Ideas for adding color to your walkway, patio

Get expert tips, advice at the home and garden show

The Dayton Home and Garden Show — Friday through Sunday, March 23-25, at the Dayton Convention Center, 22 E. Fifth St. — will feature 60 one-hour seminars all throughout the weekend through the Garden Academy series.

Free with show admission, the seminars will be led by landscape designers, lawn-care specialists and botanists.

Topics presented at the Academy Series stage will include:

Topics and step-by-step instructions presented at the You Can-Do-It stage include:

Seminars on container gardening, tips on how to harvest year-round edibles such as tomatoes, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries will also be presented.

The 16th annual Dayton Home and Garden Show is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $8; $5 in advance for groups of 10 or more; children 12 and younger get in for free.

Download a $2 discount coupon or a buy-one-get-one-free coupon (valid Friday only) online at www.daytonhomeandgardenshow.com.

A one-year subscription to Better Homes & Gardens magazine comes as a gift to those who purchase full-price tickets online.

For more details on the Dayton Home and Garden Show seminar series, call HIS Show Productions at (800) 215-1700 or go online to www.daytonhomeandgardenshow.com for a full schedule.

As the temperatures go up, people are getting out.

It is time to enjoy the sunshine, go for a walk and, of course, do a little work in the garden. Flower beds need attention after a long winter’s nap, and when you step out you might notice that your walkway or patio also need a spring sprucing up.

“For a walkway or patio, the first thing will be to determine the amount of sunlight and available space there is,” said John Anderson, president of Andy’s Garden, with locations in Piqua and Troy.

For a quick and easy update, Anderson recommends adding planters.

“Planters come in any shape and size that you can think of. They can be very high style or very low style,” Anderson said.

Anderson advises that when combining plants in a planter, make sure they all require the same amount of sunlight, fertilizer, water and soil pH, but more than three color combinations can become overwhelming.

“When doing combination planters, a general rule of thumb is to use an upright plant for the middle, a medium grower for the center around the upright plant and a trailing plant for the edge of the container that will spill over,” Anderson said.

Containers are a good way to add color if your planting beds are full, said Jeff Dorton, landscape designer and salesman at Berns Garden Center and Landscaping in Middletown and Beavercreek.

“The containers themselves can be very decorative and colorful. A good planting mix will help to ensure success, but watering will be the key. In hot, dry, full sun conditions, daily watering may be necessary,” Dorton said.

When doing a planter, Anderson recommends that the container be clean and free of any harmful chemicals such as weed killer.

If there is room in the landscape beds along the patio or sidewalk, then Dorton suggests adding annuals, perennials or shrubs for a splash of color.

“In the annual category, wave petunias are a great source of color with a minimum amount of maintenance, however, they do require a mostly sun location,” Dorton said. “If the area is partly sunny to shady, then impatiens or begonias will give you lots of color.”

For perennials, Dorton recommends smaller ones, less than 3 feet to eliminate the closed-in feeling; long bloom periods, up to full summer; and plants that do not require a lot of deadheading.

“The lighting conditions will dictate the type of perennial you can plant. Full-sun perennials such as coneflower, coreopsis and daylilies will work, while coral-bells or hostas will add color to partly shady or shady areas,” Dorton said. “Shrubs to give you color in sunny areas include crimson pygmy barberry, spiraea and Knockout Roses. In the shady areas, endless summer hydrangea is a great plant to give you season-long pop.”

Patrick Flanagan, landscape manager and designer at Knollwood Garden and Landscaping Center in Beavercreek, considers Knockout Roses to be a great choice.

“They are by far one of the longest-blooming plants flowering from midspring until frost. They have several different colors, including red, pink, yellow and white. There is also a pink and red variety with double blooms,” Flanagan said. “These are a great addition to a patio setting with their constant flowering throughout the summer when the outdoor living areas are being put to the most use.”

For an alternative to flowering plants, try ornamental grasses.

He recommends: Calamagrostis acutiflora “Karl Foerster,” which is a great feather reed grass that is good for areas that need vertical height but have limited horizontal space; Miscanthus sinensis “Morning Light,” one of the medium-sized maiden grasses; and Pennisetum alopecuroides “Cassian,” which is a smaller grass that reaches a mature height of 30 to 36 inches.

To add nonliving impact to walkways or patios, Anderson suggests a statuary or water fountain.

To uncover the brilliance of your existing walkway or patio, try a little elbow grease.

“If the sidewalk or patio is in good condition, but looks dirty, pressure washing will brighten the looks and give a newer appearance,” Dorton said.

If pressure washing is not enough, then it might be time for a redo.

"Consider pavers as an alternative to regular concrete. Pavers can be installed in a number of colors and patterns that will make your sidewalk or patio the decorative element," Dorton said.