I have a question about Gertrude Jekyll. I pruned mine after its last flush to about 2-2.5ft and it looked pretty tidy for about two weeks It's since put out a couple of basals and new growth that has to be 5ft at least at this point. Gertrude Jekyll on 8/2/16 Gertrude Jekyll 8 days later As you can see, my GT is looking kind of gangly - Clearly I didn't prune it hard enough! My question is is it necessary to wait until after the cane blooms to cut it down? This is sitting out in front of a window at my apartment, and is kind of an eye sore to look at, plus, I don't want to draw unwanted attention. If it helps to know, I'm in NC zone 7b. AKA humid and hot!

Thanks for the great suggestions and advice! I would love to try the Karl Foerster grsss, I googled it and it's really beautiful, I think I have admired those in various gardens around here this past year. We have a chain link fence around the perimeter of our very small back yard (which is about 20 x 40 ft), and if we decide not to spring for a wood privacy fence, that might be a good alternative to hide the chain link. Thanks for the advice about the lavendar - I didn't know about the woody plants only being pruned in spring, so it's a good thing I asked before hacking away out there! I'm glad to hear, actually, that I should wait till next Spring to transplant, I'm so swamped with work right now. The maiden grass is a real conundrum, my BF loves it and wants to keep it, but I can already see where the center area is thinner, and it flops a lot more than it used to. He will not like starting over with that initial "bare" look of new plantings, but it's taking up too much space in the front bed, and space is at a premium around here. Seems like everything the previous owners planted was done as a fast fix-up to sell the house, without regard to spacing or considering how plants would mature. I've made so many mistakes with my own plantings, too, that my garden never looks filled in and established, since I have to keep moving things. Those grasses were the one plant that looked full and lush, even though now they've gone a bit too far. One question on grass variety and color - they flank the main front window of the house, and we have a fieldstone facade, so the ligher green with the white stripe looks really nice with the stone. Since we have the lawn in front of the bed, I thought this was a more striking transition, rather than planting a tall grass that is also a darker green (though the plumes are to die for!) Are there any tall, upright varieties that would be less like the color of the lawn? I would be totally happy with this maiden grass if it would just stand up better. I do think I will end up staking it through Fall and Winter, anyway. Well, there's one of my squirrels out there waiting for her afternoon handout. Thanks again for the input!

Thanks for the reply. I kept on trying with different approaches, but none of my attempts had lead to rooting. With regards to medium, I tried different mixes of vermiculite, perlite and potting soil. Tried two different kinds of rooting hormones. Tried different lengths of cuttings. (What length do you use?) Tried to remove some of the leaves. Tried with and without bottom heat and different levels of natural sunlight - I even tried artificial plant lighting! What happens is that the cuttings quickly drop most of the leafs and slowly turns brown from the bottom. I keep the cuttings in a humid box. As you perhaps can tell - I'm terribly frustrated. However, just as stubbarn. So, could you perhaps post a picture of your setup? Maybe that'll inspire me towards a succesfull process. Best regards, A

Thanks for the photos. Generally, the order of doing things is first hardscape and then plants. So with that in mind, the first step I'd take would be the walk which currently is too narrow for comfort and needs to be solid and at least the width of the steps rather than single stepping stones to look friendly and welcoming. It can be just large sized concrete pavers placed touching side by side and front to back to make a solid walk or you can do a course of brick edging with an edge. Stepping stones like you have now are fine for within the garden, but the approach walk should be easy walking (so an 80 year-old grandmother can walk it comfortably.) I would run it out to the street and to where ever you leave your car. I also wouldn't plant anything other than grass or a heavy layer of mulch (perhaps with an easy groundcover) within about 12 feet of the house if you are likely to be putting in a porch in the next couple of years since you need to leave room not only for the porch itself but also at least 5 or 6 feet for workers and equipment, and even then plants will be trampled. No woody plants (shrubs or trees) over or near the edges of the septic, so do you know where the limits of the septic are? You will want a limited palette of plants here so that it doesn't look too weedy or overgrown or require too much maintenance. I would also limit your flower colors to three or four besides green. To my mind most of Bluestone's gardens have a whole lot of different plants, with one or two of each, which will be more difficult to keep looking good. With many types, you will need to be deadheading and trimming a lot compared to a fewer number of varieties that bloom for longer times and don't look terrible at any point. Although I can't see the details of the plans in the Roy Diblik books, I can see repeats of plants in loose groupings, and in general I would suggest this style of planting. Comments on gardenweed's plant list: IME Euphorbia, black-eyed Susan, and tall garden Phlox seed around quite a bit if not deadheaded, so I would avoid them if you won't be around enough to deadhead. Many Phlox are susceptible to mildew, so be sure to get one that says it is mildew resistant if you use these such as 'David'. I would be inclined to use the category of plants that never look terrible - there's a thread of those on the perennials forum that you might consider. Here is a list of plants that I'd use in a garden that only gets visited on weekends. They all have nice foliage all season and several retain evergreen foliage all winter as well. They are tolerant of dry conditions, so if you can't water they should be OK without regular rain as long as the garden is well-mulched (which is needed for weed control anyway), thugh you may want to water once a month if really dry. The garden will still need some attention every weekend (think half an hour or less to pull weeds when small and cut off dead flowers), but I don't think will get out of control if you take that time each week. If you don't want to do that, plant lawn and hire someone to mow it for you since that is the easiest option. To allow access for maintenance, add stepping stone paths every 3'-4' across the garden. Short plants for the edge of the walkway and along the road, planted in groups of three in triangles to give you good masses: Veronica 'Georgia Blue' (Dark green foliage that picks up mahogany hues in winter and deep blue spring flowers) Iberis 'Purity' (evergreen foliage and white spring flowers) Dianthus 'Greystone' (white spring flowers with silvery-green foliage that remains in winter) Sedum 'Angelina' (yellow-orange foliage and yellow flowers) Medium plants to use in the space between the short and tall plants, groups of 3 or 5: Campanula persicifolia - cultivars are various shades between white and medium blue-purple - late spring flowers into the summer, especially if deadheaded Helenium 'Mardi gras' - orange and yellow flowers in July and August Dark-leafed Penstemon such as 'Dark Towers' or 'Mystica' White or light violet flowers in spring Echinacea purpurea/purple coneflower - pinky-purple daisies in summer Siberian Iris - spring flowers in shades of blue or white Tall plants (3'-4' for the back of the garden closest to the house and the edges of the property) All are large enough to plant as singles, though depending on the selection of those I've just given a genus of, some may be short enough to include in the middle height section: Aster 'Lady in Black' reddish foliage and tiny white flowers Aster x frikartii 'Monch' OR Aster laevis 'Blue Bird' or Aster 'October Skies' Baptisia some of these are a bit smaller and so might go into the medium category - late spring flowers in white, blue, yellow or some are maroonish Hydrangea paniculata 'Bobo' or 'Dharuma' (shrub with white flowers starting in July that slowly change to pink late summer into autumn) Physocarpus 'Tiny Wine'/ninebark Amsonia hubrichtii/Arkansas bluestar blue spring flowers with feathery foliage that turns gold in autumn Caryopteris divericata 'Snow Fairy' Green and white variegated foliage with blue fall flowers Perovskia atriplicifolia/Russian sage frost, fine-textured foliage and blue-purple flowers in summer Tall garden Phlox - be sure to check that it's mildew resistant - flowers in August and into September if deadheaded