foundation shrub options/design

13 years ago

I'm new to gardening and I'm feeling overwhelmed so I'm hoping to get some more experienced advise here. We recently bought an attached, brick, tudor style home, and I'm having a hard time deciding what to plant in the front foundation bed.

The bed to the right of the front walk has white evergreen azaleas, but the bed to the left (13x6, full sun) is totally empty. Behind this bed is a low (maybe 2 feet) brick foundation to a covered porch which then has two windows into the house, you can't see the front door from the walk.

Here's what I'm thinkingÂ

Dwarf Burford Holly to the far left to anchor the bed, be 4-season interest, and hide an ugly window well cover. Because this will eventually be a 4-6 foot compact mound I was thinking a more natural/organically shaped upright shrub (max. 3-4 foot wide) would be nice contrast in the center of the bed. I'm not big on showy flowers so I was thinking a Little Henry Sweetspire, or Chokeberry, which would give nice fall color, but they both seem to send up suckers and I'm concerned about them taking over the remaining right side of the bed where I was hoping to put a small herb garden (full shade backyard is a subject for another day).

So I guess my questions are

1) Any thoughts on the layout idea: 4-6 mounding shrub, 3-4 ft. upright, rosemary and lavender backdrop to an assorted herb garden?

2) Any suggestions for that center plant: 3-4 foot max, maybe upright deciduous with white flowers or an interesting fall color?

3) If I plant a Sweetspire or another suckering shrub, can they be controlled at all?

I appreciate any suggestions people might have.

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Comments (7)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
13 years ago
a pic would sure be nice ...

i cant think of a single shrub that would fit in a space 6 feet deep ... with plants behind it...

i fear you are thinking of jamming too much in this bed ...

in a 6 foot deep space.. a nice little 3 to 4 foot shrub would be it.. with space behind and in front ..

NEVER FORGET.. foundation plantings hide the foundation.. they are not to be plant on the foundation ...

ken
Iris GW
13 years ago
I have not found sweetspire to sucker so much that you can't control them.

I agree that a photo would be helpful. Consider posting a full sized one on a photohosting site (like photobucket) and then provide a link to the picture.
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I think you're on the right track with your original idea. Winter Gem Boxwood would grow well and be neat and tidy. I'd plant herbaceous perennials in front of the hedge for color. One of my new favorites is heuchera 'caramel', which keeps its leaves and color through the winter here.
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Living in Pennsylvania, I am not a gardenia person. Back to rhododendrons and azaleas. If you are in South Carolina, I assume you have both sun and heat. One problem in growing rhododendrons in hot climates is root rot. Many rhododendrons are quite susceptible to root rot, especially when soil temperatures get higher. In areas with cool nights, one can keep soil temperatures down with shade and mulch. In areas where cool nights are not common, this won't work. We must remember also that too much shade causes a poor flower bud set on many varieties. The quest for heat tolerant rhododendrons has focused on the very heat tolerant Rhodendron hyperythrum. This species has been used in hybridizing a number of heat tolerant offspring, including R. 'Hypermax' (R. hyperythrum x R. maximum), R. 'Charles Loomis' ('English Roseum' x R. hyperythrum), R. 'Peppermint Twist' (R. hyperythrum x R. Hexe) and R. 'Michelle Smith' (R. 'Scintillation' x R. hyperythrum) Other rhododendron varieties known for their heat tolerance include: 'Aunt Martha', 'Blue Jay', 'Blue Peter', 'Boule de Neige', 'Brilliant', 'Chapmanii Wonder', 'Cynthia', 'English Roseum', 'Evening Glow', 'Goldsworth Orange', 'Lady Clementine Mitford', 'Mrs. Charles E. Pearson', 'Myrtifolium', 'Odoratum', 'PJM', 'Platinum Pearl', and 'Red Eye'. To avoid lace bug problems you need to select rhododendron varieties that do well in full sun. Among this list are eight are also sun and cold tolerant: 'Aunt Martha' (-10F), 'Blue Jay' (-10F), 'Blue Peter' (-10F), 'Boule de Neige' (-25F) , 'Cynthia' (-15F), 'English Roseum' (-25F), 'Myrtifolium' (-15F), and 'PJM' (-25F). Here are some azaleas to consider for full sun including some encore varieties: ‘Autumn Amethyst™’, -10F, Low/Med. This lavender is one of the Encore® reblooming azaleas. ‘Autumn Cheer™’, -10F, Low. This pink is one of the Encore® reblooming azaleas. ‘Autumn Rouge™’, -5F, Low/Med. This bright pink is one of the Encore® reblooming azaleas. ‘Autumn Royalty™’, -10F, Med. This purple is one of the Encore® reblooming azaleas. ‘Autumn Sangria™’, -10F, Med. This dark pink is one of the Encore® reblooming azaleas. ‘Autumn Twist™’, -10F, Med. This white with purple markings is one of the Encore® reblooming azaleas. ‘Deciduous Azaleas’, Most deciduous azaleas are hardy to -25°F, grow well in the sun and really can be grown practically anywhere. They frequently are poor bloomers in the shade. ‘Flame Creeper’, Late, -10F, Dwarf. Noted for its tolerance of full sun, this reliable azalea displays a profusion of scarlet-orange flowers. It makes a good ground cover with its small leaves and creeping habit. ‘Hino Crimson’, Early, -10F, Low/Med. Bright crimson flowers unfold in April, and holding their color well. This attribute, coupled with sun tolerance and red winter foliage, makes ‘Hino Crimson' an excellent all around choice. Planted in the open, it grows to a dense 2½' mound, although it adapts well for use as hedging. ‘Hinode-giri’, Early, -5F, Medium. One of the more sun-tolerant hybrids, this azalea produces multitudes of rose-crimson flowers early to mid-season. Small, glossy leaves turn bright red in winter on this dense plant. ‘Stewartstonian’, Early, -20F, Medium. A sun tolerant hybrid, ‘Stewartstonian' displays lush red 2' blooms that, in the light, appear blood orange. Winter foliage deepens to wine red, making it an excellent winter foliage plant. Here is a link that might be useful: Rhododendrons and azaleas for sun.
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I wrote out a whole long response and then lost it when my browser crashed . . . here's the main essence of my suggestions, although I still would vote for no foundation plantings. I would suggest that you map out any paths with flour, not just as a single line, but the actual width and location of the path and try walking it to see if it is comfortable, even if they are paths you won't use much. You don't want to leave so little width that anyone walking the path has to brush up against your plants. You will want your plantings to stay low as well as narrow. If you grow them up to the bottom of your window, they will be against the shingles and you will have discoloration and rot issues. I'm making some general suggestions of shrubs that stay low, but I don't know how much sun this area gets, which will influence what does well. For instance, the red color on the Midnight Wine weigela will be better in more sun, while the variegated leaves on My Monet weigela will do better with some shade. Also, there may be some lime leaching from the foundation, so you may want to do a soil test in that area to see how acidic or alkaline your soil is. I'll let you look up requirements of plants that appeal to you. Here are some low bushes to look into: -Small weigelas include 'My Monet' and 'Midnight Wine', both of which will stay under 2' height and width. -Rhododendron 'Checkmate' is a PJM type of rhodie, but unlike regular PJMs my Checkmate, which is probably 6 years old and went in as a 2' high plant is now only 3' tall. It might be a bit wider than you want, but should be easy to keep in check with light pruning. Some other rhodies with shorter stature can be found on the site linked below, which allows you to search by height, and then the database entries will include width. Not all of these will be easily found, however. -There are some small boxwood varieties, like 'Morris Midget' and 'Morris Dwarf'. -There are several varieties of short, golden leaved spireas, though I am not sure how wide they get. -Some of the new varieties of Hydrangea macrophylla are quite short, such as the Cityline series (Berlin, Venice, Rio, Paris, etc.) though they aren't hardy enough for me to have any experience with them. Another option would be to have plants that stay skinny enough so that they won't be against the foundation. A trellis with one of the smaller clematis might work for you. 'Piilu' is one that is fairly restrained (usually 4-5 feet) but still flowers well. 'Bijou' stays under 2 feet. You could ask on the clematis forum for other suggestions. If you put the trellis between the windows, it would have the decorative metal work for winter interest, and the flowers in the summer without blocking the window. Here is a link that might be useful: American Rhododendron Society database search
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kcmnc, shrubs grow faster than you assume. Here is a bed I planted in the fall of 2009, but photographed in June 2010, with nothing taller than 3' except a very few of the evergreens that were 4'-5'. Most of the rhododendrons, dogwoods, spicebushes, hydrangeas, etc were under 2', and some were about 6". The cherry trunk visible in the photo below is just out of sight to the right in this photo. And here it is in 2014, with just less than 5 years in the ground. The large pink Hydrangea paniculata 'Pinky Winky' is 8' tall x 12' wide, well over my head (it is the little lopsided green blob on the left in photo 1.) Note how much space between the hydrangea and the dark green arborvitae in photo 1; they are touching in photo 2. Even after gardening for 35+ years, I was floored by how quickly it filled in! It has almost totally hidden the large logs, buildings, and solar panels it was designed to keep out of sight. Many of the perennials I put in initially have disappeared since they were overgrown by the shrubs. Seriously consider looking up your shrub's predicted width and plant accordingly as suggested above by all of us. In two years you will have covered at least half of the foundation as long as they are plants suited for the spot (soil, sun, etc), and the plants will create a distraction that makes it less apparent since your eyes will have something else to focus on of more interest. Are you planning on staying less than 3 years? You also always have the option of parging or painting the foundation to make it fade into the background better. If you leave the shrubs where they are, either you or a future owner will regret it since you/they will be putting in time fighting to keep them away from the building.
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WendyB 5A/MA
13 years ago
Daphne Carol Mackie
yetanotherjenn
Original Author
13 years ago
Sorry for not adding a picture before. I hope this link works. The photo is from last Fall and the giant mums are no longer in the bed on the left, which is the empty thorn in my side at this point. The bed is 13 wide partially hidden in this photo by our neighbors hydrangea and I've also made the bed a foot deeper since this photo was taken.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3502625&l=22db77d7ff&id=612912714
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
13 years ago
i will have to mull it over.. but frankly.. i would not put anything there that blocks the horizontal of the porch ...

there is so much in front of that house ... too much more would be less.. if you get what i mean ...

what is the sun .. and can you step back a few feet .. and get a pic of the whole front of the house..

one thing for a newbie... dont rush into making a problem for yourself..

if at worst.. you only get some annuals in there for this season.. we can plant some nice stuff in fall ...

there is always tomorrow ...

ken
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
13 years ago
Thanks for the photo. Lovely house!! I'm not going to make specific plant suggestions since my zone is so different from yours, but I will give some general thoughts.

With your porch, will a 4-6 ft shrub cut off too much of the light into your windows at the back of the porch and make that room too dark?

Is there a reason that you can't or don't want to make the bed a bit deeper? To my mind, a 6 ft deep foundation bed is still a bit shallow.

Consider whether you like variegated shrubs, which aren't flowery, but will add some lightness to the front of a dark-colored house.

If you don't want to deepen the bed, would you consider having your bed a majority herbs, since you've already mentioned lavender and rosemary, both of which are shrubby herbs. Would several lavender be large enough to hide your window cover?

Most New England gardeners, even in warmer areas than mine, haven't been successful with Itea 'Little Henry'. You might want to check with gardeners in your area to see how it does around you.
yetanotherjenn
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks everyone.

I'm trying not to rush any decisions because I don't want to have to redo anything or have regrets. However, sometimes I tend to over research and end up floundering.

When finding the photo for you I started to second guess my original plan too. I agree anything over 3 feet would probably overpower the tiny yard and porch, what with the neighbors tree and hydrangea (both of which we enjoy). While the yard gets full sun the porch is so deep we never really get a lot of light in the windows so that isn't really a concern.

The whole front yard, from porch to sidewalk is only 22 feet so I was afraid that if I made the bed any deeper than 6 feet the proportions would be off (other houses on our street seem to have the same proportions).

I like the suggestions for a variegated shrub which might stand out nicely on the brick.

I might just go ahead with the herbs for now while I continue to ponder the bigger commitment/investment of bushes.

foundation shrub options/design

Comments (7)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Iris GW

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foundation shrub options/design

Comments (7)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Iris GW

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WendyB 5A/MA

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