Claga,

Where in Central Mass? I'm in Millbury. I'm thinking what would be best for you is a mixed shrub border. There are so many to choose from, but if you pick different shrubs, they will bloom at different times and if one of them gets a disease or other problem it won't spread to the others. Full sized shrubs can be big, I would plan on at least 8 feet between them. Start with a Hamamellis which will bloom in March (most years). I would add a dark purple lilac, a Limelight Hydrangea, a Physocarpis, a Cornus sericea for winter color, an Ilex like Scepter and Blue Prince (as the male), a Spirea. That's just what I like. Take a trip to Tower Hill BG and make notes of what you like there. If you've got room add a few conifers like Picea glauca pendula, or a gold like Chamecyparis obtusa crippsi.

Take your time with this and have fun. It's a great project.

Steve

Hello, Neighbor! Your garden sounds like a blank slate just waiting for you to paint it with flowers! Can you share any photos that would show the topography? It might stir the pot and get ideas flowing from folks on the forum.

I'll offer a few ideas just based on your plans & goals as stated above since they're similar to my own just a few years ago. Much will depend on your soil however--my own is acid & healthy with really fat worms wherever I dig. Soil will be the determining factor when it comes to how successful your gardening efforts will be.

I garden to sustain pollinators--bees, butterflies & hummingbirds so the list below slants things toward that goal. It's been my experience these flowering shrubs & perennials for full sun do well growing in my little green acre:

Spirea (sorry no cultivar name)
Hypericum polyphyllum grandiflorum/St. John's Wort
Echinacea/Coneflower
Leucanthemum superbum/Shasta daisy
Caryopteris/Blue mist shrub
Stachys byzantina/Lamb's ear 'Helen Von Stein'
Penstemon digitalis/Beardtongue 'Mystica'
Lupinus perennis/Lupine
Rudbeckia hirta/Gloriosa daisy
Stokesia laevis/Stokes aster
Platycodon grandiflora/Balloon flower
Baptisia australis/False indigo
Bellamcanda chinensis/Blackberry lily
Euphorbia polychroma/Cushion spurge
Gaillardia aristata/Blanket flower
Iris sibirica/Siberian iris
Lychnis chalcedonica/Maltese cross
Ratibida columnifera/Mexican hat
Peony
Geranium sanguineum/perennial cranesbill

Well, the above list should at least get you started. All but a few of what's listed above can be grown from seed--I filled my own carefully-designed garden beds in just two years once I set winter sown plants in them. Now I'm in maintenance mode.

If cost is an issue, check out the winter sowing forum here on GardenWeb or else check out the link below. Also, the Seed Exchange forum on GardenWeb is where you can trade, either seeds if you have them or else just for the cost of postage. It's the frugal gardener's way to have a spectacular garden in less than 5 years PLUS recycle at the same time.

Have fun, get dirt under your fingernails and let us know how you go on!

Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Sowing

Here's a start, all of which I grow and find relatively trouble free:
Blueberries - early summer flowers, berries for you or the birds, stunning fall color
Fothergilla - spring flowers, stunning fall color
rhododendrons - spring flowers, evergreen foliage adds winter interest
Viburnum plicatum (several varieties) have white summer flowers and nice fall color
Viburnum carlesii scented spring flowers, nice fall color, semi-evergreen
Roses, especially some of the long-blooming, disease resistent, shrub varieties like Knockouts
redbuds - small to mid-sized tree, spring flowers in shades ranging through magenta, pink and white, nice foliage, including some that are colored
Dogwoods - Kousa dogwoods and the crosses between native dogwoods and Kousa tend to have fewer disease porblems
Panicled hydrangeas (H. paniculata) like Limelight, Tardiva, Pinky Winky, Pink Diamond, etc. Self-supporting, summer into fall long-blooming, trouble free.
Lilacs only have spring flowers to add interest, but for those 2 or 3 weeks they are beautiful and scented.
Magnolias - spring flowers, light bark, large leaves, fuzzy winter buds
Consider winter interest - red-twigged dogwoods and some evergreens like arborvitae if the area is visible from the house. Also check with neighbors to see if deer are a problem.

This post was edited by nhbabs on Mon, Apr 28, 14 at 21:51

I don't think viburnums are used enough in home gardens. I'm glad Nhbabs mentioned them. There are so many varieties out there that have many seasons of interest.

I would add deutzia and flowering almond for spring interest and winterberry holly for winter interest. Beautyberry is a nice big shrub with attractive purple berries. Heptacodium is a late blooming small tree that gets swarms of bees which is great.

Since you have a blank slate it might be nice to focus on some shrubs and trees with berries and/or shelter for the birds and as gardenweed mentioned some nice flowering shrubs and perennials for bees, butterflies, etc.
If you have deer it's a whole new ball game. If you do, I'm sure a lot of us can let you know what is less browsed in our gardens. Some things I'm glad they browse because it means less pruning for me! LOL!

Sounds like a great project! Have fun!

A few more shrubs I forgot:
Spicebush AKA Lindera - very early hazy yellow flowers and foliage that have a nice spicy scent, and clear bright yellow foliage. Large
Forsythia - I love the early yellow flowers, the fountain shape, and mine has nice fall color. There are also ones like 'Fiesta' with ornamental all-season foliage.
Cornus mas AKA cornelian cherry dogwood - Earlier than forsythia yellow flowers and reddish fruit that the birds like.
Crabapples and hawthorns - nice flowers and fruit that may last all winter and attract birds at this time of year or in the fall. Be sure to research disease resistant varieties.

Another thing to think about as Gardenweed suggested is planting a few things with the shrubs to create a bit of a mixed border to add interest. There are bulbs which will perennialize that are visible from a distance like daffodils, lilies, and some of the hardy Lycoris. Large perennials that don't need dividing such as Baptisia (blue spring flowers) or peonies would be good, and you can think about growing flowering groundcovers like thyme or dianthus or Veronica 'Georgia blue'. I also grow some of the taller, looser clematis into some of my shrubs to add to the flowering when the shrubs aren't. Here's a piece of my mixed border early in the season with perennials and clematis growing bright green into the spruce on the left and into the Physocarpus AKA ninebark with the reddish foliage.
{{gwi:230639}}From June 11, 2013

I'd also suggest an edging and mulch to save on weeding and trimming. Put it far enough out to accommodate the shrubs' ultimate size. Mine is the black plastic sold at big box stores (which really doesn't show) with a line of bricks on the garden side which is decorative, adds separation to keep the plants in and the grass out, and is a place for the mower wheel to run to avoid having to trim. I only spend a couple of hours weeding this bed all season, and it is huge.

Fall color (brigh yellow in the center is spicebush) in the same bed, different spot:

I'd put in some shade trees. Given the plethora of large, wild trees, lots tend to look naked if the house is the tallest thing on it.

Thank you all for your suggestions.
If you have anymore please keep them coming.
When is the best time to plant; spring or fall?

Thanks again

I don't think anyone mentioned ornamental grasses, which have a nice soft appearance and move in the wind. They come in many different sizes and shapes and colors. They work well with the other excellent suggestions you've gotten already.

And maybe some river birch (Betula nigra) with interesting catkins and showy bark.

Claire

Claga writes: "When is the best time to plant; spring or fall?"

The answer is yes. If you are planting in Spring, plant as soon as the ground can be worked. I moved two small trees, a Japanese Maple and a Cercis canadensis Forest Pansy a few days ago. The sooner the better.

If Fall, plant early in the Fall to give the plants time to get roots established before frost. Some will tell you Fall is best, but either season will work well. You probably know that new trees and shrubs need regular watering for at least the first year to get established.

Steve

"When is the best time to plant; spring or fall?"

Good answer steve_mass. :-) I'll qualify it to some extent by adding that fall planting has one advantage over spring planting--it isn't followed by long hours of scorching summer sun & high temperatures. Planting in fall allows the newly-planted shrubs, trees & perennials time to settle in to their new homes as hours of daylight are diminishing and temperatures are cooling.

Another tip: watering newly planted shrubs, trees & perennials can be simplified by using recycled plastic containers (such as milk or water jugs; I use recycled cat litter jugs because (1) they hold more water); (2) I have lots of them. Poke a pinhole an inch from the bottom of whatever container you choose, set the jug close to the base of the plant, fill it with water from the hose and walk away. The water will exit the pinhole in a thin stream, soaking the plant close to the root ball. The water remaining once the water level in the jug falls below the pinhole keeps the container from blowing around in the wind.

Thanks, Claire, for mentioning ornamental grasses. I didn't think of them for some reason. I wouldn't be without mine for exactly the reasons you stated plus the fact they provide winter interest. I have Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln'/dwarf fountain grass, Calamagrostis/feather reed grass 'Karl Foerster,' and Carex/Japanese sedge grass 'Ice Dance.'

I strongly agree with the advice about a mixed border that includes small trees, grasses, perennials, and evergreens in addition to deciduous shrubs. You need to consider texture as well as the various shades of color. I'm a big fan of getting color not just from flowers which sometimes last just a short period of time but also from foliage which can last for months or in the case of evergreens all year. Here are some pictures that I've posted before that show foliage combinations that I've planted around my house.

This picture shows different textures and shades of green although a week later the Acoma crape myrtle in the center was full of white blooms and the Rose of Sharon to the right of it was full of double dark pink blooms. You can't easily see it in the picture but there is a white birch behind the ROS that gives a vertical backdrop to the whole thing from the view of my house.

Here's a picture of the Acoma in full bloom a week or two later.

One other thing that can look really nice in a mixed border is a large rock like I have shown in this picture. My Green Giant arborvitae and my neighbor's house provide a backdrop for the scene.

Don't forget how your mixed border may look in the Fall, too. Here's one of my Japanese maples in the Fall with a dark red Paperbark maple in the background in front of the green wall made by the Green Giants.

Here is the same crape myrtle - Rose of Sharon picture that I had earlier but in the Fall. Nice interplay of colors.

{{gwi:450570}}

Spring is another season where blooming shrubs go well with evergreens. Here is my Arnold's Promise witch hazel in front of a blue spruce.

Here a cool example of texture and a color combo. This is my Paperbark maple (one of my absolute favorite trees) in front of the Green Giants.

So I would go for a combination of flowering shrubs or trees with some evergreens of various colors and textures and maybe some ornamental grass. Various structures like a birdhouse on a pole or a rock or two can provide more interest.

Although this is pushing your zone, if you have a warmer (7a/6b) microclimate try the Persimmon.

I can't attach a photo, but I urge you to search for images of persimmon trees in the various seasons. Like blueberries, they will range in color from yellow to red, but because the fruit ripens into December, you will rewarded with seeing the hundreds of bright orange fruit dangling until you're ready to eat them.

And boy are they delicious..

Here is a link that might be useful: Info about Persimmons

Thank you all for all of the great information.
nhbabs and tree_oracle how long did it take to establish your beautiful gardens?
It all seems very overwhelming; starting from a blank slate to such a beautiful landscape.
I am not very good a visioning how something will look.
If it is not to much trouble could you list(in generic terms) the plants used per photo.

Thanks again

I find I do better with fall planting because by the time the soil is dried out enough in spring, it's almost summer here. So mine were planted in the fall of 2007 I think for the first plants. I'm not home now, but I will look when I get home in a week to find photos of it the first year. I started with the evergreens and a few deciduous shrubs the first fall, and have added things each year. It looked pretty good by the second growing season. Many of the original perennials have disappeared, either as the shrubs got larger or due to the voles, and now the only perennials are around the edge as the shrubs have grown.

For fall color I would recommend montauk daisies which is more shrub like than normal summer flowering daisies, asters and sedums. Here's a picture of fall in my garden.

Also I am a huge advocate of conifers as they add year round interest and are a great backdrop for perennials. They come in all sizes and colors.

Hi tree_oracle and Everyone,
Could you please tell me the name of the small pink flowering tree in front of the rock in your driveway?
For that matter some of the names of the other plants and shrubs that are shown in those photo's.

Thanks

I don't think anyone mentioned Itea virginica 'Henry's Garnet' (Virginia sweetspire) It's native to the southeast and has fragrant flowers in June that bees love. The foliage turns orange red in the fall. Itea suckers happily so it will spread out and take over whatever empty space you give it.

Itea flowers with bee, June 24, 2013

November 25, 2011 in my yard

Claire

Here are the ID's of everything in the pictures:

Picture 1

From left to right: Red Knockout roses, Little Heavenly Angel daylilies, mimosa tree (small green tree in the middle of the lilies, Hakuro-nishiki willow (tree form), Pink & Blushing Knockout roses (around the lamp), Montgomery blue spruce, Suminagashi japanese maple, Gold Thread false cypress (yellow shrubs)

Picture 2

Variegated ornamental grass (I forgot the name), Fat Albert blue spruce, Rheingold arborvitae, False cypress (I forgot the name. Green in summer, purple in winter), Acoma crape myrtle

Picture 3

the blue spruce, false cypress, & crape myrtle mentioned in picture 2 along with a Lucy Rose-of-Sharon (dark, double pink blooms). There is also a sassafras tree in the picture that grew up wild. I liked the look of it so I let it grow there.

Picture 4

Everything I mentioned in Picture 3 except the rose-of-sharon.

Picture 5

The pink tree is a "Cherokee Brave" dogwood. It is the best cultivar of the American dogwood in my opinion. The deep red shrubs are Hino Crimson azaleas. The green grass-looking plants in the front right are Stella D'Oro day lilies. Just behind them are some Nikko Blue hydrangeas. In front of the rock is another Hino Crimson azalea that was not yet in bloom and the green stuff next to it are some Hush Little Baby daylilies I planted in honor of my daughter who had colic when she was a baby. The daylilies in the first picture was also planted for her when she was born. In the background are some Green Giant arborvitae that I planted along the property line. Just in front of those (but behind the dogwood) are a Paperbark maple and a Hogyoku japanese maple. I planted both of those for their interesting bark and fall colors.

Picture 6

The paperbark maple and japanese maple that I just mentioned. The former is red and the latter is pumpkin orange in the fall. This is the view from my deck behind the house.

Picture 7

This is essentially Picture 3 in the fall. You can see the birch clump and the sassafras tree to the left of it more clearly in this photo. The yellow of these trees contrasts quite nicely with the fiery red of the Acoma crape myrtle.

Picture 8

Arnold's Promise witch hazel (which I planted so that something was in bloom on my wedding anniversary) in front of another Fat Albert Blue spruce.

Picture 9

Close-up of the Paperbark maple. It's cool when the peeling bark gets backlit by the sun. It glows a brilliant copper color. Nice winter interest.

My landscaping philosophy is simple. I want color in every season. I accomplish that through flowers, foliage, and bark. I look at landscaping like an orchestra except I'm playing color rather than music. In an orchestra, you have a certain section playing and then another section plays with some overlap of the two (or more). In front of my house, my PJM rhododendrons bloom with my Alexandrina saucer magnolia that "plays" a purple theme for a while then the Hino-Crimson azaleas and Kwanzan cherry tree take over with the reds and pinks. It's the same house with a dramatically different look between the purple theme and red theme. When you're choosing plants, you have to think about how they will look with each other and how their look will change with the seasons.

Labels for the photos of April 9:
Photo 1 has 3 large shrubs, front to back: Fat Albert Blue Spruce, Coppertina ninebark, Shadbush of some type. Lower growing, back to front: Amsonia hubrichtii has the feathery leaves and very pale blue flowers; the bright pink flower on a low bush in front of the blue spruce is a rhododendron, I think Independence Day; The bright purple is a Salvia, but I don't remember the type, and the one sort of between the rhodie and the salvia is a Hellebore seedling.

Photo 2 has two Rhododendron Olga Mezitt with a combination of green and bright red leaves, one on the far right in front of the dark green arborvitae Techny and one in front of the bright yellow spice bush. The yellow tinted arborvitae between the Rhodie Olga Mezitt is Sunkist. The red, yellow, green shrubby thin between the Sunkist arborvitae and the right side Rhodie is one of the same varieties in the first photos, Amsonia hubrichtii in all its fall glory. The blue-green low groundcover in front of the Sunkist arborvitae is Greystone dianthus AKA pinks (though it is white flowered) and the rambly out-of-control groundcover near the front left is Nepeta AKA catmint. There are a couple of the same Fat Albert blue spruces, one to the left of the yellow spicebush, and one just peaking out to the right of the Sunkist arborvitae.

Here are some photos from earlier in the life of this bed when it was in its third growing season. I deliberately left lots of room for the shrubs to grow, so there is quite a bit of mulch showing. Since then I've also added a few plants here and there as I could shoehorn them in.
{{gwi:197355}}From June 2010

This covers much of the same area as photo 2 above, and though the trellises shown here are still in the same place, they are not nearly as visible now as they were in 2010 when this photo was taken. The Techny and Sunkist arborvitae are smaller as are the Fat Albert blue spruce. The purple flowers are the Nepeta AKA catmint, and the white flowers are the Greystone dianthus AKA pinks. The feathery plant to the right and slightly behind Greystone is the Amsonia hubrichtii in its first season. To the right of that in front of the blue spruce and also in its first season is one of the Rhododendron Olga Mezitt.
{{gwi:226220}}From June 2010

This is a close up including the blue spruce, Amsonia, and Coppertina ninebark (plus a tiny bit of the rhododendron's leaves at the bottom) from the first photo in my earlier post.

And here is a photo looking down the bed to give an idea of how relatively sparse it was in its third season.

Thank you All so much for sharing your idea's and information.
I realized the information I asked for is very time consuming to photograph and write about.

Thanks again

Nice pics, babs. Another good example of textures as well as colors. You have some nice property.

The pink tree is a "Cherokee Brave" dogwood. It is the best cultivar of the American dogwood in my opinion.

I just had a large Serviceberry (Amelanchier x lamarkkii) dug up from the front garden. It never did well there so I gave it away on Craigslist. A nice lady and her 77 year old mother dug up this 12 foot serviceberry. I decided to replace it with a pink flowering dogwood.

Your picture and opinion on this tree clinched it for me. Went down to Mahoney's and bought a $150 'Cherokee Brave' in a 10 gallon pot. It is about 7-8 feet tall. Planted it this afternoon. He is a beauty and I love it! 8-D

Tree Oracle, I enjoyed your photos also. I don't recall seeing so much of your garden before, though I do remember some great shots of your crepe myrtles on an earlier thread.

Do you find that the Cherokee Brave has stayed healthy? We had a pink dogwood at a previous house that not only had gorgeous flowers and bright fruit, but the emerging foliage was a beautiful coppery red when the sun came through the leaves, and the fall color was a bright red. However, it failed over several years, perhaps from Anthracnose. Has your Cherokee Brave stayed in good shape?

The Cherokee Brave has not only stayed healthy but it has grown like a weed. It's probably 2-3 times as large now as it was in that picture. It shouldn't be that happy given where I put it. As you can see from the picture, it's at the end of my driveway tucked in next to asphalt and the big rock. The soil it's planted in couldn't be any more dry and infertile. It's also on a hill so the soil doesn't retain water well in that area although I do mulch (not shown in the picture). I had a fungal problem with it the second year after it was planted but absolutely no problems after that. I sprayed it with Bayer Advanced when it had the fungal disease and it knocked it right out. Bayer Advanced is absolutely my number one choice. It destroys fungal diseases successfully every time I use it. The dogwood is on the north side of my house so that helps keep it shaded part of the day. It's far enough from the house though to get a substantial amount of sun in the summer. It's windy where I live so that may help prevent fungal diseases on the dogwood in most years.

Terrene, that's a good price for a dogwood that size especially from Mahoney's who tends to be on the expensive side in my experience. I hope it works out for you.

Great thread. I want to move to a new empty easel !! :-)

Before I read all the suggestions, the first one that came to mind was Rose of Sharon. Lucy is a great cultivar.

fwiw, I had Cherokee Brave dogwood and was not happy with it. I had to spray it a lot to keep foliage diseases at bay and barely got any blooms. Both issues probably due to too much shade. I lost a big chunk of it in a storm and was quite happy to cut it down and part with it.