Native flowers for sculpture garden

11 years ago

I am working on a native garden/learning garden/sculpture garden that is located at our local recycling center.

I am in central Alabama 30 miles south of Birmingham in zone 7b.

I am looking for advice on plants that are waterwise and native to the southeast that will do well with very little maintenance.

Comments (5)

kaliaman
11 years ago
we don't have enough info to make good recommendations. you left out the most important stuff we need to know like....

what is the sun exposure? all day?
what is the desired full grown height of the planting?
purpose of planting....screening, shade, aesthetics?
place of planting...in beds, around a parking lot, along a fence, property boundary?
budget?

if you want to use natives suggest you check with your local landscape nursery or ag extension agent to get ideas for plants that do well in your area with little care or water. xeroscaping is the proper term for low water gardening.
fatamorgana2121
11 years ago
Xeriscaping (waterwise gardening) is exactly what you will want to look into. Just google the term for lots of reading.

I'm sure there are some Southern gardeners who can make some suggestions for you here. I personally can't. I live in NY State and our conditions include lots of natural rain and freezing temperatures for almost half the year - much different than your growing conditions. (We've had snow squalls much of the day while I'm sure you have pretty spring blooms everywhere!)

FataMorgana
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You mentioned that the garden has landscape cloth right now. It is possible that the cloth may have killed off the weeds that were growing there prior to it being placed. You may have some seeds in the soil still that could germinate, but it shouldn't be that big of an issue. I'd just go ahead and plant a quality seed mix if you're looking to go cheap and have limited time. Any weeds that pop up shouldn't be a problem to pull in the first growing season with it being such a small area. If you do want to invest in quality plants that will establish quickly and give you blooms quicker you can buy plants that are already growing in pots. If you space them correctly you should be able to do this for a little over $100. It can be a major time saver and you will be able to identify which plant is which right off the bat. Many native plants are simple to divide too and you can fill in any spots that look bare the following year with the plants you've selected. Also, planting seed mixes that contain grasses during the Spring will lead to the area being dominated by grasses. If you are set on planting seeds, make sure that you don't a ton of grass seed in the mix. If you were to plant it in Fall it wouldn't be that much of an issue. If I were you I would leave all grass seed out and only use nursery grown or wild-collected grasses. This will allow you to control where and how much grass develops in the area. Big Bluestem and Indiangrass look great in small areas if there are only a few plants. Too much of them and in 4-5 years it will be all that youll have growing in there unless you use control measures on a regular basis.
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I am already battling virginia creeper, english ivy and northern sea oats! and probably will be fighting trumpet vine soon, and asiatic dayflower, and chameleon plant--all of which I innocently accepted and planted (except the virginia creeper, it just appeared; the ivy was already here). So I'll pass on the chicory--thanks for the warning. My yard is very wet in late winter & spring--my garden area has been built up a bit because of that--but can be quite dry as summer goes on. Does that sound like the conditions Joe-pye weed will like? It looks like a lovely tall plant for the back of the garden. Cydonia33--I looked up the blue mist flower, and I have that! --it was also a volunteer. Another "volunteer" that I have a lot of is a garlicky smelling allium-like plant. I wonder if the seeds of these natives were hiding beneath the top layer and were brought up to germinate when I turned the soil of the "lawn" to make the garden. I dug down 8-14 inches and added materiel to loosen the clay. I ran into a fair amount of trash (broken pottery and glass, a bottle, and such) that deep so I am kind of surprised to get so many flowers. One other thing that came up was a very tall, thick stemmed plant--I let it grow because I thought it might be a sunflower, but when it developed flowers they were more like small ugly dandelions, so I chopped it down and uprooted it. I still don't know what it was--it grew six feet tall!
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collinw
Original Author
11 years ago
It is full sun all day. The maximum height would be 4-5 ft and then descend in height from the back of the bed to the front of the bed. The garden is going to mainly be aesthetic, but will also be used by the local schools as a learning garden. In the sketch the large planting area is 30 feet long and 15 feet wide. It is a raised bed with a 2 ft. concrete retaining wall. There are also planters made from 55 gallon plastic drums. I have a small budget and a nursery that has committed to donate plants. What I need is someone knowledgable about native plants in the southeast. I have over 25 years of experience as a gardener, but it always helps to get others input, which is obviously one of the main functions of this forum.

Thanks!
Lynda Waldrep
11 years ago
Email Jan Midgely, who lives in AL and is quite competent. I met her at the native plant conference in Cullowhee. She is gracious and loves to share information about natives...has written several books. If she has time, (illness in the family) I bet she will help you. I think you can find her email information via the internet.
collinw
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks ncrescue!

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Native flowers for sculpture garden

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kaliaman

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Native flowers for sculpture garden

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kaliaman

fatamorgana2121

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