How do you plan out/design/plant a bulb mix?
coppermaven
6 years ago
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dbarron
6 years agoRelated Discussions
How do you make yourself go plant bulbs when it is COLD?!
Comments (19)I felt halfway over my cold today, when the weather was supposed to be the highest in a while, 42 F, and even kind of sunny. After a few non-postponable family commitments, I put on a scarf, hat, and down coat and headed out at 2 pm to make tracks before the sun went down at four. Dashing back and forth between the garage and the back yard assembling tools and my huge tray of bulbs, I chortled, "It doesnÂt even FEEL cold!" I decided to start with the little bulbs like chionodoxa that needed shallow 3 inch holes, thinking once I got those done I would feel a great sense of accomplishment. Then I started digging my first little hole. I thought, "WhatÂs that yucky white mold under the mulch?" and plunged my trowel in. Or not. (Did I hit a rock? Move trowel over, try againÂ) Nothing happened. The trowel did not go in even an inch. ThatÂs when I realized the funny looking white stuff was not mold, but ICE CRYSTALS. The ground was already frozen! In mid-November! IÂve planted later than this before! How can this be??? I got a pickaxe and managed to plant maybe 50 before the sun was too far down to continue. That is, if you can call it "planting" when you put a chunk of frozen dirt on top of a bulb and canÂt press it down knowing that if you do, you will crush the bulb. 3 inch deep hole, hah. Those chionodoxa are an inch down if anything. 50 down, 650 to goÂ.ItÂs supposed to snow tomorrow....See Morehow would you plan this out
Comments (29)I'm a guy that likes a little art in my garden. Not something outlandish or that takes away from the trees and plants, but gives the eye something to see when traveling across my garden. That was why I asked about the stump centering. If they are 18-24" across that's a pretty good sized mounting platform and also fairly similar in size. And if they are in fact straight in a line as the picture shows and fairly equidistant apart I would suggest leveling the tops of the stumps to one general height if they vary much and then use them as platforms for some kind of art display with plantings in between. You could maybe put something metal birds on them as one idea. I had some utility tombstones I needed to cover up on my property so I covered them in cedar boxes I built and then got a set of herons in various patina metallic finishes and in various poses and mounted them in combinations on top of the boxes. They looked much better than the utility tombstones and the rusting metal is very organic. Another possibility would be to do a tall metal shape coming out of the top of each stump like maybe a piece of bent iron work in a celtic design that all match or are in combinations of similar designs and sizes. I love old rusted iron work in a garden. It gives it a very natural feel while adding eye candy to the display. As I said art doesn't have to be some slap you in the face thing like a bright colored object that makes you see it and not the garden......it can be very esthetically and natural pleasing and actually enhance your garden's look and appeal. Then you could maybe put some nice columnar shaped or smaller trees or shrubs between them. Maybe show off a series of similar and connected varietals. One idea might be a series of the smaller and pretty redbuds for instance. There are some great new variegated ( Silver Cloud and Floating Clouds )and colorful leafed varieties ( Rising Sun - my new favorite ) now that stay fairly small or maybe a narrow/weeping form ( Ruby Falls ). Most of these redbuds are good to zone 6 and most to zone 5. And redbus will give you that real burst of spring color in the garden. Just one idea. mark...See MoreHow do you plan your gardens? Or do you at all?
Comments (16)It isn't that I'm so wonderfully organized, Pam, I require some help in remembering what I want to do. Sometimes I come inside and remember that I had a wonderful thought about adding something to a certain spot, but I've already forgotten what it was. I can't remember what bloomed in April as compared with May. Sometimes when I read my notes, if there isn't a photo with them, I am not sure what they mean. Today I looked at a file with nicotiana and lilies together and a note about purple nicotiana that I don't remember at all, and it is only a month old. If there isn't a note with the plants I'm about to plant, they'll go in the wrong places when I get distracted. You all can feel free to worry about me at any time. If I kept all my plans 'in my head' they would rapidly leak out. There's just too much to remember it all. Nell...See MoreSearchable plant database? How do you find out what's available?
Comments (4)But before you go shopping, I think there should be one more "figure out" on your list: Figure out what YOU want! That means knowing not only all those other figure-outs, but deciding what does and does not appeal to you - formal or casual? lots of annuals or lots of perennials? mostly flowers or all evergreens or great expanses of lawn or fresh vegs or fruit trees or maybe bonsai? is lots of pruning okay or would it better be if the landscape were mostly self-maintaining? Most of us have a general idea of what we like - however, this is *your* landscape so please yourself first - but going through a stack of garden magazines or driving around and just looking at what other folks have done can help clarify your preferences. And self-honesty is supremely important: how much time and effort will you *really* spend each week? Does your idea of a great Saturday mean going boating all day- or pulling weeds all morning followed by hauling mulch for several hours- or laying back in the hammock? The less time you have available in combination with the less effort you may want to expend on the garden means that you need to choose both plants and a planting style that appeals to you esthetically but doesn't require a many hours of labors every week. OTOH, if you adore roses and would rather train canes than relax in a lounge chair, then you can plan your landscape around roses (or whatever the magic plant may be). Knowing what you do -or don't- want will be a big help in narrowing the planting choices to a manageable number, and the rest of "landscaping" is mostly following a few sensible rules (those first figure-outs you listed); setting reasonable and realistic goals; listening to others who have done the same thing [who may or may not be experts, but you can learn lots from somebody else's experience]; and then accepting that both gardens and gardeners change as time passes. Oh yes, and 2 things about hardscape: always make a comfortable weatherproof chair your first purchase, and remember that it's easier to put the path where the wheelbarrow needs to go than it is to fix the lawn after dragging the mulch across the grass because there wasn't a path....See MoreJeb zone 5
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agodbarron
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
6 years agodbarron
6 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
6 years agoJeb zone 5
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agodbarron
6 years ago
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