my new perennial garden, need some help please!

14 years ago

Hi,

I am a pretty new gardener, but a very enthusiastic one! Wondering if someone could provide some advice. I have a garden that will be viewed from two directions. It is along a retaining wall that borders the walk to my front door. So one view is from the walk, and the other is from the street. It is probably about 5 feet by 30 or so.

Because of this I am having a hard time trying to figure out where the taller plants go. So far I am trying not to plant anything much more than 18 inches because it is on a high retaining wall and I don't want my house to look like a fortress :)

I am really torn on the best way to design this garden that will be seen by two angles. I think the most important angle is probably the one coming up the walk. Another problem I am having is wondering if I am mixing flowers that might seem odd together.

For example, today I planted a moonbeam corpeosis next to a asiatic lilly. After I went inside and looked at it, I felt like maybe that wasn't a good move. The lilly seems much more elegant and the corpeosis that I love seems more casual, wildflowerish.... it seems like a more informal type of flower.

I know there are no hard and fast rules, but do people regard mixing plants like these as ok... or a no no?

Are there any plants you would advise me to use, or that you would advise me to avoid? I am afraid to have a garden that only looks good for a short month or two.

So far I have purchased.

2 shasta daisies (I think they were probably 1 gallon containers)

3 types of daylillies... 2 happy returns, and one "pardon me". Anyone have any experience with this one? I am a little nervous about the pardon me because there are no buds on this. when will it bloom and form buds? I am excited for a red day lilly! One of my happy returns is blooming, the other has tons of buds and won't bloom... looks healthy... what gives? Are stella better bloomers than happy returns?

2 dianthus . One was an indian something mix. I am bummed to have learned later this is a short lived plant. It is not in bloom at all right now, but has healthy looking foliage. I hope it blooms in a few weeks...

1 silver mound - love the feel of this

1 snow in summer - so far I love this plant, but heard they can get a little invasive... that is ok with me.

1 veronica spicata (purple color). Very pretty.

3 asiatic lillies.. one is a blackbird (bright red), another is lavender joy (not in bloom yet) and another I forgot the name of but it a light pink with large blooms (tiny todd something I think?)

1 bee balm

1 indian carpet, blanket flower.

3 types of corpeosis, moonbeam, baby sun and another that I am forgetting the name of. 2 gallon containers

1 type of delphinium that doesn't seem to grow too tall. Pretty small blue flowers. Seems to have a lot of buds.

1 type of blue star aster that has tiny bluish white daisy like flowers

1 very large autumn joy sedum. Love this plant, but it seems almost like something that should be planted in desert landscaping.. .ha ha

1 other type of groundcover plant that has blue flowers in the summer but i can't even remember what it is.

In the spring I intend to plant some "basket of gold" and maybe some phlox to hang over the wall (if they don't clash" not sure the basket of gold will work or not with phlox colors.

In the fall I would like to get some types of different kinds of mums or asters if i can find things that will come back year after year and not get too tall.

Any suggestions on what else might work with this garden? I was trying to plant a lot of the corpeosis, sedum and indian blanket in the same area because the colors seemed to go together and I believe they don't need as much water... but i am afraid half my garden will look more casual and wildflower like and the rest of the garden will be a lot more structured looking.

I don't think I thought this out well enough before planting!

Are there any that i have planted that will be high maintenance or not very reliable?

It does look pretty so far though, but I don't know if it makes perfect sense style wise!

Also how much do i really need to amend the soil? I have very sandy soil . I was running out of amendments today. I was mixing the sandy dirt with some garden soil from the bag along with humus/manure... but I don't know if I should have used more of the garden soil and less of the actual sandy lousy soil that we have here.

Any suggestions on plants, design, etc. would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thank you so much!

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Comments (2)

laceyvail 6A, WV
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
If I were planting this, I think I would use low plants that droop over the retaining wall, and in the rest of the bed use fairly low plants like salvias, penstemons, agastaches, with perhaps one or two tall "see through" stunners like Hesperaloe parviflora. (Tall but doesn't block the view through them.) all those plants would like the sandy soil (good drainage); and you can see the look I'm talking about in the High Country Gardens catalog.
topie
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi taraleigh,

So far, it sounds like you've done a good job with your garden by planting things that will thrive with the good drainage that your sandy soil likely has. The only plant I could see being a problem may be the Bee Balm, since it likes rich, constantly moist, humusy soil, and can develop powdery mildew if its in a crowded spot.

It sounds like you have kind of a "Cottage Garden" look going on in this bed, so I wouldnÂt worry too much about "casual" style plants next to more formal ones.

In general, I think the soil conditions, moisture, PH (acid, neutral or alkaline) and light conditions that different varieties of plants need to be healthy is the main thing people should concern themselves with when planting a new garden. Then you can find plants that you like the look of, that thrive in the conditions of your particular garden area. The bloom time of various flowering perennials, as well a garden's ability to look good in the fall and winter is also a consideration.

I would just "google" each of your plants, check their water, sun, and soil PH requirements, and provide them with what they need. At this point in the summer, I wouldn't transplant anything, so hopefully you are pleased with how your garden area looks for now. If you donÂt like the placement of anything, I would wait until the spring to move it.

As far as your overall garden design goes, I agree with laceyvail about the arrangement.

You didn't say what direction the sun is coming from in relation to this garden bed, but you may want to check that the more drought-tolerant plants are on the side that gets the most hot afternoon sun. Also, be sure that anything tall isn't creating an excessive shade area over smaller plants that needs full sun.

You will have some autumn interest with your "Blue Star" aster, "Autumn Joy" stonecrop, "Blanket flower", and Artemisia "Silver Mound". Personally, I would have added some low-growing evergreen shrubs that tolerate sandy soil, such as Common Bearberry / Kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) to this bed, but that would just be my preference as far as some winter interest. Not sure what your soil PH is, but your soil would need to be acidic, sandy soil to grow Kinnikinnick.

The foliage of your daylilies, asiatic lilies, veronica, bee balm, delphinium, "Snow In Summer", and Shasta daisy will likely die back to varying degrees in the winter in Zone 5. But in Zone 5, the bed will most likely be covered in snow for much of the winter, so you won't notice the dormant foliage as much. In the fall or spring, you can always add an evergreen small shrub or two that tolerates sandy soil.

This fall, you may also want to add some spring-flowering bulbs, so that you have some early spring interest in this garden plan.

Be prepared to be pulling up some of those "Snow in Summer", Artemisia "Silver Mound", and Shasta daisies if they get too invasive in this bed.

Daylilies can have buds on them for many, many days before they bloom. I prefer the pretty lemony-yellow of the "Happy Returns" to the margarine-yellow of the "Stella D'Oro", but they are both pretty easy to care for daylilies, and both bloom well. The "Stella D'Oro" is really tiny.

As far as colors go, I like to keep plants with blossoms on the red-orange side of the color spectrum (such as your "Black Bird" Lily) away from plants that have purple or blue-ish blossoms (such as your delphinium, and "Lavender Joy" lily, but this is just my personal preference color-wise.

Hope this helps and good luck with your new garden!
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my new perennial garden, need some help please!

Comments (2)

laceyvail 6A, WV

topie

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