A Simple Flag Pole Design - With Matching Shrubs And FlowersA simple flag pole design with matching colors of shrubs and flowers can add to the honor you feel for your country, state, city or organization. Take an area around the base of the pole and you can create a bed of rich color tones and textures using different shrubs and flowers. Every country flies their flag and whether you are in the military, government, or a resident, it is a sense of pride when one sees his or hers symbol flying. Doing a small landscape bed around the base can be a fun project and very rewarding. A suggestion is to take the colors and incorporate each color of the flag with evergreen shrubs and some perennial or annual flowers. Of course your selection will of plant specimens will depend on your climate and whats available to you in your specific area.
Create a children's garden and learn about plants, nature and consider doing a flag pole bed.
This would be a great activity with any age organization. Taking science as well as history and building it into one lesson. Below is a very simple design with a couple of ideas for you. This landscape bed can easily be done in either a residential setting or commercial area. Above are just a few suggestions to bring some good accent color tones to the landscape bed. Notice the area along the base of the pole. This is used for people raising and lowering of the flag. If you live in an area or at your home where you don't lower or raise, the area for walking can be removed. Plant the entire bed with the flowers and shrubs. Lets take a look at each of these plant specimens and see how they blend together. In the drawing I used a generic color and made red the dominant color. The Globe Arborvitae is a great evergreen shrub to plant near the walk area and base of the pole. It has a round, global shape. This shrub will grow three to five feet tall and about two to four feet wide. The Globe will with stand some drought conditions and will do well in the sun. Surprisingly, these plants do well in warm climates during the summer. The Arborvitae is native to Canada and generally considered a cold weather shrub. They require normal watering after their roots become established. The Globe as well as other Arborvitaes do well in clay, sandy and even rocky soil. Dwarf Hinoki Cypress is a small evergreen shrub. This shrub will grow three to four feet high and two to three feet wide. The branches are shaped in a pyramid form. The color is a solid green and grows great in zones four through eight. The Variegated Dwarf Hinoki is exactly the same, except for variegated leaves. Either one of these plants act as a nice accent plant. They will show off their texture and color if planted in a open bed like the one above. The Indian Hawthorn is a wonderful evergreen shrub with pink or white flowers in spring. The white flowers would look great in this landscape with the red being the dominant color in the flag. Blue berries will appear in the in fall and winter months. Indian Hawthorn minor is a bigger shrub and will grow four to six feet wide. The major is a little smaller and will grow three to four feet high and two to three feet wide. Very durable shrub. Variety of zones but most will do well in zones four through nine. The Mop Cypress grows three to four feet high and three to four feet wide. The texture of the leaves truly reminds you of a mop. This is one of the most popular plants in the southeastern United States. Great to grow in zones five through eight. The variegated yellow and green leaves will set off the Indian Hawthorn and the other solid green shrubs. The Balloon Flower has rich blue/purple tone blooms. It loves full sun but will do alright in some shade. This specimen does great in mass planting. Reaches thirty six to forty inches tall. Great in zones four through nine. The blue color if in the flag, will blend well with the red and white. This shrub and flower are across from each other in the open bed. Vinca is a popular annual in zones six through eleven. There are various color and Vinca will reach a height of twelve to eighteen inches tall. The width is about three to six inches. There are Vinca Major and Vinca Minor. The Minor is a smaller version. Vinca can take full sun or partial shade. The Minor prefers more shade over sun. Bloom time will vary and can start as early as late winter and continue through early fall. The blooms repeat their cycle. The rich red tones will accent the shrubs and other flowers. The Blue Star Juniper is an evergreen low growing shrub. Grows well in zones five through nine. Likes full sun but can take shade better then other junipers. Will grow around one foot high and can sprawl out one to to three feet. Great ground cover. Color is green with teal tones on the long needle like leaves.The bluish teal tone is great accent on the green, white and red color tones. The Coleus and Dianthus are fantastic flowers to put together. The Coleus is an annual flower with many different colors. One of the most striking variety is variegated plant. The plant can grow anywhere from one to three feet and sprawl out to three feet. Can take partial sun but does very well in shade and part shade. Known for an annual in the south, some varieties do well from zone one through eleven. Dianthus has a variety of colors. Ranges from eighteen to twenty four inches and loves full sun. Flowers will bloom the first year and zones will vary. Most Dianthus will do well in zones three through eight. Even though the Coleus is an annual, the two together during the growing season is very eye catching. There are so many other different plant specimens to use. The height of your shrubs and even if you want to plant some small trees will depend on your location of the flag pole bed. It doesn't matter what type of a flag you are flying, matching color tones from shrubs and flowers will add the beauty and pride to your country or organization. |
