Landscape Design: Fall Color
Fall is one of my favorite times of the year in Michigan. Cooler weather means more campfires, hot cider, sweets and treats, and a wonderful display of color on all things deciduous.
Here are just a few of my absolute ‘must-have’ plants for fall color:
Autumn Blaze Maple
The Autumn Blaze Maple (Acer x freemanii) is appropriately named. The fall foliage resembles a roaring flame with a striking orange-red display. These trees can reach a mature height of 40-50 feet, so make sure to give them plenty of space.
Densely branched and a mature oval shape makes this tree an excellent option for a Shade Tree in your yard. It is also fast growing, adding over 2 feet of growth per year when cared for properly. Like other Maples, these trees prefer an area with moist soil. While they appreciate a full-sun location, they can thrive just as well in filtered shade.
Burning Bush Shrub
Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus ‘Compactus’) is one of my favorite low-maintenance shrubs in landscape design. Growing 6-8 feet tall and 8-10 feet wide, this shrub provides an excellent natural hedge for summer privacy along a property or fence line with its rich green leaves.
Burning Bush also work well as a specimen shrub in the landscape, given the vibrant red fall color they display. This shrub requires full sunlight for the best success; however, it can tolerate periods of drought once established.
This shrub is sure to draw your attention!
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ Perennial
A pollinator favorite, these plants produce a bright-pink flower that turns to a copper color as fall continues. This plant blooms from Mid-Summer to Mid-Fall and has a lime-colored succulent-like leaf in the summer that pairs well with Ornamental Grasses and Dark-Leafed Perennials.
This variety of sedum remains relatively unnoticed through the early summer months and explodes onto the scene in Late-Summer/Early-Fall. This plant keeps pushing on when others have turned and is easy to care for and easily adapted to new environments.
We are scheduling landscape Installations as late as Mid-December. Get a head start on your Landscape and give us a call today!
