Visual Impact High Priority of Community Gardens
M ore than 200 community gardens are now blooming in 20 counties across western Pennsylvania, greeting visitors and cheering local residents with color, symmetry and restful greenery. WPC receives many comments and questions about the gardens, but perhaps the most common question is: How do you decide what flowers to plant?
Backed by years of experience, our Community Conservation staff has developed a list of nine criteria used in selecting the type and arrangement of flowers in these public landscapes.
High Visibility
High visual impact is a major goal of our gardens. Plants that have multiple blooms of a bold color enhance the visibility of the garden, up close or at a distance. Good examples of flowers that provide high visibility are Rudbeckia (commonly known as Black eyed Susan) and Zinnia angustifolia.
Performance
Community garden flowers must perform well in large open areas and they must bloom constantly from May through October. Plants must also perform well under extreme western Pennsylvania conditions, such as heat, humidity, wind, pedestrian and vehicular traffic, pests and pollution. Typical garden candidates offering these attributes are Rustic Orange Coleus, Forest Fire Improved Celosia and Pennistum rubrum (commonly known as Red Fountain Grass).
Bedding and Edging
To maximize visibility, and to efficiently use available space, many of the community gardens feature long, narrow beds. Here we focus on annual flowers that will fill the bed, but not be overly aggressive. Wave Petunias and Marguerite Sweet Potato Vine are good examples.
Drought Tolerant
As much as possible, we select annuals that can tolerate drought. Although most of our community gardens have an irrigation system that allows for regular watering, we want to help ensure high performance even during exceptionally dry conditions. Examples: Sundevil Vinca, Pennisetum rueppeli (commonly known as Fountain Grass) and Disco Marigolds.
Height and Texture
Most of our gardens include two or three different types of flowers. We try to arrange and mix plants to achieve a multi-layered look, and we also choose plants that offer interesting textures to add to the visual impact. Profusion Zinnia and Victoria Blue Salvia enhance a garden’s texture, as well as its color.
Pests and Disease
Plants in the community gardens receive little protection from pests except their own natural resistance. We use plants proven to be resistant to most of the common pests and diseases. Examples: Impatiens Super Elfin Series and Donna Petunias.
Weed Suppression
To help reduce the time our volunteers must spend weeding, we select plants that grow quickly and have a hedge-like growth habit. This allows the annual to outgrow the weeds. This will not eliminate all weeds, but can help volunteers maintain the plantings. Tidal Wave Petunias and Hummingbird Nicotiana are excellent choices for beauty and weed suppression.
Volunteer Capability
Local volunteers, many of them children, plant all of our community gardens. The flowers used in these gardens must be easy to plant and maintain so that volunteers of all ages and abilities can actively enjoy the gardening experience. Even beginners can have good success planting forgiving flowers like Ageratum and Fresh Look Celosia.
Cost and Availability
Cost and availability play a major role in plant selection. All of our plants are grown from seed or cuttings in local greenhouses. We selected the most reasonably priced plants that meet our criteria. Wizard Sun Velvet Red Coleus and Safari Marigolds are generally good values and widely available.
Mixing Annuals and Perennials
Many gardeners prefer the high color and ease of caring for annual flowers. Others are devoted to a variety of perennials and spend years cultivating a lush perennial garden. In Western Pennsylvania Conservancy’s community gardens, we incorporate annuals and perennials to take advantage of the many benefits of each.
We rely on annuals for their strong dominant color and constant blooming over more than five months. Their bright color provides the high visibility for these large public landscapes. Annuals also offer the opportunity for communities and volunteers to be directly involved in planting and caring for the gardens each year. With relatively little guidance, children and adults with no gardening experience can plant and care for most annual flowers.
Over the years, we have been adding a variety of perennials to the community gardens. They provide an excellent backdrop for annual beds and can be used to separate different sections of a garden. Many perennials, such as Ilex verticillata, Liriope muscari ‘Big Blue’ and Sedum ‘Autumn Joy,’ also provide visual color and texture during the winter months, giving the gardens year-round interest and appeal.
As much as possible we incorporate native perennials in our gardens. Flat-topped Aster Aster umbellatus, Spicebush Lindera benzoin, Blue Vervain Verbena hastata and Rudbeckia are all examples of native plants that meet our criteria and perform well in community gardens.
View a slideshow of our gardens during planting season and in full bloom
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