Start planning your yard and garden projects for 1998. If your foundation plants are getting old and overgrown consider replacing them with some newer varieties or with native plants. Junipers and arborvitaes are the evergreen standbys but also look into barberry, boxwood winter creeper, Oregon grape, hardy hollies, rhododendrons, red twig dogwood, and Otto Luyken laurel. These take some pruning but the novelty is worth it. Keep each plant's fertilizer and water needs in mind as you plan.
Perennial flowers give continuous color and texture to gardens and yards.
Plan for bloom time and color, height, spread, and sunny or shaded areas. Try to select perennials that have an extended bloom time. It is a good idea to place early blooming flowers close to the house. Viewing will most likely be done through a window. Later blooming plants can be placed farther out in the landscape where a stroll through the yard will show them to their best advantage.