vivid fragrancewhenever you sweep against it , and blue or over-embellished flowers discolor the landscape each spring . Lavender plantsgrow 18 to 36 inch high , with a spread growth riding habit . USDA geographical zone 5 to 11.Available fromHigh Country Gardens ; $ 10.79 .

11. Stonecrop (Sedumspp.)

maturate between 6 and 20 inches marvellous , calculate on the kind , this tough - as - nail delimitation plant can stand firm almost anything , include humans , deer , drought , and every type of moisture except for standing water . Gardeners can enjoysedum‘s vivacious summertime flowers or keep it mowed unforesightful and green . USDA zones 4 to 9 .

12. Scotch Moss (Sagina subulata‘Aurea’)

Planting a myopic solid ground cover before taller delimitation plants sum to color and interest . Never get more than an inch improbable , Scotch mossisn’t really moss at all . It thrives in warm , moist conditions , specially when given afternoon shade and not too much rain . If your sign faces east in a temperate zona , consider using it as a ground cover to fill in between stepping Stone . USDA zones 3 to 9 .

13. Irish Moss (Chondrus crispus)

This so - called “ moss ” from across the pool is another nifty option for a low-toned moulding flora that can fill in a stepping - Oliver Stone nerve pathway . Irish mosscreates aparticularly artsy effectwhen setting pavers close together , allowing only small streaks of stone to peek through the unripened . USDA zones 5 to 9 .

14. Creeping Thyme (Coccineus‘Creeping Thyme’)

Also called furious , elfin , or Breckland thyme , the decorative herbcreeping thymehas wanton violet flowers that issue forth to life story in belated spring or early summertime . Creeping thymeis a middling border flora for tone and terraces . Do n’t interest if the plant set out a niggling trampled ; when oppress , the peak give off a fresh , sweet fragrance that linger as you extend by . USDA zone 4 to 9 .

15. Roman Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile)

evocative of Italian meadows , Romanic chamomileis a charming addition to any edge . One of the oldest known medicative herbaceous plant , it boom in nerveless , dry environmentsand need little sustainment . The white and xanthous flowers of German chamomile ( Matricaria recutita ) are similar . USDA zone 4 to 9 .

16. Garden Violet (Violet sororia)

frisk beautiful purple flower in the give , this democratic industrial plant make a deep light-green cover throughout the year and offers quiet dramatic play as a low border flora . As a bonus , it also attracts butterflies . USDA zones 5 to 9 .

17. Speedwell (Veronicahybrids)

Veronica , also know asspeedwell , is a low clumping repeated perfect for sunny borders . Flowers look as spikes above the foliage , and hail in fat blues , purple , garden pink , and even white . land natural covering varieties grow to about 6 inches high , and mounding varieties to about a ft grandiloquent . USDA zones 4 to 8 .

18. Blue Star Creeper (Isotoma fluviatilis)

Blue star creeperhas festive , star - mold blossom that emerge every outpouring . The low - book binding , moisture - have it off perennial is idealistic for lining a nerve tract or filling in the space between pavers . USDA zone 6 to 9 .

19. Creeping Mazus (Mazus reptans)

This fast - creeping plant provide stocky , carpeting - similar coverage , and it blooms with lavender - colour flowers dotted with smart yellow centers in spring or early summertime . Native to the Himalayas , creeping mazusprefers full or fond sunlight and well - drain soil . USDA zone 5 to 8 .

20. Happy Face Cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa‘Lundy’)

For added drama along a paved tract , plant these gentle - to - maintain warm yellow flowers . Happy Face Cinquefoiladds visual sake in the spring and summertime and is salt tolerant . cervid discount these pretty border plants . USDA zones 2 to 7 .

Our Best Advice for Beginner Gardeners

We ’ll help you set up your first garden — whether that ’s a few raft on your terrace , a raised seam , or an in - ground plot out back — and take the correct plants for your soil and region .

Plants To Use As Lawn And Garden Borders: Monkey Grass (Liriope muscari)