What's not working here?
Julie Waids
6 years ago
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Need help with what to plant here
Comments (15)tj, I have been to Rotary Gardens, but not this year. Beautiful place! Relative to evergreen...I guess I have this vision in my head of arborvitae that become overgrown, have die out and split/flop in heavy snows....and basically look terrible. I'm sure that is not a fair synopsis, and really as I think about it, I'm open to evergreen suggestions...just not arborvitae. They are nice for winter interest and I don't have any in the backyard. The Doublefile Viburnum is beautiful and I just read that some are trained into tree form. I'm leaning toward something that can take more of a tree form or is a small tree that I can underplant. Thanks for that suggestion. Jamie, I saw a nice Japanese Maple last weekend at a garden center here (can't remember now if it was Imperial or Emperor's), but was told it is a pretty hardy one. I just feel skeptical as it was pricier than other options, and I'd hate to spend the money and then have a bad winter that kills it off. It does seem however that this siting would provide some protection from winds which is what can do the damage from what I've read. What kind of Japanese Maple do you find to be most hardy in your area? Jean...See MoreNorth-facing shady window box - what will work here?
Comments (3)There are lots of plants that would work depending on your budget & time commitment to care for them. A simple way is to use a base of groundcovers that trail. Then add a few colorful accents as desired whether annuals or seasonal perennials tucked in then planted out in the regular ground garden. If you combine plants that tolerate the same level of moisture & growing conditions it's easy. I've used these evergreen or semi-evergreen plants in part shade containers without much work at all after planting except for some slug control, cutting back after flowering, and watering. Now & then I tuck the trailers back into the planters to fill out more or just snip off & plant elsewhere. Around Christmas I tuck in conifer boughs without damaging the plants. Creeping groundcovers: vinca minor, purple-leaved ajuga, golden creeping jenny, wintercreeper euonymus (slow growing Emerald Gaiety & Emerald & Gold), and Lamiums (not the invasive yellow bloomers, but the other ones). Japanese pachysandra has a sweet fragrant spring flower, so in a container you can smell it without bending over. Not showy after that, but green all year. Palace Purple Heuchera gives great contrast & colors up fine for me in morning sun. Then the airy stalk of white blooms give it a totally different look in summer. Bergenia Winterglut has great bronze fall & winter color with spring flowers. If you need more height and also want to please the hummingbirds the very hardy upright fuchsias from the Northwest Fuchsia society's list on the website will establish & return year after year. Some even have golden or variegated foliage to give more contrast. I mulch them every year in outdoor containers to be sure they return. I've added hybrid columbines from seed or serbian bellflower for more colorful blooms. Sometimes, even fringecup our native Tellima grandiflora. When the height of the bloom stalks in late May/June tend to flop a bit, but you can cut them off if desired or leave until fall. I've used our native lady fern with a variegated groundcover Bishop's weed, but that all goes dormant in fall then I cover with windblown conifer branches until the Bishop's weed regrows in spring. I haven't used other native plants in planters, but enjoy them in the gardens. Corrine...See MoreMaster Bathroom Remodel – Shower size, sprays etc HELP
Comments (4)For several years I've been measuring friends' showers and hotel showers, and -- in my opinion -- 5'x4' is the ideal shower size. This is large enough to feel spacious and luxurious, large enough to house a shower stool, large enough to go door-less, if that's something that interests you ... yet small enough that it "warms up" and small enough that you can reach grab bars on both sides at once. In saying that, I should note that I'm a very small person. If you top 6', your mileage may vary. Also, the amount of glass in your project will affect its feel (if not its actual function). I wonder if you could take it down to 5' wide and use the extra space for towel storage; something like this -- pretend it's next to a shower: Do you own that many towels? I don't. For your space, I recommend something like this: Let the front half of the shelves open to the room for storage of towels, etc. You could include baskets in these shelves, or even a tall, thin hamper in the lower half. Then let the back half of this shelf unit open into the shower. This'd give you plenty of space for toiletries, etc. IN the shower (too much storage, actually, but it would be out of the line of sight from the main room), and you could use the lower portion as a hidey-hole for a teak shower stool (teak is best for water-purposes). I recommend a moveable shower stool instead of a built-in bench. You can buy them at Bed, Bath & Beyond for maybe $150. You can place it exactly where you want it: Under the rain shower today, out of the shower completely tomorrow, to the side for a child (or a sick person) to sit upon while someone else washes his hair. And if you ever have a truly sick person in the house, you can remove the small shower stool and bring in a full-fledged hospital shower chair (ugly but functional). Furthermore, wood isn't cold on the rear end like tile or stone. Shower heads ... How many /what type are you considering, and is it realistic that you'd want to run them at the same time? Without knowing exactly what you want, I'll take a couple stabs in the dark: - I don't see any point to a plain shower head PLUS a hand-held. I do see the point to a hand-held on a sliding bar so you can slide it up/down, but I don't think it's a make-or-break. - Remember that you want your hand-held to be accessible to your seat; if you go with a teak bench, no problem -- the bench can go to the hand-held's location. If you go with a stationary bench, you might want a second hand-held over the bench (which you'd never use at the same time as the main shower head). - If you're doing a rain shower head, this is a whole different function /not really good for washing yourself. Typically this'd be placed dead-center (a good reason to have a moveable seat), and it wouldn't be used at the same time as the get-down-to-business-of-cleanliness shower head. And related thoughts ... - Where are your wet towels going to hang? Or, are you considering a heated towel unit? - A big shower can be cold. Are you considering a heated floor, or a heater for the main room? -Think through your on/off switches. You definitely want them to be able to reach in with one hand and turn on the water without walking into the shower all the way /exposing yourself to that first burst of cold water. And even though you say you want to run the shower heads all at once, you definitely want each one controlled by a separate control. Get the shower you want! Agreed, but in any number of house-related things as I've investigated "the best stuff", I've realized that the status quo isn't what I really want. The shower YOU really want will require some homework....See MoreWhat would you do w/ this space?!!
Comments (21)Thanks all for your ideas. The images really help too. One thing I should have mentioned... since my house is flood-prone (the 1st time, Memorial Day 2015 = 7 inches, the second time, Hurricane Harvey, Aug 2017 = 3 feet), I'm trying to keep anything that leans toward an 'investment', off of the ground / about 3 feet and 'up.' In other words, I'm buying Kichler and Craftmade Ceiling fans but will buy a very inexpensive entertainment center. The money goes only toward things that can't be ruined by that horrendous black water. Yes, my range and appliances were high-end, but that's really the exception. Even if I didn't expect another flood occurance, my budget doesn't really allow for more doors, rather maybe a 'screen'... and probably not a custom bureau, but maybe an inexpensive ready-made one...so all the ideas are great. Thank you all!...See Moreoaktonmom
6 years agoJulie Waids
6 years agoJulie Waids
6 years agobeckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionally
6 years agoJulie Waids thanked beckysharp Reinstate SW UnconditionallyJulie Waids
6 years agobeckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionally
6 years agoJulie Waids thanked beckysharp Reinstate SW UnconditionallyJulie Waids
6 years agobeckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionally
6 years agoJulie Waids thanked beckysharp Reinstate SW UnconditionallyJulie Waids
6 years agobeckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionally
6 years agoJulie Waids thanked beckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionally
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