Happy New Year!
Getting your 2026 planting season organized starts long before Ma Nature warms the soil. With thousands of trees, shrubs, perennials, fruit trees, and evergreen bushes available on NatureHills.com, a smooth year begins with a clear plan.
This month-by-month planning guide highlights the power of early preorders, smart budgeting, and the brand-new Wishlist feature that helps you track must-have plants as you build your dream landscape. Gardeners of every level can map out a stress-free, productive year by organizing what to plant, when to plant it, and when to lock in favorites before they sell out.
From cold-hardy evergreens and flowering bushes to shade trees, Rose bushes, Hydrangea bushes, berry bushes, and pollinator-loving perennials, 2026 is the year to plan ahead. Using the Nature Hills Wishlist makes it easier than ever to save, compare, and preorder top picks before peak spring demand. This guide sets you up with a clear step-by-step strategy that keeps your landscape goals moving forward, rain or shine.
"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." – Audrey Hepburn
- How to Build a Month-by-Month Planting Roadmap
- Shop Pay: Fast Checkout and Flexible Payments
- Your 2026 Garden Planning Timeline
- Bringing Your 2026 Garden Vision to Life
How to Build a Month-by-Month Planting Roadmap
Before diving into individual months, start with the tools that make planning easier.
Use the Wishlist Feature
Nature Hills now lets you save plants directly to a personalized Wishlist. This becomes your planning hub for 2026.
- Compare colors, sizes, and bloom times
- Plan your garden by matching spaces with the mature widths of your plants
- Build themed lists like privacy hedges, flowering shrubs, edible landscapes, or shade gardens
- Track restocks and seasonal availability
- Quickly jump between product pages
- Perfect for keeping all potential trees, shrubs, and perennials organized
Why Preordering Matters
Top sellers on the Nature Hills plants page move fast. Preordering ensures you get:
- First access to limited-quantity trees and shrubs
- Priority shipping as soon as planting season opens in your zone
- Better planning for your layout since you know exactly what’s arriving
- No last-minute scrambling when a favorite Hydrangea, Fig tree, Chaste tree, Mimosa tree, Arborvitae, or Climbing Rose sells out
Shop Pay: Fast Checkout and Flexible Payments
Shop Pay gives gardeners a quick, secure way to lock in their favorite trees, shrubs, perennials, and fruit trees before they sell out. With one-tap checkout and optional installment payments, Shop Pay makes plant shopping easier than ever, especially during the busy spring preorder season.
- One-tap checkout for returning customers
- Encrypted, secure payment processing
- Optional installment plans for larger orders
- Perfect for preordering high-demand plants early
- Great for spreading out the cost of hedges, fruit tree projects, and landscape upgrades
Whether you’re building a pollinator garden, upgrading privacy, or planning a full landscape makeover, Shop Pay helps you reserve every must-have plant while staying on budget.
Your 2026 Garden Planning Timeline
January – Dream, Research, Save Your Favorites
- Explore the entire Nature Hills plants collection and build your Wishlist
- Organize lists for fruit trees, small bushes, ornamental grasses, flowering bushes, and evergreen bushes
- Research mature sizes to avoid overcrowding
- Take notes on sunlight patterns and drainage
Great Wishlist additions include: Fruit tree, Dwarf fruit tree, Fig tree plant, Lemon trees, Blueberry bushes, Hydrangea bushes, tall bushes for privacy, Rose bushes, Tulips.
February – Lock In Preorders
- Finalize plant selections and preorder early
- Order dormant fruit trees while the stock is high
- Add spring stars like Climbing Roses, Clematis, Hostas, ornamental grasses, and perennials
Smart preorder choices include: Apple tree, Peach tree, Pear tree, mature fruit trees, Blackberry bushes, Raspberry bushes, Butterfly bushes, Roses, evergreen grasses, and dwarf pine trees.
March – Prep Your Soil and Beds
- Clear debris and reshape beds
- Freshen mulch using arborist mulch
- Plan spots for shade-loving plants versus full sun shrubs based on true full sun conditions
- Install edging and irrigation before the planting rush
- Check your Wishlist for last-minute additions
April – Planting Season Begins in Many Zones
- Plant cold-hardy perennials using best planting practices, ornamental grasses, shade bushes, and Spirea bush
- Plant shrubs and perennials that support early-season pollinators to welcome butterflies
- Prepare space for berry bushes and smaller fruit tree varieties
May – Prime Time for Color
- Plant Rose bushes, Climbing roses, Catmint, Salvia, Karl Foerster Feather Reed grass, and Prairie grasses
- Install Butterfly bushes and Hydrangea bushes
- Add species that support caterpillar development with proper host plants
June – Fill Gaps and Refresh Beds
- Revisit your Wishlist for overlooked favorites
- Add mid-summer bloomers like Dahlia and other sun-loving perennials
- Plant Pink Muhly Grass, Miscanthus grass, or Japanese forest grass for fall texture to strengthen your landscape design
- Boost nectar-rich plantings to increase pollinator traffic
July – Maintenance Month
- Deadhead spent blooms for more flowers
- Mulch to conserve moisture
- Fertilize fruit trees using a fertilizer for fruit trees
- Lightly prune Rose bushes for more blooms
- Support beneficial garden helpers by growing nectar plants
August – Prepare for Fall Planting
- Order fall shrubs, evergreens, and privacy hedges like Green Giant Arborvitae
- Add restocked items to your Wishlist
- Plan spots for shade grasses, evergreen bushes, and Oakleaf Hydrangea
- Encourage native bee activity with bee-preferred flower colors
September – Peak Planting Weather Returns
- Install trees, evergreen grasses, Nandina bushes, and flowering bushes
- Plant Blueberry bushes, Holly bushes, Wax Myrtle, and Barberry Bushes
- Add new perennials for spring 2027 blooms and divide older clumps
- Choose species that help Monarchs migrate with late-season fuel
October – Fall Color and Finishing Touches
- Plant red, orange, and gold-toned shrubs for bold autumn displays
- Install Catmint, Astilbe, and Ferns for year-round structure
- Winterize Fig trees, Lemon trees, and other tender species
- Welcome hummingbirds with late-season nectar sources
November – Cleanup and Online Planning
- Remove spent plant material
- Rake leaves into compost to make compost
- Add dormant oil spray for fruit trees to your list for winter care
- Update your Wishlist with 2027 ideas
- Encourage garden balance by protecting beneficial insects
December – Reflect, Reset, and Plan for 2027
- Evaluate what worked well
- Note what you want more of
- Consider adding more wildlife-friendly shrubs to support backyard birds
Bringing Your 2026 Garden Vision to Life
When you combine early preorders with the Wishlist planning tool, your landscape becomes a whole lot easier to manage. The best part is enjoying the fun part first: imagining your dream yard filled with Rose bushes, flowering bushes, evergreens, berry bushes, ornamental grasses, shade annuals, and sun annuals.
From the roots to the blooms, every plant you save now helps map out a calmer, more organized planting season.
Happiest of New Year's wishes from Nature Hills to you! Let your 2026 garden plan grow like a well-rooted idea ready to leaf out.
Happy Planting!