Okay, I have projects chosen for the blank canvas!

16 years ago

Hi everyone!

I am still going over things and trying to figure out what the heck to do with this lovely blank space of mine! I did finally decide on a few things.

For one thing, we are going to turn the one huge veggie bed into a series of smaller raised beds. I think I might be heading to the Potager forum for help there! It will look a lot more attractive if it's all framed with wood and leveled off. We are trying to find room for corn and potatoes, as well as tomatoes and the like.

I have also found two other areas I want to work on for flowers and such. I posted pictures here in the gallery, with a brief description of what I would like to do in each area. Here is more information on what I want to do in each.

In project One, I want to build a lasagna bed in order to plant a garden full of old fashioned roses, and add in perennials and annuals which will add to the look. The bed will be about 18 to 20 feet long, and about 5 feet deep. Maybe 6, if I can distract my DH and move the chalk line ::grin::. I have a number of roses picked out for this area, including Souvenier de St Anne, Great Maiden's Blush, Yolande d Aragon, Madame Hardy, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and a few others like them. (I didn't post pictures ofthem, bu t if that would be appreciated, I can gather them up and put them on Photobucket or in the gallery.) I've been drooling over Renee's Seeds since I discovered them, and I would love to fill in spaces with things like stock, heliotrope, Bells of Ireland and such. My biggest questions: This area gets sun from 8 AM until 2 or 3 PM - is that enough to be considered full sun? What kind of perennials might I look at to complement this look the best? Also, see that big stockade fence behind the post and rail? My neighbor is going to move it back towards him by about two feet this fall. Does anyone think I could then plant between the two fences, and put tall things like hollyhocks back there?

In project 2, I have the area under my kitchen window. The window will shortly get about 2 feet wider, YAY! We have no idea of what the soil is really like there, we have to get it tested. But, since there used to be lead paint on the roofline, and this area runs into the dripline for the roof, I don't want to plant edibles there. I would love to put in hydrangeas and peonies someplace, could this be a good place? Or perhaps I should go towards something more fragrant, since it will be right under a window? I'd really like to hide the foundation, since it just looks stark and icky.

As always, any advice or thoughts are appreciated! Please let me know if I need to give more details or anything, since I may have left out something. I appreciate the support, and the ideas and information you all post have really got my creative juices flowing!

Thanks very much,

Emmie

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to projects in gallery

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Comments (4)

jennbenn
16 years ago
Hi Emmie,
I posted some thoughts on the gallery side!
Jenn (maybe should have put it here, but?)
aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
16 years ago
Hi Emmie, May I suggest a fragrant shrub be planted under your kitchen window. I have a very fragrant mock orange under my kitchen window, it's over 20 years old now and starting to show it's age but the fragrance that wafts through the house when the window is open is simply intoxicating.
In the next year or two I'll be digging it out to replace it with a new mock orange but it will be the same variety, Belle Etoile.

Annette
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emmie9999
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks, Jenn! I got your comments there, but I will continue posting here for now. Thank you for posting Patricia's Crepuscule (sp?) rose, that is DEFINATELY an inspiration pic! I'm going to think over your comments about evergreens...some tend to get pretty big here, since they seem to frequently like the cold. But winter interest would be nice, I agree.

I also like the idea of the curved bed under the window. That little house at the back you noted is the cellar bulkhead. The area in the right of that pic will soon be level all the way across, as that is where the kitchen will expand to. I could make a big kidney shape, curving away from the house, back in towards the center, and then out again along the bulkhead. Was that what you were thinking, or more of an arc from corner to corner, like a pie wedge?
emmie9999
Original Author
16 years ago
Annette, thank you! That sounds absolutely lovely, and I know there is a mock orange I have seen that is hardy in my zone. I'm thinking I would love honeysuckle, too, and I wonder if I could use one of each to anchor the back of that bed... hmmm...

Okay, I have projects chosen for the blank canvas!

Comments (4)

jennbenn

aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada

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Okay, I have projects chosen for the blank canvas!

Comments (4)

jennbenn

aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada

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