Tired of waking up to find your expensive landscaping turned into a free, all-you-can-eat midnight salad bar for the neighborhood deer? 🦌🥗 It is incredibly frustrating to watch your hard work get munched down to the stems. But before you spend a fortune building a ten-foot fence, try a smarter strategy: planting species that deer naturally despise! In this video, we are sharing our absolute favorite deer-resistant Native Perennials. From scent warfare to sticky sap, these native plants have built-in defense mechanisms that keep the deer away while rolling out the red carpet for hummingbirds, butterflies, and local pollinators. 🦋✨ If you’re ready to take your yard back, hit that Subscribe button and let's get planting! 👇 JUMP TO YOUR FAVORITE PLANTS: 👇 0:00 - Stop Feeding the Deer! 0:35 - Scent Warfare: The Mint Family (Monarda, Agastache & Mountain Mint) 1:04 - Rugged Survivors: Goldenrod & Coreopsis 1:24 - Chemical Defense: The Magic of Milkweed 1:48 - Tall Bodyguards: Joe Pye Weed & Culver’s Root 2:05 - Shade Secret: Lobelia 2:20 - Carpet Bombers: Allegheny Spurge & Hardy Geranium 2:35 - The Truth About "Deer Proof" Plants & Deer Out Repellent 🌿 RESOURCES & LINKS: Visit us at Bountiful Gardens: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/ Our Rewards Program: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/rewards For Landscape Design Inquiries: Email landscaping@bountifulgardens.com Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bountifulgardensnj/ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BountifulHomeandGarden/ About Bountiful Gardens: Welcome to your go-to hub for all things landscaping, gardening, and plant care! We believe that the foundation of any healthy, thriving garden is proper species selection. Whether you are battling the summer heat, fighting off deer, or trying to attract local wildlife, we're here to help you plant smarter.

Are you tired of spending a fortune at the garden center, only to watch your new plants turn into toast by mid-July? You might as well be throwing twenty-dollar bills straight into the bonfire! Those big-box stores love to sell you delicate, greenhouse-pampered plants that absolutely panic the second they hit real sunlight. Stop fighting the summer heat and start planting smarter! Today, I'm showing you the ultimate heat-proof perennials that actually survive the full summer sun—so you can stop wasting your hard-earned cash on plants that just can't “take the heat." Speaking of keeping your money, hitting the Like and Subscribe buttons is free! It’s the best investment you'll make for your garden all day and lets us know we should keep making these videos for you. Now, let’s talk about hummingbirds... Hummingbird Perennials (0:41) First up, stop buying expensive plastic feeders and constantly boiling sugar water! If you want real hummingbirds, you need nature's heavy-hitters. Hummingbirds are tiny, territorial fighter jets with a massive sweet tooth, and they’re hunting for high-octane nectar. Agastache, Monarda, Liatris, Kniphofia, Lavender, and Salvia are heat-proof hummingbird magnets. Not only do they thrive when the sun is blazing, but you also never have to scrub mold out of them like you do with those plastic feeders. It’s a win-win for your wallet and the birds! Cottage Garden Perennials (1:16) Love the soft, romantic cottage garden look but hate paying for a massive water bill? The cottage garden fantasy is reading a book while sipping tea, but the reality is usually dragging a heavy hose around at 6 AM. Swap your thirsty, high-maintenance divas for Catmint, Yarrow, Veronica, Helenium, Russian Sage, Blanket Flower, Shasta Daisy, and Sedum. You get all the lush, spilling textures and vibrant colors, with absolutely none of the watering drama. Plus, brushing past Russian Sage and Catmint acts like free outdoor aromatherapy. All romance, zero hassle. Hardy Hibiscus (1:54) Now, let's talk about that dreaded 'swampy corner of doom.' Got a spot in your yard that gets baked by the sun but stays super soggy? Most plants will just rot in the hot mud, taking your money down with them. Don't leave it empty—Hardy Hibiscus is your swamp solution. This plant thinks your poorly drained yard is a luxury resort. It thrives in that humid, wet heat and rewards you with massive, show-stopping blooms that are literally the size of dinner plates. Daylily (2:21) Want a plant that acts like a high-yield savings account? Daylilies are the real estate moguls of the garden border. They establish a lush, tropical-looking colony that divides, conquers, and expands year after year. Buy them once, and they’ll do the rest of the work for you. They are so incredibly resilient, you practically have to try to kill them, making them the ultimate flex for the lazy—or financially savvy—gardener. Rudbeckia & Coreopsis (2:46) Stop buying short-lived filler plants that barely peek over your ankles! If you want your landscaping to look expensive, you need vertical architecture. Rudbeckia and Coreopsis are the absolute giants of the summer garden. It’s like watching a teenager hit a growth spurt—they shoot up anywhere from 3 to 10 feet tall without breaking a single sweat in the summer sun. You don't need to buy a fancy wooden pergola when you have ten-foot-tall golden blooms waving in the wind. Echinacea (3:12) If you only have the budget for one bulletproof sun-lover to anchor your garden, make it Echinacea, also known as the Coneflower. They are the undisputed heavyweight champions of the summer garden. They laugh in the face of 100-degree days, the color and texture varieties are endless, and those spiky little cone centers look like tiny hedgehogs that will eventually feed the goldfinches come autumn. Once established, they are tough as nails. Watering (3:34) Now, before you go throw these in the ground and take a two-week vacation, listen up: 'Drought-tolerant' does not mean 'immortal.' Think of these plants like marathon runners. Yes, they are tough, and yes, they can go the distance in the blistering heat—but you still have to hand them a cup of water at the starting line. You must water them deep and often for their first few months to establish their roots. Give them that initial VIP treatment with some good soil and fertilizer, and they will run laps around your garden for years to come! Come out to the nursery and start Planting More today! Our Website: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/ Our Rewards Program: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/rewards For Landscape Design Inquiries: Email landscaping@bountifulgardens.com We hope to see you soon!

Your annuals are going to stop blooming in exactly one week unless you do this right now. The heatwave is coming, your plants are about to panic, and if you don’t deadhead them properly, the flower show is completely over! When it gets hot, your annuals go into survival mode. Their only goal is to make seeds. Once a fading flower forms a seed pod, the plant thinks its job is done, and it stops making new blooms. But when we remove those dead flowers, we trick the plant into pushing out fresh color all summer long. Now, before we get into exactly where to cut every specific plant in your garden, let’s get one thing straight: do not treat this like a chore. This is your 5-minute garden meditation. Pour yourself a glass of wine in the evening, or grab your morning coffee, and take a quick stroll through the yard. A few minutes of sipping and snipping is the difference between a sad, green bush and a magazine-worthy yard! Let's grab a glass and run through the heavy hitters. Zinnias & Dahlias (0:58) - These have long stems. Don't leave a headless, ugly stick poking out of your plant. Follow that bare stem down to the first set of healthy leaves, or the nearest new bud, and snip right above it. Snip. Geraniums (1:13) - Put the snips away for this one. Follow the long flower stalk all the way down to where it meets the main stem, push your thumb against it, and snap it backward. It pops right off. Snap. Petunias (1:24) - The biggest mistake people make here is just pulling the dead, papery petals. The seed pod is still attached right at the base! You have to pinch the sticky little green base right below the flower. Pinch. Marigolds (1:39) - These guys go to seed fast. Right below the dead flower is a swollen green bump. That’s the seed pod. Snip the stem right below that bump, just above the next set of leaves. Snip. Salvia (1:53) - When the bottom flowers on the spike turn brown and start falling off, it’s time. Follow the spike down into the foliage until you see two tiny new side shoots forming on the stem. Snip the main stalk right above them. Snip. Verbena, Lantana & Pentas (2:08) - These bloom in clusters. Once the whole cluster looks tired and faded, follow its little stem down to the next set of leaves and give it a haircut. Snip. African Daisies & Argyranthemum (2:23) - Finally, we have Argyranthemum and Osteospermum. To keep the flower show going, it's really important to follow the stem down and snip at the next set of leaves. The Golden Rule! (2:34) Okay, if you have a plant I didn't mention, or you are feeling completely overwhelmed by trying to memorize all of this, take a breath. I'm going to give you the golden rule of deadheading: Analyze the stem! Plants push new growth from the nodes—the little joints where leaves meet the stem. If you look closely at almost any annual, you will see a tiny new bud or branch forming right in the crotch of those leaves. Your goal is simply to trace the dead flower's stem down to the very next active bud or healthy set of leaves, and cut right above it. You are just taking away the dead end to let the new traffic flow. That’s it! Self-Cleaning Plants (3:12) Now, what if you want a beautiful garden but you absolutely refuse to do any dead-heading? You're in luck. Next time you come to Bountiful Gardens or your local garden center, look for "self-cleaning" annuals. Plants like Cuphea, Lobularia (Sweet Alyssum), Scaevola (Fan Flower), Portulaca, and Vinca automatically drop their spent blooms and keep pushing out new ones without any help from you. They are the ultimate plant-and-forget superstars. Beat the heat, trick your plants, and unlock thousands of blooms this summer. Grab your drink, grab your snips, and go spend five minutes in your garden. If this helped you save your summer flowers, hit that like button and subscribe for more straight-to-the-point gardening secrets. Happy gardening, and I’ll see you next time! Come out to the nursery and start Planting More today! Our Website: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/ Our Rewards Program: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/rewards For Landscape Design Inquiries: Email landscaping@bountifulgardens.com We hope to see you soon!

Looking for something to do, surrounded by avid gardeners just like you? Welcome back to Bountiful Gardens, where not only do we sell plants—we offer all sorts of events and workshops too! This past week, we were excited to welcome author, speaker and garden coach Pamela Hubbard to our Ewing and Hillsborough stores to talk about her new book, The Contemporary Cottage Garden. Pamela’s talk was unique in that it centered on one of the core values here at Bountiful Gardens—the idea that the love of gardening can be passed through generations, and evoke cherished memories and feelings of nostalgia. As Pamela said, “I learned to garden at my grandmother’s knee, and her cottage garden was amazing. I have spent the last twenty years creating a cottage garden as I had always dreamed to do—just like my grandmother’s—all about memories. It’s all about passing that heritage on to my children and grandchildren.” Her book touches on the essentials of the perfect cottage garden, utilizing old fashioned gorgeous plants like Echinacea, Hollyhock, Evening Primrose, Garden Phlox, and of course…roses! She also provided guidance on how to structure these plants cohesively: “So what do we mean when we talk about a cottage garden? A cottage garden has wide, curvy borders. There is always dense planting. There is an abundance of flowers, a riot of color, and there is always a focal point.” The event was a hit! Attendees gave glowing reviews, got their books signed, and felt excited and motivated to start their very own cottage gardens! We also offer all sorts of other events like group terrarium classes, birthday parties, and a variety of other talks to help you learn and grow on your gardening journey. The joy of gardening is something we’re always excited to share, and the best way to stay in the loop on our events and workshops is to sign up for our mailing list either here on our site, or when you come into any of our stores! Come down to any of our three locations--Ewing, Lawrenceville or Hillsborough--and start Planting More today! Our Website: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/ Our Rewards Program: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/rewards Get Your Landscape Design Project Started!: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/landscape-project-inquiry We hope to see you soon!

Welcome back to Bountiful Gardens! What if we told you that with just one tool, you can keep your herbs tasting delicious, your flowers re-blooming, and your shrubs shapely for the new season? You probably guessed it, but we’re talking about pruning shears! Herb Pruning Because the weather really starts heating up in June, your herbs are going to start going into overdrive and start a process known as bolting. This is when the plant begins to focus on flowering and seed production rather than vegetative growth. It’s great for the plant, but not so great for flavor! When an herb begins the process of bolting, it takes its energy away from its leaves and forces it towards the flowers and seeds. This makes the leaves a little bitter and the plant, overall, more woody, so you want to trim the flowers off as soon as you start to see the buds. Other herbs, like Cilantro, Dill and Parsley change their structure dramatically once they’ve bolted—the leaves get thinner, more bitter, and the plant becomes stalky and tall. For Cilantro, the plant focuses all its energy on its flowers, then produces Coriander seeds! In fact, many people actually plant Cilantro in the back of their garden specifically to produce Coriander seeds! We’ve set aside a few Basil plants to allow them to start flowering so we can show you how to prune them. To trim bolting Basil, you’re going to want to find a new flower bud, then head down the stem to the first grouping of leaves that looks really nice and lush—this is called the node. You’re going to want to trim right above the node with a 45 degree angle. One clean snip, and the plant is ready to produce more flavorful leaves. For the best tasting herbs, this is a process you’ll want to repeat for Oregano, Thyme, Mint and Sage. Perennial Pruning Now that we’re done using our clippers in the herb section to prevent flowers, it’s time to use them to get even more flowers where you do want them: your perennial garden! The first trimming method we’ll go over is deadheading, where you trim off spent blooms before they go to seed to promote new flowers. On plants like Dianthus, find the spent flowers, follow them down the stem to the first node with healthy new growth, and perform your cut. This will keep the plant from trying to develop seeds on spent blooms, letting it keep its focus on producing more flowers. Same goes for Meadow Sage! When its flower stalks are spent, follow them down to the node and snip slightly above to keep your plant in full bloom all season. While flowering perennials can look very different, the deadheading process is very similar across the board. Simply snip above the node! Chelsea Chop Sometimes perennials can benefit from a much more dramatic cut, otherwise known as the Chelsea Chop. This is when you cut your perennial at a third to even halfway down the plant, and it works especially well for taller perennials like Joe Pye Weed and Asters, keeping them from getting too floppy as the season goes on while controlling their growth and promoting more branching, leading to more flowers! Just like with deadheading, you’re going to be trimming right above a node. Find a healthy node with new growth on either side about a third of the way down the stem, and perform your cut. To keep a more natural look, make sure you stagger your cuts by an inch or two in height. Broadleaf Evergreen Pruning Perennials aren’t the only things you should be getting in shape right now. Summer is the perfect time to get your broadleaf evergreen shrubs in shape. By pruning them now, their new growth will be hardened off by Fall and be protected through Winter. To maintain clean shapes, like on the Faulkner Boxwood Ike chose, you can imagine an invisible line from the bottom of the plant up to the apex, then follow it with your clippers. Then simply move around the plant and repeat the process. Brush your hand along the shrub to shake loose any odds and ends you may still need to trim. And there you have it! Now the plant can flush out beautiful new growth through the rest of the growing season, and have a beautiful shape for the Winter. This doesn’t only work for Boxwoods—all sorts of evergreens like Euonymus, Yew and Skip Laurels can benefit from a quick shaping in Summer. So what are you waiting for? Sharpen your shears, get outside, and improve every corner of your garden with one quick clip! Come down to any of our three locations--Ewing, Lawrenceville or Hillsborough--and start Planting More today! Our Website: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/ Our Rewards Program: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/rewards Get Your Landscape Design Project Started!: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/landscape-project-inquiry We hope to see you soon!

Welcome back to Bountiful Gardens! We’re currently gearing up for Father’s Day, and we don’t know about you, but Father’s Day gifts really stress us out! Whenever that stress hits, we like to sit down and listen to the soothing sounds of our incredible fountains. …Hey there’s an idea! What about a fountain for Father’s Day? A water feature like the Acadia Wall fountain makes a solid option for a gift that Dad can appreciate for years and years to come. And they’re not just for show either! Fountains like the Tall Log Spill pose numerous benefits for the garden! Birds see moving water as a sign of cleanliness and freshness, so they’ll usually flock to it in the summertime, and nothing can be more inviting to them than the Tall Ring of Birds fountain. Fountains also provide a great source of water for bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects, and bubbler fountains like the Sunflower bubbler provide a landing place for them so they can take a sip in the summertime. The therapeutic benefits of fountains are well-documented! Studies have shown that seeing and listening to flowing water can lower stress levels and boost mood. And some of these water features, like the Crescent Two Spill are so unique that Dad can easily plan his garden bed around them with the fountain as the centerpiece. We carry so many different sizes and styles, whether you want something more naturalistic like the Waterfall Log fountain… The larger Fallen Logs fountain, which would look amazing in the back of a shade garden… Or the smaller Spilling Logs fountain for a more gentle, tranquil sound. If Dad’s an amphibian fan, we’ve got the Trio of Frogs Oval for him! We have more modern and contemporary centerpiece fountains, like the Matrix… Or the Slate Trio, perfect as a large centerpiece. You can opt for the Rustic Urn if you need a taller centerpiece fountain, Or the Vesuvio for a bubbling statement piece with a view. Then there’s the Sedona fountain, which has a much more pronounced spill, perfect for masking background noise. One of our staff favorites has to be the Kayak fountain, with its wide spillways and beautiful, elegant presence. We also have a full collection of fountains, bubblers, birdbaths, statues and more here at Bountiful Gardens Hillsborough! If you’re really trying to screen out background noise, you can go with the Copperhead fountain, with its tall, wide spillway. Or the Butterfly Wall fountain, whose presence in any space makes a powerful, yet peaceful statement. If you’re keeping it classic, the Three Tier Harvest fountain is the perfect choice. And amphibian fans have a place here in Hillsborough too, with both our one AND two-tier Leaf fountains featuring these adorable frog figures that double as spouts. Invite our feathered friends to the garden with the Birds of a Feather and Dove of Love fountains, or our two and three-tier Tranquility Spill Fountains! For a simple, elegant, single spillway, you can’t go wrong with the Springtime Garden and Hummingbird Single Spout Fountains, which offer just the right amount of natural, flowing sound. And if you’re limited on space, we also carry fountainettes like the Sphere and the Tropics Pineapple. To extend the enjoyment into the night, most of our fountains even come with LED lights and color filters! And setting up your fountain is a breeze–just fill it with water and plug it in! Still feeling daunted? Take all that pressure off and have us deliver and install your new water feature for you! So what are you waiting for? Come pick out your perfect fountain today! Come down to any of our three locations--Ewing, Lawrenceville or Hillsborough--and start Planting More today! Our Website: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/ Our Rewards Program: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/rewards Get Your Landscape Design Project Started!: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/landscape-project-inquiry We hope to see you soon!

Welcome back to Bountiful Gardens! Now that we’re cruising into June, it’s time to celebrate Pollinator Month by planting for all those crucial critters that keep our world buzzing! But what’s the secret to the perfect pollinator garden? One word: layers! A few scattered perennials may offer a quick snack, but a well-layered native garden provides pollinators with both the food AND the habitat they need to thrive for generations to come. For our first layer, we’re starting at the top, or in this case, the canopy. Native trees like Flowering Dogwood, Redbud, Buckeyes, and Black Cherry offer pollinators essential early-Spring sustenance and a shady retreat from the Summer heat. For us, they serve as visual anchors in the landscape, guiding the rest of your plantings. Moving down a bit, now we’re in our second layer, the understory. This is where you’ll find shrubs like Itea, Clethra, Ninebark and Viburnum, which start blooming in late Spring and Summer after the canopy leaves unfurl. Our native shrubs are absolutely relied upon by bees and butterflies each year, and they even serve as host plants for a vast array of native caterpillar species. The third layer is where the real magic happens–we’re talking perennials! New Jersey is home to an endless array of native perennials both you AND pollinators can count on year after year from Spring through Fall. By planting with bloom times in mind, you can orchestrate your own seasonal symphony and watch the bees, butterflies and hummingbirds dance across your Summer swaths of Echinacea, Black Eyed Susan and Beebalm. Finally, we’re down to our fourth layer, annual plants! While you’re waiting for your favorite perennials to bloom, you can add instant nectar sources to any gaps in the garden with hummingbird magnets like Salvia, Cuphea and Lantana. Annuals provide the perfect finishing touch to the landscape, and keep pollinators coming back through the first frost. And you’re not going to find a better selection anywhere but here at Bountiful Gardens. So there you have it–if you want to plant for pollinators, plant in layers, and whenever possible, plant native! If you’re feeling daunted, we’ll do the work for you! Just fill out a landscape inquiry form on our website to get your project started today. Come down to any of our three locations--Ewing, Lawrenceville or Hillsborough--and start Planting More today! Our Website: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/ Our Rewards Program: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/rewards Get Your Landscape Design Project Started!: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/landscape-project-inquiry We hope to see you soon!

Welcome back to Bountiful Gardens! We’re back in Ewing with Ike this week, celebrating the peak of our rose season! We had a full weekend of rain, and now that it’s sunny, these shrubs are bursting with blooms. All Summer long, we carry a robust collection of Knockouts, Proven Winners, TrueBlooms and of course, our signature collection of David Austin roses. But we’re not the only ones who enjoy these gorgeous blooms! Here in New Jersey, we famously have TONS of deer, and sometimes they like to nibble at these precious petals. But what if we told you that you could build a showy forcefield around them to help protect from any stray grazing? Let’s check out some fragrant perennials that are in peak bloom right now and can help protect your precious shrubs! Catmint - 0:52 One of the first perennials we think of when it comes to creating a perennial deer barrier is going to be Catmint. These are incredible hardy perennials that have a light fragrance to them. If you plant them in groups around your rose bushes, it’ll tell the deer to stay away. Agastache - 1:05 For much the same fragrant reason, Agastache, or Hummingbird Mint is going to be a great option for deterring deer—they smell like sweet mint! These flowers are also edible to us—try popping them into your dishes for a sweet, minty-stevia flavor. Meadow Sage - 1:23 Another plant commonly prized by gardeners as an aromatic shield is going to be Meadow Sage, or Salvia. Like the name suggests, these are related to true Sage, giving them that sweet aroma that will keep things like rabbits and deer away from your more precious plants. Bellflower - 1:38 Some plants rely more on sheer toughness rather than fragrance to deter deer, and one of those plants is going be Campanula, or Bellflower. These showy blooms work really well when planted in a mass, and act as a sort of flowering ground cover. Scotch Broom - 1:51 Some deer-resistant perennials are tough as a broom, like Scotch Broom! These indestructible perennials are avoided by deer, making them perfect for protecting your roses. They come in reds, yellows, pinks, oranges and whites! Foxglove - 2:03 If you want a species that grows taller when planted up against a taller shrub or a climbing rose, you can check out Foxglove, or Digitalis. These work really well in full sun areas, they come in all different colors, they can handle light droughts, and their blooms last from late Spring into early Summer. Mock Orange - 2:21 For a sweetly-scented shrub that works in perfect harmony with your roses, you can take a look at Mock Oranges. These have delicate clusters of white flowers that have a scent similar to citrus flower crossed with jasmine. Once established, they’re fairly deer-resistant and provide a nice contrast to the reds and pinks of rose bushes. Sweetspire - 2:39 For a shrub that has the benefit of being both tough as nails and lightly fragrant, look at Virginia Sweetspire, or Itea. Our favorite is the ‘Little Henry’ variety—a compact shrub that will work really well when planted amongst your roses, as it will help deter deer AND in the Fall, it’ll turn a beautiful red color! Here in New Jersey, it can be pretty tough to keep deer from eating whatever they want, but by planting strong garden beds of perennials that they definitely won’t want to touch, you’ll have a much better chance of protecting your more delicate shrubs, like your precious David Austin’s. Come down to any of our three locations--Ewing, Lawrenceville or Hillsborough--and start Planting More today! Our Website: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/ Our Rewards Program: https://www.bountifulgardens.com/rewards For Landscape Design Inquiries: Email landscaping@bountifulgardens.com We hope to see you soon!