What to Plant and Not Plant Next to Your House
Plants have certainly become more popular in recent years, both inside and outside of the home. On the inside, plants liven up a space, bring elements of the outside in, and can even help to clean the air. On the outside, plants are a great addition to add privacy to your home, grow beautiful and fragrant flowers, provide shade, and make your home’s exterior look inviting!
It may be confusing trying to figure out what to plant, so we’re here to break down what the best landscaping plants are for the exterior of your beautiful home!
GO WITH THE FLOW
Make things easier on yourself by working with the natural landscape and buying and planting plants that will thrive in the climate you’re in. In Utah, this means knowing that your plants could survive in a dry desert (and may experience a drought) but also keeping in mind that there are several months of snow and harsh winter conditions. While this may sound tricky, there are a number of resources for Utah-friendly plants. We have a list of our seven best shrubs for Utah to get you started.
As we’ve highlighted in that post, many of these plants will require little to moderate watering, and partial to full sun. All of them require soil that can be well-drained. Another great tip from Utah State University’s landscape tips is to group plants together according to their water needs, which will make irrigation more efficient.
NATIVE PLANTS
Nothing will be more suited for Utah’s climate than a native plant! We have a wide array of shrubs, trees, flowers, berries, and more that grow well in our beautiful state and will complement any home exterior. Some examples include:
Utah Serviceberry
A serviceberry is a perennial. Perennials live for several growing seasons; sometimes even up to three seasons. Their roots go dormant in the winter, so they’re ideal for the Utah climate, and less work for you!
Buckwheat
These are another perfect choice for landscaping in Utah, as they withstand all the elements from heat to wind, and even drought. Other noted traits of the buckwheat are that their compact growth makes them an excellent choice for a rock garden, and they attract a variety of bees and other native pollinators, even butterflies.
Mountain Lover
Named perfectly for the inhabitants of Utah, these broadleaf shrubs make for excellent foliage for planting outside your house, and do well in low water areas.
Pinyon Pine
Great for dry and rocky soils, the pinyon pine is a beautiful perennial plant to add to your landscaping in Utah.
WHAT NOT TO PLANT
While you’re planning what you want your exterior landscaping to look like, you might have dreams from images you’ve seen on Pinterest or magazines that you want to achieve. Make sure you research what will realistically work in the area you live in first, and avoid a headache later! Millcreek Gardens has laid out several examples of plants you’ll want to avoid in Utah, such as vines on the exterior of the house, some exotic plants such as bamboo, and invasive trees such as olive, willow, cottonwood, and birch trees.
If you love the look of these, try incorporating fake plants on the inside made from silk—we’ve featured many fake olive trees in our model homes, such as this one in our Lakefront Townhome:
These plants look stunning and will never go out of style!
ONE WITH NATURE
Since you’re dealing with live plants, you’ll also want to think about how they may affect you and whoever lives with you. Things like allergies, plants with poisonous berries (especially if you have curious kids!) or plants that attract pollinators or animals that you might not want around are all aspects to take into consideration.
PLANT SOME SEEDS
The possibilities for landscaping are endless! To get started, you can also check out our Landscaping 101 guide, or browse exteriors on our various models within out Idea Gallery.