Need design advice - covering perennial(s) beside lilac
drose5000
16 years ago
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Comments (13)
duluthinbloomz4
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agodrose5000
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
perennial cutting garden advice
Comments (18)Cathy, What type of seating have you used? Plastic is easy to keep clean and store but I want my theme to be kind of rustic/victorian looking and that means having more wicker or benches and such. Do you have water or some type of drinks people can purchase in case it is hot - I have been thinking about that. I will have to set aside the front and side rows of each bed for annuals, as Trish suggests, so they are easier to get to - to replant. I have already planted my flowers in rows so we shall see. My thought has been I would have the flowers already picked and people can choose from them - I am sort of protective of my flower beds - but maybe I will change - my beds are set up so they are concentrated flower masses and then grass areas around them. I have a covered patio with wisteria (which is covering good) but I have planted some trees on the west side to provide more shade and now I am putting in a bed of taller flowers on two sides of the patio. I have a rose arbor but it is a ways away (future growth area) and I have porches on my little gift shop on four sides. Willow trees with seats under them and now I am converting my kiwi (which isn't growing that great) to another rose arbor and it will have seats under it. My lavender is planted on either side of a meadow and I want to put a raised deck with one of those canvas patio coverings over that - but I am saving up to purchase the wood. (The deck has to be raised off the ground because it is a wet area during the winter and the wood would rot and sink unless I put it above ground) You say customers pick one of everything you have - how do you do your pricing then - charge by the stem or by the size of the bunch? Or different prices for more expensive flowers? Do you find customers take all the large flowers and you are left with only small ones or how has that been? Since I have a little gift shop - my idea has been to have pre-made flower arrangements in the shop - people can purchase those or buy loose flowers and arrrange those themselves. How do customers take away their bouquests - in a sleeve a bucket or vase? Eventually I want to have classes on flower arranging at pre-arranged times. THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU! - for all your questions (which stimulates my mind on questions I didn't even know I had), suggestions, ideas and sharing - this is a great forum. My weed barrier cloth came last night and emitter tubing - so I am going out to put that down and plant more plugs - it is sunny today - I think spring has sprung. Linda...See MoreNeed advice for selecting perennials for front of house (with pics)
Comments (25)I want to reiterate Marie's and Ken's praise for the width of your path as well as the depth of your front beds, both of which are in proportion to the house, though if it were mine, I would add depth along the back deck to make it deep enough to have perhaps three layers of plants (and knowing me, also along the octagonal porch as well.) In southern ME you will have acid soil like I do here in central NH, so there are a bunch of nice shrubs that will work for you, both evergreen and deciduous to give you the "bones" as GardenHoe suggested. Evergreen: Rhododendron spring flowers Mountain Laurel (Kalmia) spring flowers Bird's nest spruce dwarf forms of blue spruce smaller to medium forms of arborvitae/white cedar/Thuja occidentalis (not green giant!) which the deer haven't eaten in my garden, though it's an issue elsewhere You can also ask on the conifer forum for evergreen suggestions. IME, GH's suggestion of dwarf Alberta spruce isn't happy for long here - too disease prone Deciduous: Fothergilla (spring blooms and stunning fall color) variegated red-twigged dogwood Azaleas (spring or summer bloom, fall color) Hydrangea paniculata as jacquierz suggested, though choose the variety carefully. My Pinky Winky at 6 years is a monster (8' tall x 12' wide) so you want some of the varieties with 'little' in the name - Little Lime, Little Quickfire (starts blooming 4 weeks earlier than others and continues until hard freeze), Little Lamb, which will all be about 5'-6' tall or a few others that will stay even smaller such as Bobo. They are all fine in full sun in this part of the country and have blooms when many plants don't and mine have been fine without additional water this summer even though there have been some long dry spells. I do use mulch to retain moisture. (It's H. arborescens and H. macrophylla that likes some shade, and 'Twist and Shout' is the only H. macrophylla I would recommend of the several I've tried if you have morning sun somewhere or any of the H arborescens that appeal to you in the same 1/2 day morning sun. My H arborescens Annabelle suckers, so if you use it take that into account) Many varieties of Viburnum would work, but choose a type that is resistent to Viburnum beetles since they are around. smaller lilacs Physocarpus/ninebark, especially one of the smaller ones like Tiny Wine IME two of the suggestions further up this thread, butterfly bush and anything but the hardiest selection of the native form of redbud won't survive more than a couple of years here before they succumb to our winters. For perennials, some of my favorites in your color range include Caryopteris divaricata 'Snow Fairy', with variegated green/white leaves Aster 'Lady in Black' along with many other hardy asters in various shades of purple/blue, dark pink, and white fall Clematis, particularly the summer blooming varieties, the type 3 (hard) pruners including 'Venosa Violacea', 'Arabella', 'Betty Corning', 'Little Bas', 'John Huxtable', and 'Juuli' as well as 'Piilu', a type 2 (light) prune after blooming many groundcover dianthus in shades of pink and/or white, including 'Brilliancy' and 'Greystone' spring or spring and summer Nepeta/catmint spring into summer Some of the easy care, hardy roses, including John Davis rose and others in the Canadian Explorer series. all season Baptisia spring with nice summer foliage Iris, particularly the Siberian and Japanese varieties spring, though there are also bearded iris in your color scheme, some of which rebloom in the fall perennial Geraniums including sanguineum var. lancastriense, Rozanne, Orkney Cherry, Cinereum Ballerina, all of which bloom much of the summer in my garden Allium 'Millenium' summer Amsonia hubrichtii - spring blooms, feathery foliage with bright yellow fall color Peonies spring Salvias Caradonna and Royal Candles Penstemon Sweet Joanne late spring into fall Pulmonaria Scabiosa 'butterfly blue' all summer Stokesia summer Campanula Birch Hybrid and Resholt Variety Ibiris/candytuft Bulbs: spring - plant all where emerging perennials will hide the dying foliage White daffodils Reticulated iris Hyacinths Hyacinthoides Tall alliums such as Mt. Everest or Globemaster crocus Siberian squill (Scilla) tulips in white, pink or purple (many behave as annuals and won't bloom in following years, so look for ones that are specified as perennial)...See MorePeach Drift Rose Bed: Need Design Advice
Comments (7)Enchanted, Yardvaark, Thank you! for your excellent thoughts, I really appreciate it. Perhaps my post drew few responses because with a single row of roses there's not much to "design"... so your input is especially helpful. I've seen so many beautiful gardens here but am underskilled in design! Given your input I'll keep the arbor and leave the boxes as they are. On the OTHER side of the white lattice fence is a row of Yellow Canna interspersed with Liatris and 3 Clematis Venosa violacea - all planted this summer. TRELLIS: There is one Multi-blue on the trellis which is very nice but not that prominent when in bloom. I will add some more purple clematis to the trellis, I could probably get 3-4 more clematis planting on each side of each trellis wall. Would Jackmani make a good "wall" of flower? on the trellis? (lots of blooms?). Other? BLACK EYED SUSAN / WHITE DAISY: My single and only reason for thinking black eyed susan inside the trellis is that I have seen folk say it is a very reliable and very hardy perennial, and that coneflower is not. I understand about the 'clash' Peach and black eyed susan. White daisy is a great suggestion and thank you for advising would complement better. Any suggestions for hardy, reliable perennial white daisy, heat/drought tolerance...like black eyed susan that might work well? How tall should the daisy be given the row of Peach Drift? The Bob Hydrangea is a very interesting idea. I looked at these on web - do you know how Bobo holds up across whole summer for plant and for bloom? I also think the statue/feature idea is great, something I never even would have thought of. Sorry for long writing, I'm very grateful for your help. This is a "simple" planting area but I really want it to be effective for what it is. growitnow z7b, Eastern VA...See MoreExterior design advice badly needed!!
Comments (9)Wow! I've never done this before. Great responses! I don't see how to respond to anyone specifically, so I will try to clarify a little. Otter Play and 3ontheTree are on the right track. The door you see from the front is a mechanical door for the water heater, with the gas meter located in front of it. They must be accessible to meet the code, but we don't need to create steps there. The entrance to the main house is on the left side of the garage. The entrance to the unit is the blue door which is located 1/2 way down the dirt area on the right side of the picture, facing the neighbor's fence. I am planning to have a path from the blue door toward the street with plantings, much like Sabrina's picture. I had not thought of starting the "path" to the unit further down the driveway as Dig Doug showed. I agree with the comment that so much cement will not be very inviting. I guess I defaulted to that because grass in California is such a water waste. But Doug's picture is making me rethink it. I suppose drought-resistant plants might work but there isn't much light due to the neighbor's tree. Still doesn't solve how to hide the trash cans though, unless I end up having two gates out front or some type of separate cover closer to the street. You've all been wonderful, any more thoughts?...See Morelaceyvail 6A, WV
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agodrose5000
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agoduluthinbloomz4
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agomad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agoisabella__MA
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agolaceyvail 6A, WV
16 years agolast modified: 9 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
3 years agoGreenGlam Gardening
3 years agovioletsnapdragon
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