Plants Make Kansas City Outdoor Living Picture Perfect

When you have a new deck, it’s not truly complete until you’ve beautified it with landscaping!

The best plants to grow around your outdoor living space depend on a few variables. The most important factor is the amount of sunlight your deck receives. If it gets full sun, you’ll need to choose plants that can handle direct sunlight. The exact opposite is required if your deck is mostly shaded. It’s also necessary to consider how big plants will be once they reach maturity because large-sized specimens can cause simple deck maintenance to become a difficult task.

Kansas City outdoor living is about existing in harmony with nature. This is the reason why the experts at All Weather Decks recommend surrounding your deck with plants that are native to Kansas City. In addition to their natural ability to withstand the area’s harshest seasonal conditions, native plants benefit the local wildlife by providing them with food and shelter. However, there’s nothing wrong with interspersing non-native plants among the natives within your landscape, so feel free to go wild sprucing up the area around your outdoor retreat! Some of nature’s green gems will even protect your deck from destructive pests.

Plants Make Kansas City Outdoor Living Picture Perfect              

Which of the following plants will you choose to help your deck merge with its natural surroundings?

Ornamental Grasses

According to Kansas State University, Switchgrass, Little Bluestem, Big Bluestem, Blue Grama, and Sideoats Grama are excellent ornamental grass choices because they’re native to the Kansas City area. While they all prefer full sun, be sure to research each type to determine if it’s right for your landscaping purposes.  

Shrubs

Flowering shrubs will surround your deck with colorful foliage and their beautiful blooms will attract birds, butterflies, and other pollinators. When you choose to grow Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea) and Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) around your Kansas City outdoor living space, you won’t be the only one enjoying them. The wildlife will thank you, too! Another lovely addition to your outdoor living landscape is Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius), which comes in several types—even a dwarf variety.

If you’re concerned about the shrubs growing too large, rest assured that most can be pruned to a desirable size.

Climbing Vines

When your deck has a pergola, you have the perfect place to grow a gorgeous climbing hydrangea!

This highly sought-after climber grows well in part sun and part shade, so it’s ideal for adorning most Kansas City outdoor living spaces. While climbing hydrangea isn’t native to Kansas City, trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans) is a lovely vine that checks this box and will satisfy the pollinators visiting your yard.

Shade Loving Plants

If your deck is mostly shaded, you’ll be pleased to know you can still add color to your outdoor living space by surrounding it with Winter Glow Bergenia (Bergenia cordifolia ‘Winterglut’), coneflowers (Rudbeckia spp.), and Fire Pink (Silene virginica).

Plants That Repel Termites

Termites can do severe damage to a natural wood deck.

Protect your Kansas City outdoor living space from these voracious insects by planting catnip (Nepeta cataria), mint (Mentha), marigolds, and geraniums around it. The natural aroma and oils that these lovely plants produce will cause termites to make their home elsewhere. Other pests will steer clear of your outdoor retreat, too!

Plants Add Pizzazz to Kansas City Outdoor Living Spaces       

All Weather Decks is the decking contractor Greater Kansas City area homeowners trust to design and build their dream decks. However, we know that the landscaping surrounding your outdoor living space is the icing on the cake! When a quality deck is surrounded by smart landscaping, a home’s value increases twofold.

While we’ve only touched upon the flora and fauna that thrives in Kansas City landscape gardens, you can see a full list of native plants and their light requirements here. Landscaping can be expensive, so you need to make sure you’re doing it right the first time or you’ll end up replacing precious plants that perished because they weren’t provided with the proper conditions.

If you want to learn more about gardening with native plants, the Kansas Native Plant Society’s website is a wealth of information.  

When you’re ready to enjoy your dream deck, we’re happy to make it happen. Simply give us a call at 913-206-1974 or contact us online today! We’re eager to help you create the RIGHT deck at the RIGHT price, and finish in time for fall planting! 

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