Thanks for the advice Gyr Falcon! Don't get me wrong - I desperately want rain as much as the rest of California. I was merely adding that El Nino could complicate issues with the DG install. I'm totally rooting for it regardless of this project - and my newly planted natives need the moisture to get off to a good start. I was digging and pulling out all the Bermuda grass/rhizomes out of the yard for the planting and the soil was literally BONE dry. It was very, very, sad and yet another reminder of the toll this drought is taking on plants, wildlife, and people. After all, the drought is the major reason behind our deciding to yank out the lawn and plant with natives. Anyway, back to topic....Hmm, I guess then stabilizer is the way to go. I've been reading good things about the pre-stabilized DG but they are hard to find in my area - and paying $155 for shipping a mere 2 cu. yards of DG from out of town is unappealing. If anyone can recommend a relatively close and reliable source of stabilized DG in Northern Orange County, let me know! Thanks guys!

Hi All, I have been completing planter boxes as per the pics below, finally at the stage of filling in and planting! Initial plan was to line the bottoms with cardboard but a local Bunnings person advised using some landscaping material in its place.. she told me water would seep through for drainage however after a test run of some water I'm not so convinced... Anyway as I'm a rookie to vege patch looking to get some advice on how others would fill? I've read theories ranging from putting gravel/peanut foam 1/3rd way up for drainage but then others have pulled out the scientific rule book and quoted theories that claim it actually does the opposite due to properties of water going through one density to another... so I'm fairly confused. To cut to the chase...if it were your planters how would you go about it? Plan is to plant table/salad vegetables with a few shallow root fruits also. I'm a bit concerned about the drainage of the fabric so I'm considering slashing a few strips on the bottom for peace of mind.. Dimensions 3 x 'Big' boxes 2.4m x 1.2 x 0.6 high 5 x small boxes 1.2 x 1.2 x 0.6 Thank you for any advice in advance! Note: colour scheme was not my choice :) http://i39.tinypic.com/9tiq6o.jpg http://i40.tinypic.com/2emq4v5.jpg http://i41.tinypic.com/2zpnitk.jpg This post was edited by evro50 on Tue, Oct 29, 13 at 17:21

Note that the current plants are all set along the back of the bed, on the parking lot side. While your end result doesn't need to be quite so far set back from the road, it does need to consider sight lines exiting the parking lot, and so anything that isn't short needs to set well back so that traffic on the road and in the driveway of the parking lot are clearly visible. It looks like a large area. Are you considering trying to plant the whole area? If not, consider how the bed will be edged to keep the grass out. Plan on using quite a bit of mulch, so be sure that the town will supply it, since otherwise the budget has to accommodate that along with plants. Will you and the rest of the group be willing to get together for periodic maintenance, perhaps once each in spring and fall and once a month in between? Or could you find a service group such as scouts that could work with supervision or even plan to supervise a day with a town crew? I just don't see this as successful if there isn't a commitment from someone to do more maintenance than just mowing. I know there is a group that plants and maintains the mixed shrub/perennial beds in public parks in Peterborough, NH, so it can be done that way. There are a few traffic triangles in my area planted and maintained by garden clubs, but I see folks out there working on them periodically. I just have a vision of dead leaves, spent flower stalks, and encroaching weeds if there isn't a commitment from someone to do maintenance beyond mowing. Like Woody, I see the rocks as an issue of maintenance. Do you want to have the beds in the center and completely surrounding the rocks and the sign, or in the back half of the area, or what? Whatever you plant, I would plan on creating large blocks of the same plant for effectiveness, and choose plants that look good all season regardless of blooms, so nothing with foliage that dies back, for instance, unless it will be well covered by another plant such as some spring bulbs. At least some of it might be low growing shrubs that are fairly bulletproof such as low Hydrangea paniculata varieties, perhaps some gold foliaged Spiraea, etc., depending on what does well in your area. I would check out issues of snow placement in winter and find out if associated salt will need to be considered. Does the block walkway get snow blown off it and salt added, and is the parking lot salted? I feel like I am providing only negative comments, but I do want you to go into this with your eyes wide open. Poorly maintained plantings in municipal settings are to my eye less appealing than mown grass, and I am not a fan of mown grass. If you can figure out the maintenance issues to suit whatever you choose for plants, then it could be lovely, with plants that are beautiful to the eye but also provide a little slice of habitat for pollinators. As for what does well, you might focus on prairie plants since they often will have deep enough roots and general resilience to weather the ups and downs of temperature and moisture fluctuations. Regardless of what you plant, it will need water the first year unless perhaps if you plant in the fall and have good rain the following spring. Something like a pickup truck with a 50 gallon tank might do the trick.

I wouldn’t run the stone back to the siding. You can either eliminate the top row altogether, or leave off the last stone near the house and hide it with plants that obscure the missing stone. Assuming you have soil underneath the raised area, any plants you put in the bed will extend their roots down below the bed, so soil depth shouldn’t be an issue. The bed doesn’t look very deep from front to back, so you’ll be limited on what you can plant in it. Shrubs need to be planted with their mature size in mind, and you need to leave space between the full grown plants and the house. What did you plan on planting there?