Oh, dear, I just found this thread and I hope I'm in time to plead for a reprieve for Martha Gonzales! Here's my story: I have Martha Gonzales, Mrs. Dudley Cross, Belinda's Dream, an unknown apricot/cream Austin that came with the house, and Francis Dubrieul planted together. Francis got blackspot and dropped every leaf, with the Austin and (gasp!) Martha G. following suit almost immediately. MDC got a few spotted leaves on the side next to the defoliated plants, but on the opposite side she remained disease free! BD, on the other side, lost a few lower leaves but she's already regrown. But here's the kicker: I have a couple of other Martha G.s across the yard from the naked one, and they're both fine! Furthermore, my second MDC, about 15 feet away from the diseased roses, has no trace of disease. Another bed across the way has SDLM, SDSA, original Gruss, and Felicia. Gruss usually loses half his leaves, but he and all his bedmates have all their leaves. It seems to me that whatever Francis had this year was something abnormally bad that his neighboring roses, normally resistant, couldn't cope with. But the good news was that it spread only to immediate neighbors but went no further. Now Martha and UNK Austin are growing new leaves, but I think I have to get rid of Francis. He's still nothing but sticks.

Hi Ahelaumakani, If you put a raised bed directly up against your fence, then yes, you would have to worry about rotting it out. You would have to make a bit of room between the fence and whatever you used for the edging of your raised bed to prevent rot. St. Augustine will grow in the shade. Bermuda won't grow in very shady areas (Bermuda can be a gardener's nightmare because it's very invasive. I have it.) I'm not crazy about either of these grasses because they take a lot of water to keep them green; however, these are the two most used grasses in Austin. Others are Zoysia, Buffalo grass (native) and Turfalo. Winter Rye is also sometimes over-seeded into other grasses in the fall. It grows all winter, but then you have to mow in the winter or so I've been told. :-( As edging for a raised bed: cut dry-stacked limestone would be pretty, but might be too expensive. Wood boards work, but will eventually rot. Cinder blocks and bricks would also work. Lowe's and Home Depot also have various concrete pavers & scalloped edgers that might work as well. Or- instead of doing a raised bed, add lots of compost to amend your existing soil or create a lasagna bed as suggested above. Containers also work well as act-upon suggested above. Containers can be arranged and moved around in a variety of configurations, which is a plus, and you can stand one pot behind another and make it taller by putting it on a brick or cinderblock or place several pots on a wooden shelf or two supported by cinderblocks or pavers, if need be. With our heat, I would suggest you use the largest containers possible because they will dry out quickly. Clay pots generally dry out more quickly than plastic but in my opinion, clay pots are prettier. I have plants in clay pots, wash tubs, plastic pots, and one copper pot. Even ugly black nursery pots can be painted with spray paint or house paint in fun colors to make them pretty. I actually put mulch over the soil in some of my container plants. You can intersperse different kinds of containers/pots in a garden bed and that can look good too. You might also purchase or make a trellis for a vine and you can hang a plant wall-pocket or two on your fence to jazz it up. As for Hostas, I haven't seen many grown in Austin, but that doesn't mean it's not possible. Treelover is right that raised beds do dry out more quickly.

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!

I hope I didn't discourage you. It's possible to successfully grow many plants on limestone, if that's what you have, and for those plants that need a deeper soil, you simply make a raised bed. I have 4-6" of soil on limestone (depending upon what part of the yard you're in, and I have hundreds of plants. No joke.) Also, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is only 10 minutes from my house, and all of their soil is limestone too... What can you grow? agaves, abelia, agarita, most antique roses, irises, Jerusalem sage, Mexican oregano, greek orageno, bridal spirea, ruellias (can be aggressive), various kinds of passion flowers, Victorian blue sage, mealy blue sage, oxblood lilies, rain lilies (natives varieties easily grown), mock orange, basil, cupheas, shrimp plant, chili pequin, St. John's Wort, gulf muhly, yuccas, cedar sage, cherry sage, Pride of Barbados, Mexican honeysuckle, Turk's cap, yaupon hollies, evergreen sumac, sun flowers, lantana (all kinds), hymenoxys, golden shower thryallis, flowering senna & other sennas, Esparanza, bulbine, artemesia, calyophus, rosemaries, cannas, Texas sage, culinary sage, cottoneaster, coral vine, white mistflower, flame acanthus, barbados cherry, figs, coralberry, jujubes, pomegranates, lemon verbena, daffodils and jonquils, crape myrtles, crinums, Peruvian lilies (not sure of exact name), a wide assortment of wildflowers, and many, many, many more plants to name just a few. In raised beds I grow: asparagus, blackberries, Swiss chard, radishes, spinach, Jerusalem artichokes, & marigolds. All thrived this year although I had to water because of the drought. :-) You'll do fine, and if you buy a house built on limestone, it's probably less likely that your foundation will crack. Clay usually shifts. Limestone doesn't move as much. How do you combat bad soil? Compost helps a lot. Mulching is good. Raised beds can help. I wish you luck.