Go to hostalibrary.org and look up what the expected mature size will be, if you have a problem come back.

I'm more worried about placement of the plants in pleasing settings and pairings. mainly with ferns and was hoping to see pictures of other peoples gardens as I lack skill in plant placement.

maybe a another fourm would be more helpful? but seeing as the core of the woodland will be hosta's I was hoping to get some ideas from the people on this one.

thanks.

You brought so many issues that I wonder if some didn't know where to jump in which is why I addressed the size question. Pick the most important piece of information you want and lets tackle that one then move to the next?

It's going to take at least 5 years for most of these to reach maturity... I am just no good at design.. I plop them in where I have room, yet they still manage to look nice. I especially like to pair the golds with the blues, always a nice contrast. Unless I'm planting a mass planting of one hosta, I try not to place like colors side by side. Blue Angel is always a stand-alone plant in my garden, fast grower, and just gets huge... definitely a specimen plant.

I'm sure more forum members who are much better at design will pipe in....

Get some Japanese Landscaping books. As I understand the theory they use plants as rocks to create mountain scenes. Your will notice they trim azaleas to within an inch of their lives because they are boulders instead of plants.

Here is a photo of rock placement lifted directly from a book then I recreate the same thing with plants.

I also seldom plant one of a variety; I usually plant 3 of the same in some triangle shape. Then 5 will make several triangles and add a second var as part of the various triangles.

I made someone angry about this statement, the Japanese have landscaped for a thousand years or more. If you copy directly one of the classic designs substituting your plants for either rocks or plants it will look good and your neighbors won't make fun of you.

You should see the kneeling rock in front with sentries on either side with the cathedral stone in the rear. Then notice the same thing with the evergreens over the small water feature. I like the little rock mouth in the waterfall. The final photo is a rear view of this water feature. There is room for ferns all over this area.

Finally, Notice the 3 H.'June' with one June that reverted to all blue plant as a triangle.

I'm old that may be 4 june in a diamond 3 june and 1 reverted blue?

thank you all.

Yes I did, Sorry about that :(,

five years is a pretty long time, and I would like for them to look good now or at least a year from now and I'll be adding space to the garden as I bank up the creek and they will be really easy to move seeing as they are planted in compost, so I really don't have to worry. just put them in and let them grow and move them around later if I don't like where their at or I need larger ones instead of the small starter ones I always buy.

I think I was worried about the large amount of blue and the redundancy it would cause and I was thinking I needed more green, but really if all the Hostas or most at least are blue then the ferns will add the green to make the blue "pop" right?

what are the gold hostas? is that a lime green color like sun power/ august moon? I guess GS would be Gold huh?

when I'm done I'll post pictures and you guys can tell me everything I did wrong. but if you got some killer fern hosta combos I'd love to see them!

Thank you for the wonderful pictures opal, you have such a pretty house and gardens.

Koidom, Congratulations on your recent haul of hostas. Sounds like you got some great deals. I think you're right about using the ferns you have as the green portion of your landscape design. They'll provide great contrast in texture as well. Looks like you picked up alot of blues, but 'Krossa Regal' has great structure and will be another textural element in your new garden. I also love the texture of 'Ginko Craig'. I was tempted to try to design something, but thought the better of it. (Being new to the forum and everything). You may want to spread out your plants in their pots on the lawn,, in a design you find appealing, even taking digital photos of them and comparing them later on, to see which designs appeal to you the most. I'd definately use one of the golds near the 'Wooley Mammoth' to accent its border. I'd also be tempted to pick up at least two more hostas that are at least a little more showy with both golds and blue greens in them, to kind of blend the green of the ferns and the blue and golds of the other hostas. Again, hope I'm not overstepping my bounds. Just a novices opinon,Dan.

I've seen small parts of your garden and thats the garden of my dreams!

Do you know how many times I have went into the garden centers in my town looking for some Japanese Forest Grass?
I'm on everyone's list to call me if it comes in! no one calls it Japanese Forest Grass but Hakonechloa and I really wish I could learn how to pronounce that word!

I was just thinking about needing more showy hostas and ones with blues and greens sounds good to me, I do have a snowy lake, and there where a few more for $5 I think I'll go see if they have any left.

the Hosta picking's around here are slim, most Nurseries don't even carry hostas, the ones that do, carry them in 3 gallon sized pots for landscapers puting in landscape for new houses that just want something that will grow under a tree :(

I'm wondering about the very tall plants I have such as some of the ferns or the three hellabores I'll have about a 6'x 20' flat space tier that will be made longer every year as I bank up more of the creek I wish to add a path for upkeep and also for people to enjoy.

The bank of the creek is rocks the the back tier is probably going to be a retaining wall (have to use it somewhere and get it out of my drive way)

I'm tempted to use the large plants in a line plastered aginsted the wall like a back ground as well as to hide the reataing wall.

NO! NO! NO!
PLEASE STOP ME!

but this is me thinking in lines and formal and I want it to look natural,
how do I place a taller plant in front of a shorter plant
or as a center piece? should I make more tiers kinda like you did? instead of one flat space? or use my path to break up the taller plants and think of it as a "flat tier"?

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/Detail/06428.html

Koidom, Any chance you could post some pictures of the of the area in question? I've got some ideas, but I'm having a little trouble visualizing your space. Also, how tall do your ferns and hellebores get? Thanks, Dan

P.S. Resist the urge! No straight lines.

What a brave soul you are Dan!
This is what it looked like when I moved in.
{{gwi:1078069}}

It's a work in progress, I only get four weeks when the creek goes dry and I can work on it, last fall I did this, and bought some sale plants that I overwintered, throwing them in with out much thought (along with some other items I see, whats up with that duck anyway???) so I could have a few larger plants to work with this fall, if you can make out the three hellabores.
{{gwi:1078070}}

Early summer it looked like this.
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You can see the plants grew quite a bit, this fall the ferns are about 24" and it's a real jungle the hellabores will get about the same hight.

I like the trout, I know you'll probably want to ax them, but I like them swiming upstream:P

I would like to see the hellabore planted with scilla as they bloomed the same time and I liked the thought of this odd combo, scilla only blooms a short time so it's not going to hurt anything in the long run if it's awlful.

{{gwi:1078074}}
{{gwi:1078076}}

I have a good sized lace leaf mapple and smaller weeping norway spruce, maybe the norway could dip off the rock bank ? the lattice is going to be replaced by a retaining wall system and the rock wall will have another layer added so the space between the two is flat, a path of some sort will be put in for upkeep and strolling, I hope to get 20 foot ready for planting this year if I hurry, I had no idea how much damage was done last winter that I need to repair before I even get to add on :(

the retaing wall in the back (where the lattice is now) will be about three foot high and could have some plants years down the road in it as it will be another bed around a reddwood for shade plants on that upper level. so if you think of any plants that could creep down that wall.

I don't know if these help or not, like I said there is a lot of bank washed away and I may not be able to get it ready for planting this year:( but I'm working at it! if I can get a hold of a camrea I'll take more recent pictures that might be helpful. I can add rocks here and there up to about 140lbs that's about as big as I can carry. I'm sure by now with all your rock work you know exactly how large a rock like that is :P

Thanks for any ideas Dan :)

Crystal,

Crystal, I'm kind of stumped. I've thought about your space quite a bit and I'm having a hard time creating a non-linear design in such a linear space. The depth of 6' makes it difficult as well because with the larger hostas you have, they are eventually going to fill in most of that space. I love your stream and as whimsical items go, the fish are pretty cool too. You might want to consider using the 'Krossa Regal' in the center of the design but placed further back,and closer to the wall. Then use two of the other big blues (Elegans,Blue Angel or Wooley Mammoth) at opposite ends of the space but forward. This way the KR will give you the more upright height in the back and the moundlike shape of the other two will eventually soften the edge of the wall. These can kind of be your anchor plants around which you can add your other ferns and hellebores and smaller hostas. Later when the big blues get bigger you can subract out some of the smaller plants without disturbing the big ones. Just some thoughts. Good luck with the wall and the plantings, I'm sure you'll do a great job. Have a great week! Dan