Experimental Gardens – Unusual Plants and Landscaping Ideas

Gardeners and landscapers use experimental gardens to explore plant species, experiment with cultivars or grow techniques or demonstrate the advantages of gardening, while also serving to educate and inspire.

This collection of eight papers explores various strategies for improving common garden studies, including genomic analysis and quantification of kinship relationships, which could serve to connect traits spectra, climate patterns and fitness consequences more directly.

1. Perennials

Annuals come and go quickly, while perennial plants continue growing year after year. While they may appear dead during winter, according to gardening lore they will soon come back into bloom as “first year sleeps, second year creeps, third year leaps.”

Low-growing herbaceous perennials such as Heuchera or Hellebores thrive in shade and bloom from spring through winter, while tall sedum varieties like Goldsturm are sun lovers that are strong against heat and drought. Another perennial bloom that thrives throughout most states is Yarrow with its ferny green foliage and flat-topped clusters of pink or white blooms – known for being low maintenance!

Perennials make an excellent choice for experimental gardens because mature transplants can be easily collected and their responses to environmental changes assessed at once in similar conditions. When combined with genomic analysis of kinship and trait spectra, this will produce reliable projection models linking traits with climate patterns.

2. Water Gardening

Water gardens are places designed to grow aquatic-loving plants such as water lilies, lotuses, and water iris that thrive in ponds, lakes, or rivers. Such gardens typically possess limited depth due to some plants being highly depth sensitive.

These gardens are fantastic at attracting wildlife while offering people an oasis of calm to unwind and recharge their batteries. Additionally, these spaces bring nature closer and provide opportunities for family bonding experiences that last a lifetime.

University gardens range from conservatories filled with native or exotic plants to plots dedicated to food crops; with this information used to solve hunger issues, improve growing practices, preserve endangered species and even find natural medicines – these experimental gardens can help.

3. Native Plants

What do turkey corn, swamp lousewort, sneezeweed (gesundheit!) and American skunk cabbage all have in common? They’re native plants – which means they occur naturally in certain regions without human intervention and have over time co-evolved with soil conditions, weather patterns and surrounding wildlife to create an ecosystem in which these species flourish naturally.

Native plants thrive in natural settings with little water or fertilizer necessary, providing valuable habitat for wildlife such as birds, bees and butterflies while also attracting hummingbirds and producing delicious nuts, seeds and fruit for native mammals, warm-blooded animals and microscopic organisms. Careful selection of these native plants can play a critical role in creating healthy ecosystems within gardens and communities alike.

4. Exotic Plants

Gardeners cultivate exotic plants for their beauty, ornamental qualities, or cultural value. Others grow them for food, dyes or medicines – the most widely-used novel use being using Chamomile extract to prevent damping off in seedlings.

Exotic plants can be grown for research and to advance scientific knowledge, with special care taken not to harm wild populations in any way through collection and garden placement.

Continued innovation and integration of methods can significantly enhance experimental garden studies at all scales of biological organization. Such approaches will aid ecologists and evolutionary biologists in uncovering relationships among trait ensembles, climate gradients, fitness consequences and fitness consequences – as well as provide essential data that will allow managers to assess climate change impacts on biodiversity and human society more accurately.

5. Landscaping Ideas

Landscaping refers to the relationship between your home and its surrounding land. This encompasses everything from clearing out diseased trees that pose threats to its structure to keeping stinging or allergenic plants out of your yard.

Planting a garden can be an enjoyable and fulfilling experience for families. Studies show that children who garden perform better on science tests, and it provides an excellent way to bond with your kids while teaching responsibility. Adding unusual plants can also pique children’s curiosity about gardening, making introduction easier – as illustrated by SEBS Department of Landscape Architecture students’ Provisioning Garden design for Cook Office Building which brings together elements of environmentalism, creativity, and deep thinking which makes Mount Auburn so special.