Beautify Your Community Signage

  

Primping Your Portals

By Diana K. Weiner

America in Bloom Judge

 

When you travel, what says welcome more than seeing a pretty sign and an exciting landscape full of color when you finally reach your destination’s front door, whether it’s a town entry, the front of a hotel, or a business!

Color attracts the eye and positive emotions are released when we see something beautiful.  Using this time tested theory, America in Bloom encourages cities and businesses alike to be cognitive of their gateways and imagine how visitors react to them.

The signs themselves should be easy to read at the speed required for the road where they’re displayed. 

Ideally, landscaping around signs should offer four-season interest.  This is easy to do by including a mix of evergreens and deciduous shrubs and/or small ornamental trees.  The list below offers some suggestions for plants that thrive in most climates.

Evergreen shrubs may include:

            Microbiota decussata – Russian Arborvitae

            Cephalotaxus harringtonia ‘prostrata’ - Japanese Plum Yew

            Buxus ‘Green Gem’ - Boxwood

            Ilex crenata - Littleleaf Holly

            Juniperus virginiana ‘Grey Owl’ - Spreading Juniper

Deciduous shrubs may include:

            Itea virginica –Virginia Sweetspire

            Clethra alnifolia – Summersweet Clethra

            Rhus aromatic ‘Gro-low’ - Fragrant Sumac

            Diervilla sessilifolia – Southern Bush-honeysuckle

Adding a mix of long blooming perennials brings color while reducing year-to-year costs:

Liatris spicata – Gayfeather

Aster nova-angliae – New England Aster

Solidago caesia – Bluestemmed Goldenrod

Heliopsis helanthoides – Oxeye

Coreopsis verticillata – Threadleaf Tickseed

Spring flowering bulbs:

            Daffodil

Leucothoe

Grape Hyacinth

Camassia

Plant a necklace of sedges or liriope along the front border and you will have an attractive, low maintenance planting around a sign that will show those entering your portals year-round that you are proud of your town and you care about how it looks to both its residents and visitors. 

One added touch is to have the back of the welcome signs say “thank you for coming, please come back soon.”

 America in Bloom is a 501c3 non-profit that promotes community development through the use of horticulture, environmental awareness, historic preservation, and community involvement.  Prestigious national awards are offered annually.  For more information, please visit www.americainbloom.org.