Landscaping around a bench

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

I'm landscaping around a memorial bench for a young college-age woman who died suddenly from a heart condition. It's halfway up a wooded hillside. I have two memorial plantings that are going in, a small tree and three flowering shrubs. I want to do a little more to add to it. The area is clear but there are woods behind it. It's facing SW and gets mid day sun. I want to create a shady, colorful niche and I'm having trouble with the tree placement. The bench is six foot. One tree behind in the middle seems a little awkward, but so does one on each side. I could do the tree on one side and two of the bushes . . . I dunno.

I'm going to plant bleeding hearts and forget-me-nots around the bench but could use some suggestions for other plants signifying love and remembrance. She loved nature and plants.

Here's a photo, best one I have. The bench is going across from the faux boise railing and the euonymous burning bush has been all torn out, (the light red stuff) and is being replaced with three large fothergillas. Those are the three bushes. The tree is sassafrass. The area for the bench is clear and flat but sloped behind. I don't have a face-on photo. I just need generic bench vignette advice that includes a tree for shade.

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Comments (4)

whitewatervol (Z 8a/7b Upstate SC)
7 years ago
What is your planting zone and nearest major city? How much maintenence will this receive after installation?

Can you get pictures of the current planting site including views from the site?
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Yardvaark
7 years ago
I think the tree should be somewhat behind and to the side of the bench. Behind and to the other side of the bench are the shrubs, arranged in a triangular grouping (two in back, one in front). Set back farther behind all of these things is either a backdrop (like a hedge or hedgerow) if there is any, or a pleasant open view. Neither the tree or shrubs are directly behind the bench but they are to each side and behind a line that is behind the bench. Relative to the bench, the tree might be aligned with the two shrubs of the back row of shrubs. The shrubs should be far enough away so that after they grow to the desired size, there is 4' or more between them and the bench.
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I apologize for all this confusion. I have been having a lot of trouble! For some reason the edit button hasn't been appearing as an option, so I haven't been able to clean up my act! And when it does I have not been able to post more than one picture. Sometimes I can't even comment. I have been trying every which way . . . thus the mess. So . . . I hope this will go out. I appreciate any patience you have had! Patio -- At most it could be 14' x 16', but could be smaller also according to whatever fits well in a plan. Or the patio idea could be scrapped altogether if it doesn't fit well. We do have flagstones to work with if a patio/landing is an option. It does not need furniture on it. I played around with the idea of a pergola over the septic to disguise that, but don't know how to make it work well without it looking like it doesn't fit. I want to keep it simple but nice. I would like, if possible to have a sitting area/room for a bench over to the left where the Kousa is. Eventually the Kousa would give some shade. The septic pipes are not visible leading out from under the window on the right, but any planting there would have to be shallow rooted. The blue domes you see at the right are the septic tank domes -- the one furthest out from the window is the far end of the tank. Hope this clarifies things a little more.It worked!! If you need any more pictures . . . I'll try. Thank you for any help!
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how about we go with the easy solution .. move the bench ... crikey.. why is it facing the street ... dont live with the prior owners mistakes .. i dont see a sheaf of green under those pines .. and i wonder why ... it is very hard to garden under a mature pine.. let alone a small forest of them ... it is usually bone dry ... so watering is an issue ... are you willing to drag a hose out there every day or 3??? a dry scape of rocks.. maybe???? .. but again.. why face the street ... how about a pic from a little further back.. or from the street ... maybe we can come up with other ideas??? wish we had pix from last season ... one of the hardest things i learned with my first house.. was to get rid of all the prior owners mistakes .. i figured it was the history of the house.. blah.. blah.. blah ... in some cases it took me 5 years before i finally figured out.. that mo had no idea what he/she was doing.. and i just have to get rid of all these problems .. and after that.. life was better ... no more stressing over some idiots mistakes ... ken ps: when grass and weeds wont grow somewhere.. or struggle to.. that is a giant sign .. that not much else.. will thrive there ... so why fight it ...
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l pinkmountain
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I mis-spoke about the direction, it is more south facing. Zone 5b. We are northwest of Toledo. There is nothing behind the bench, but then about 15 feet away is a forest which is an odd mix of norway maple, oak, walnut, honeylocust, black cherry and hackberry with some sumac around the edges. It's being restored but slowly. It gets a medium amount of maintenance, but a lot of deer pressure. We are trying to work on that but it is a constant battle.

I'm thinking the tree to the left of the bench where it will get the most sun. I was thinking the fothergillas would form the hedge behind the bench (yes, well away from it at maturity so they don't mess up the seating) but I was thinking in a semi-circle creating a little cove. I'll try a triangle arrangement. I can take photos this afternoon, I'll be out there arranging plants. The view is in front of the bench as one is seated, looking down the hill, and it is gorgeous!

Edited to add that it will have to wait til next week for photos. Don't want to leave them out over the busy weekend and don't want to drag them out and back for a photo op.
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Yardvaark
7 years ago
If shrubs are going behind bench, I would make them the hedge backdrop that I spoke of earlier and put them toward 15-ish feet away from the bench. I would forget about the semi-circular configuration and place them in a straight line, which will make a nice backdrop. The semi-circular arrangement, looking a bit "cute," seems to me like it will detract from the overall presentation.
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Landscaping around a bench

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whitewatervol (Z 8a/7b Upstate SC)

Yardvaark

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Landscaping around a bench

Comments (4)

whitewatervol (Z 8a/7b Upstate SC)

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