Problem Area Shrub Suggestion?
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
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- 8 years agolast modified: 8 years agokinlaw (Zone 7b/8a, GA) thanked floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
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Suggestions for my problem area please!
Comments (5)I don't think I'd go with any more trellissing or lattice - you've got an awful lot of vertical and horizontal lines going on there...siding, deck support pillars, deck railings, iron fencing. But you've got the start of something good that just needs a little organization. Looks like a good bed for some well chosen and placed rock groupings; not a rock garden, but accent pieces for things to be planted against, among, or to clamber over. It's unlikely the mock orange will stop growing at the 4x4 foot stage, but still may not give you the background height you're looking for any time soon. They're great shrubs, and the fragrance intoxicating but probably put to better advantage as a grouping elsewhere in the bed where you need a backdrop. If they're still in pots, move them around until something clicks. Would you consider a specimen, focal point tree - like a Japanese Maple (Acer Palmatum) out toward the middle of the bed which would divert attention from the black hole of the underdeck? Many of those have beautifully colored deeply cut foliage, interesting branching habits, different growth rates etc. and can be planted around quite effectively. Daylilies companion nicely with nepetas, Russian sages, Veronicas, peonies. Delphiniums would give you height with gorgeous blooms - beautuful against the wrought iron fence....See Moresuggestions for foundation plants/problem area
Comments (6)The deer have eaten almost every shrub I've planted, but the pieris they've left alone, and the mountain laurel only was tasted once (it's poison). They like good drainage but need moisture. My neighbor's bridal veil spirea looks like it's never been eaten, either. He has a whole hedge of them. I've found that if you put up barriers and spray until trees and shrubs get taller than browsing height, the deer will leave them alone. I have a forsythia that's been nubbed to the ground for 8 years, but the huge stand next door isn't touched. (We put up a barrier finally). Same with my lilacs and wild rose. They're browsed low down, but the flowers up high are gorgeous. One plant that looks great all summer is euphorbia. Deer don't eat it here. There are many kinds in all leaf colors from red to green. The one I have (I believe it's polychroma) has stunning chartreuse flower heads in spring. It's a low mounding, shrub-like plant that takes up a few feet of space. Very pretty....See MoreNeed shrub suggestions for new area
Comments (7)Deanna - One more question to consider: Do you have problems with deer? (We have them, but find they don't bother the gardens in general since there is so much else available for them.) If so, you will want to keep that in mind so that what you plant aren't plants which deer particularly like such as hosta, or in my case, they are loving one of my asters this year. Look into this book: The Well-Designed Mixed Garden: Building Beds and Borders with Trees, Shrubs, Perennials, Annuals, and Bulbs by Tracy Disabato-Aust. You can probably get it through interlibrary loan at your public library. Doing a mixed border with perennials, bulbs, shubs, vines, small trees and evergreens can be just lovely (my only annuals in my beds are self-seeded since I don't want to leave specific spaces for them.) Look at other books with lots of garden eye candy and decide what appeals to you. Then go to a bunch of nurseries that have shrubs to see what is available. In my experience they will often have fall sales (I think Cole Gardens in Concord is 40% off right now) so it's more economical to buy now, and most plants like the warm soil and cooler temperatures of fall to get good root growth. When I started a mixed border, I began with the large shrubs and have filled in around them with vines, bulbs and perennials. I had general ideas of what types I wanted (ie blue conifer, gold conifer, green conifer, rhodie, or red-leafed shrub) and how to arrange them, but waited until I saw what was in the nurseries to decide what to actually get. Think about foliage as well as flowers and varying the size, texture and color of leaves to add interest in times when the flowers aren't abundant. As cdeperon mentioned, the ninebarks/Physocarpus opulifolius and Cotinus/smokebush have colorful foliage as well as flowers, along with many weigelas, some elderberries, and some of the Deutzias. Consider broad-leaved evergreens like rhododendrons, mountain laurels/Kalmia, and Leucothoe. Several of them have foliage with color (along with flowers) and they all contribute a different texture than deciduous plants. Needled evergreens such as small spruces or arborvitaes will aslo add texture and color, especially during the 6+ months when plants aren't actively growing here in NH. Most of my evergreens are under snow in deep winter, but they add immensely to the interest in fall after leaf drop and in early spring before plants start up again as well as highlighted by shallower snowfalls. Below are some of my favoriite woody plants and vines to consider. Many of them have multiple seasons of interest, like my pagoda dogwoods, which have a couple of weeks of lacy flowers, berries in August, peachy fall foliage color and architectural winter branching. Not the absolute best plant in my garden at any given point, but earning its keep with year-round interest, and I grow clematis in its branches for July and early August flowers as well. Deciduous plants with colorful fall foliage: Blueberries, fothergilla, wtichhazel/Hamamelis, Enkianthus, Acer griseum (small tree), viburnums such as the natives V. acerifolium/mapleleaf viburnum, and V. cassinoides/wild raisin and the nonnative V. plicatum (popcorn and maresii are two I have) Spring flowers: Magnolias, rhododendrons, crabapples, kousa and pagoda dogwoods, spirea, mountain laurel, various viburnums, ninebarks/Physocarpus Summer flowers: Stewartia, some of the hardy deciduous rhodies and azaleas, hydrangeas, clematis (type 3 pruning, and can be grown on obelisks or into some of your shrubs), spirea, smokebush/cotinus Berries: winterberry/Ilex verticillata, elderberry/Sambucus, pagoda dogwood/Cornus alternifolia, blueberries/vaccinium, chokeberry/Aronia, serviceberry AKA shadbush/Amelanchier, many of the viburnums if they have compatible buddies to pollenate, crabapples Nice winter bark, branches, structure, color: Evergreens (both deciduous and coniferous), red/gold/orange twigged dogwoods, Cornus alternifolia/pagoda dogwood, Acer griseum/paperbark maple, Stewartia I agree with others who suggested some focal points. I have a stoneware garden lantern that I love near my house, and in my shrub bed I have several iron structures for my clematis to grow on that provide interest when it's snowy as well. In previous gardens I have used some of our native granite. Just be sure that whatever you use is large enough to read well from the house when you view it. Have fun with the planning and planting. Feel free to send me an email to arrange a visit and take home some small woodies to help you get started. The link takes you to my largest mixed border in its third year with photos taken in June, fall, and early winter. (and I want to update with recent photos when I have time to upload some pictures since it has really filled in.) Here is a link that might be useful: summer and winter mixed border...See MoreShrub for problem area (Austin)
Comments (14)Here is a thot that may be practical until you raise that bed. I have had the same soggy problem in an area I planned to eventually have a raised bed. I bought 1 gal shrubs and repotted into 3 gal pots that I cut the bottoms out of and had set a few inches down into the existing soil, using soil mix to fill the pots. Then I piled some mulch around them when it became hot and dry. They had rooted in by the time I got to raising the bed, which I did around them after snipping away the 3 gal pot. It worked without a hitch. I also have healthy Confederate Jasmine growing in this half-in/half-out of the sometimes soggy ground situation next to a fence where it is impossible to raise the bed (2 seasons). It has been also successful with two very vigorous climbing roses (in larger pots) planted in holes dug in limestone rock---with sewer gravel and screen at the bottom of the hole and about 12" of the pot above ground. So.....you may not be so limited afterall!...See More- 8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
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