SHOP PRODUCTS
Houzz Logo Print
monsoongal

Need planting suggestions for long side yard (pics included)

monsoongal
14 years ago

Hello - I'm a newbie here and this is my first post.

We moved into our approx 20 year old house about 2 years ago. Since then, we pulled out a lot of overgrown shrubs and some dead and diseased trees. So I have a whole bunch of empty beds all around my property. Now that I'm ready to start planting, I wanted to come and get your advice and suggestions.

I'm starting with a side yard bed adjoining our extended driveway and my neighbor's lawn. The bed is approx 35' x 10' and the back slopes into my neighbor's lawn. At the far end is a red twig dogwod and the near end has a mature plum tree. The area gets maybe 6 hours of sunlight during summer. The soil is well drained and we live in SE PA in zone 6B.

Here are a couple of pictures

{{gwi:42042}}

{{gwi:42044}}

My main goals for this bed are -

1. I would like this to be a low maintenance bed.

2. Privacy is not an issue so I want something that will not grow too crazy.

3. My neighbor's rhodys put on a spectacular show each spring so I dont want anything that would upstage that.

My first thought was to put in burning bush, but after some research, I found that it can get invasive and it is way too common (though that doesnt bother me too much). Also since it is not a full sun location, I am not sure whether I will get the red fall foliage that the shrub is famous for. I thought I could underplant with spring flowering bulbs.

The other shrubs I thought of were hydrangea and lilac, but I'm not sure how they will look with the red twig dogwood.

My other thought is to make it a perennial garden with mostly summer and fall flowering plants which could provide cut flowers. But I'm a newbie when it comes to plants and the only ones that come to mind are black eyed susans and daylilies. I'm not sure how to group things together and what will look good with what.

I'm looking for suggestions and advice that I can build on and get started with this bed and gain some confidence so I can start thinking about some other beds around my property.

I appreciate any feedback that you provide and the time that you take to read this. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks.

monsoongal

Comments (12)