August Bargain Days Continue!

During the entire month of August, Estabrook's will be offering new deals on our high quality plant material and professional collection of tools and garden gear each week.

We'll unveil new savings each Thursday on the plants and products you've come to rely on in the garden. The month-long event culminates in our giant Indoor Yard Sale on Saturday, August 25th that will feature jaw-dropping bargains on overstock, damaged and even brand new products.

It's no wonder that gardeners love perennials. With their amazing array of forms, explosions of color and reliable hardiness, perennials are the backbone of any great garden. Our entire selection of perennials is now available for 25% OFF during August Bargain Days! Among the great varieties you'll find include:

	Volcano Phlox These amazing plants will produce impressive flower clusters that feature up to 125 fragrant blooms from July through September while also maintaining excellent disease resistance.
	Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldsturm' A garden favorite, the deep green disease resistant foliage of 'Goldstrum' gives rise to vibrant, orange-yellow flowers with prominent brown "eyes" that will bloom from mid August until fall.
	Echinacea 'Big Sky Twilight' The fragrant, rose-red flowers of 'Twilight' possess a deep red cone and will be produced from mid summer on. The wide overlapping petals provide dramatic interest to the vibrant color of this vigorous, well branched plant.

The possibilities are endless! Click here to browse our entire selection of perennials and start planting the garden of your dreams today.

Inviting Foundation Plantings

Meredith Kennedy
Plan Before You
Plant Designer

Foundation plantings can be so much more than a few shrubs placed around the base of a home. These plantings hide the foundation, soften the lines of a house and visually tie the house to the ground and the surrounding area. Foundation plantings also make houses feel less imposing and more inviting.

The Right Plants For Your Home

The first and most important rule to remember when choosing foundation plants is that they should complement the style and scale of your house. Big houses need equally big plants in large swaths, "boxy" houses should use clusters of differently shaped and sized plants to soften the edges, and the architectural elements of asymmetrical houses should balance with your plantings. No matter the size of your home, all foundation plants should be more than 4 feet wide, with plants that reach 8 feet wide all the better.

See what Plan Before You Plant can do for you!
View Finished Designs...

Hide or Showcase?

Foundation plantings can also be used to hide less attractive elements or accentuate important parts of your home. Trees, shrubs and vines can break-up larger expanses of wall, while homes with large amounts of foundation showing can be masked with massive shrubs. Meanwhile, you can highlight your front entrance by placing slightly larger plants nearby. Two small columnar plants on either side of a door will also work and will break any strong horizontal lines to create a more dynamic visual.

Geometrically Speaking

A foundation planting should be considered an extension of your home, and "lines" are an important part of good architecture. For example, a low sheared hedge will emphasize horizonal lines, while columnar trees will accent the strong vertical lines of a tall narrow house nicely. Generally speaking, hard, straight lines will attract more attention, while softer lines demand less attention, so take this into consideration when deciding which parts of your home to hide or showcase.

As with all rules, these are meant to be broken. Use them as a guide to get started. If you’d like help developing your foundation plantings, we now offer Plan Before You Plant – landscape design assistance for the homeowner.