Want a lush yard with little work? Get plants that re-seed.
Such plants are more prevalent than you think. Three are happily re-seeding in my yard right now. One is a snow bush, more properly called Snow on the Mountain. It is a beautiful shrub with leaves that turn a purple-lavender and in the winter have white tips. This is my original planting, two bushes each side of my porch entryway. They are larger now:
These happy bushes keep sending off seeds that popped up around the corner, under my Butterfly Cassia. Snow on the Mountain is so cooperative, just dug out the small seedlings and re-planted them in another amenable spot. Fertilize with plant food and water daily for a few days and look:
The new seedlings were pretty thin and spindly when I dug them out of their original spots. But some plants are persistent. So plant the roots with a bit of the original soil they grew in, mulch and water for a few days. Even the ones I neglected thrived. Now five of these are growing along the south side of my once-barren yard. They are on the side with the mango tree, you can see them in the photo. Snow on the Mountain does best in morning sunlight, dappled afternoon sun but they'll make it in dappled sunlight all day. They are sensitive to prolonged freezes and will die down. But these reliable bushes come back in the spring. Trim the tops of these guys a little to make them grow wider. Plant food isn't really required once they are established, but they will appreciate some fertilizer in the spring.
Others that re-seed readily are Butterfly Cassia and Confederate Jasmine. In the fall the Cassia bloom with profuse bright yellow flowers that attract butterflies. In the summer Jasmine, which is now a thick mass covering the entire six foot high chain-link fence, is completely white with its aromatic blooms in spring. See what four 3-gallon Jasmine plants can do in five years:
Such plants are more prevalent than you think. Three are happily re-seeding in my yard right now. One is a snow bush, more properly called Snow on the Mountain. It is a beautiful shrub with leaves that turn a purple-lavender and in the winter have white tips. This is my original planting, two bushes each side of my porch entryway. They are larger now:
These happy bushes keep sending off seeds that popped up around the corner, under my Butterfly Cassia. Snow on the Mountain is so cooperative, just dug out the small seedlings and re-planted them in another amenable spot. Fertilize with plant food and water daily for a few days and look:
The new seedlings were pretty thin and spindly when I dug them out of their original spots. But some plants are persistent. So plant the roots with a bit of the original soil they grew in, mulch and water for a few days. Even the ones I neglected thrived. Now five of these are growing along the south side of my once-barren yard. They are on the side with the mango tree, you can see them in the photo. Snow on the Mountain does best in morning sunlight, dappled afternoon sun but they'll make it in dappled sunlight all day. They are sensitive to prolonged freezes and will die down. But these reliable bushes come back in the spring. Trim the tops of these guys a little to make them grow wider. Plant food isn't really required once they are established, but they will appreciate some fertilizer in the spring.
Others that re-seed readily are Butterfly Cassia and Confederate Jasmine. In the fall the Cassia bloom with profuse bright yellow flowers that attract butterflies. In the summer Jasmine, which is now a thick mass covering the entire six foot high chain-link fence, is completely white with its aromatic blooms in spring. See what four 3-gallon Jasmine plants can do in five years:
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