What Are Ornamental Plants?

Ornamental plants are found in residential landscapes, along highway median strips, bordering parking lots and in golf courses, parks and other public places. Landscapers use ornamental plants for their visual appeal. Flowers, fruits and foliage are inedible but colorful and provide otherwise mundane expanses with decorative flourishes. Trees, flowers, shrubs and grasses are among the plant varieties that fall into the ornamental category. Landscape architects and gardeners use a combination of these plant types to complete their visual landscapes.

Specimens and Focal Points

Small ornamental trees like flowering crab apple or rosebud are sited centrally in a landscape to provide a focal point. Since these plants stand out by themselves, they are considered specimen plants. Use specimen plants sparingly to avoid garish ornamentation. Gardeners hoping to keep visual interest year-round plant a combination of ornamental specimens, each assuming a single seasonal focal point. Flowering trees provide spring interest, while large ornamental trees like red maple dominate fall landscapes. Slender-branched specimens like willow take on a weeping habit, setting it apart from other plants in a winter landscape.

Flowerbeds and Borders

The most notable ornamental plants are flowering beds. Gardeners plant both annual flowers and perennials to create mixed beds capable of providing blooms throughout a growing season. Annual flowers, from cosmos to zinnias, are bright and colorful in flower beds and borders but are also suited for container gardens -- window boxes and large planters. Annual flowers die once the first frost arrives or when the growing season ends. Perennial flowers like iris and chrysanthemum return year after year. Landscape architects use the soft, subdued shades of perennials to keep a landscape visually appealing before and after annual plants bloom.

Trees and Shrubs

Trees and shrubs frequently have dual purposes in a landscape. Large trees have ornamental value in fall, when their leaves take on different colors, but leaves also provide non-ornamental yet valuable shade in summer. Shrubs, from the flowering lilac and forsythia to the frond-like juniper with its ornamental berries, set a border or provide privacy screens while still improving a garden's overall appearance.

Vines

Ornamental flowering vines like wisteria, or vines noted for their foliage like English ivy, climb trellises and arbors. Their growth provides atmosphere to patios and outdoor gathering places, but their ornamentation is also used to conceal bare walls and other outdoor imperfections. These vertical plants are often found in urban landscapes because they do not require much ground space to thrive.

Ground Covers

In open areas, ornamental vines are used as ground covers, especially in areas unsuited for lawns. Ornamental grasses, like fountain grass and pampas grass, are also suitable lawn alternatives. Tall and elegant, ornamental grasses have low water requirements, making them suitable for xeric landscapes. Landscapers note that ornamental grasses, particularly those with plumes and decorative seed heads, are attractive during winter and on full moon nights.

References

• University of Minnesota Extension; 150 Years of Hardy Plants; Ornamental Trees
• Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service; Ornamental and Garden Plants; Controlling Deer Damage; Ron Masters, Paul Mitchell, Steve Dobbs
• Colorado State University Extension; Ornamental Grasses; C.R. Wilson; December 2008