I goofed! Need to lower a bed.
Jennifer Hogan
3 years ago
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Jennifer Hogan
3 years agoRelated Discussions
I need flower bed design help! I failed miserably (pics)!
Comments (31)Aggie, the journey can indeed be frustrating and paved with failures. but each failure is a learning experience. What people with experience can do is help you identify the lesson, and maybe also help you to differentiate the possible from the impossible, but don't let anyone rob you of the journey or of giving it a try. At the risk of repeating myself, you are asking a lot of yourself to get both your foundation planting and your flower gardening out of one spot. If colour and seasonal variation are really important things for you, I really would suggest you consider adding a bed somewhere to give yourself more opportunity in better growing conditions - and that is tough to do nicely if you don't make a new bed out of the same stone. But maybe you can do that. The other thing that is a bit uphill for you is that you can only get so much uniqueness when your plantings are in the same PLACE as everyone else's. I suspect in your old neighbourhood, there was variety in WHERE in the yard people put their plants, as well as variety in what plants they had. If I drive through the neighbourhood, everyone's plants are probably at the foundation, and if only the details vary, the overall impression is still very similar. So your bed at the foundation is working against your desire to do something original on two counts. But it can be done... if you haven't already asked in the conifers forum, ask there for some suggestions for specialty conifers that would do well in these conditions. You do need evergreen plants - the bones, so to speak - and they can be broadleaf or needled evergreens. If you want a lot of variety in your flowering plants, you might enjoy having repeats of some interesting evergreens... I keep thinking of Chamaecyparis 'Wissel's Saguaro' but that might just be because I like it a lot. No idea if it works in your conditions. Even boxwoods would look good as consistent, repeated forms to offset the variety. If, on the other hand, you want consistency in the flowers (all purple petunias or peach roses), then go for variety in the conifers. Who knows, you might develop a talent for topiary :-) Some of my favourite yards are amazing topiary confections. I don't have the patience or the discipline for it though. Then you can do amazing things with quite ordinary plants. Pruning makes all the difference between green blobs and interesting shapes. Broadleaf evergreens will also offer some options for you; try asking for advice at a couple of nurseries - not big box stores. I don't know if the Ilex family would work or not, but if so, Ilex 'Mariesii' is a lovely plant - varies in form, can have some fun with it. Whitecap is right that people like me from outside your area may not be much use for specific plant recommendations, but we can help with form, and process. I've linked below to a site that explains the principles of landscape design in a way that I like. It doesn't all translate to the design of a single bed, but you can maybe play with some of the ideas. Karin L Here is a link that might be useful: Principles of landscape design...See MoreI goofed it!
Comments (11)When I got Exotic Star and Limona from Jodi last December, I started them and got TWO Limonas. I used a mix I made myself of coconut peat + rice husk ashes + garden soil + perlite and left them in the shade house in Saigon and the weather was about 90F. Now these two seedlings are doing ok. Last year the batch of seeds from Elizabeth and Cindee germinated almost 100%. I started them in California. I used the salad plastic box. I left them outside (it was June-July weather in Northern California). I used peat moss + perlite. This time, I used 100% rice husk ashes which people here use a lot of seed raising. I put all the baskets in a big plastic bag, carefully marked with names and all..., and placed them on the top shelf in my green/shade house in Dalat. The weather is about 80F. Three weeks passed and no germination! I guess maybe it's too hot on the top shelf and the mix was not right... I should have added perlite (just wanted to save it for AVs...) and should have placed the baskets on the lower shelf! Anyway, a close friend of our family from Denver Colorado is coming to visit us in late May. I'd appreciate it VERY MUCH if you can spare me some more seeds, please! I want to do it right this time. I'll email the address. Thank you so much, friends. Xuan...See MoreDid I goof on my Comtesse de Brouchard?
Comments (7)Here's some info on pruning. It was written by venu209 on that DG site (hush, we can't say the actual site name here lol). So I am officially giving them the credit for this article. Maybe it'll help: I saw some crocus blooming today. What a wonderful sight after a long and snowy winter. Living in the USA this winter seemed to mean living Under Snow Advisory. So with the perky crocus blooms ushering in spring, thoughts of pruning ran round my mind. Just how had my clematis fared through the cold blustery winter? After a few initial inspections, I smiled and headed to the garden shed to..get....my .....PRUNERS. Feared by some and loved by others ( I fall into the latter group) it was tme to wake the pruners from their winter slumber. So you may have heard about the group 1, group 2, group 3 pruning techniques. Some would like to befuddle us more by referring to it as groups A,B,C. I'll stick with 1,2,3. I remember reading about pruning when I first started growing clematis. The advice was to prune to the first set of buds. Okay, great, but what did that really mean? Flower buds? There were no flower buds in March! The first set of buds? Did that mean the first set from the outermost end of the stems or closest to the ground?? The advice should be written as such: Cut just above the first set of leaf buds closest to the ground. That sentence sums up group 3 pruning. When your clem breaks dormancy, live that sentence. You may ask, how do I know when my clems break dormancy? Well, that can be determined by those leaf buds. You will see small, fat, fuzzy things on your vine, similar to pussy willow. That's the sign that your clem is waking from plant hibernation. Now, you may notice that during this pruning process you will be cutting away many leaf buds growing along the stems. DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT. REALLY!! So there you have it folks, group 3 pruning. But wait, what about groups 1 and 2 ?!? I thought I was done, shame on me. So let's talk about group 1. This won't take long......don't prune it. That was easy! Too easy perhaps? No, it's true. If your group 1 clem gets large and unwieldly, then prune it judiciously for shape and to keep it contained. Otherwise, leave it be. This can be done anytime during the growing season. So that leads us to group 2. I didn't do that in order, did I? Group 2 is pruned after it's initial and most stupendous bloom period. In my experience, I find myself pruning the group 2 clems in midsummer. They seem to enter a semi-doormant period in the height of summer. That's when I prune them by about a third or half. I also take out any stems that have browned out due to wilt or heat. Those I take to the ground and send out with the garbage rather than the compost bin. So now I'm done...well almost. Just a couple of tips and tricks. Not sure what Clematis you're growing or what group it falls into? Watch it for a growing season and record it's bloom time and flower type. If it flowers early with a large bloom, it's probably a group 2. If it blooms later in the season, it's most likely a group 3. If it seems to bloom whenever it feels like it, but not big blooms, it might be a group 1. But we know all about group 1, don't we? In any case, even if you use the inappropiate pruning technique for your particular clem, the chances are slim to none that you'll kill it, you just might have to wait a bit longer for blooms. If patience is a virtue, then gardeners are incredibly virtuous. Here's another scenario you might have thought about. The Clematis growing through your shrub. Yes, sounds nice. The weigelia that puts out an awe inspiring spring bloom but is just another green shrub the rest of the season would be beautiful with a clem blooming in it. And it will be, but, and this is a big but, make sure the shrub is mature and large. If you plant a 2 year old shrub with a 2 year old clem, the clem will outpace the shrub 10 to 1. Trust me on that one ;) A group 3 clem might best suit that circumstance as you can prune and yank it before your shrub has leafed out. Okay, I'm really done. I hope I have helped anyone that was stuck knee deep in the clematis pruning quagmire, Oh and by the way, if your Clems are babies, throw out all the group 1 and 2 pruning. Just do group 3 pruning for the first year or three. You will be rewarded. Remember that virtue thing. Can't remember the 1, 2, 3 ? Here's a little poem: One, for the pruners, means no, nada, none Two, for the pruners, means only cut some Three, for the pruners, means lots to be done...See MoreRuined before I started? (lowered bed)
Comments (5)Thanks for the responses. I live in the high desert in very southern AZ. I removed the original dirt bc I have heard over and over that it is the cause for failure of vegetable gardens in this area. The dirt is almost entirely clay. sounds like I should have figured how to work with it instead of replace it? I thought it would be beneficial to remove the caliche and with it came most of the clay as well. The garden is now taking water quite well in the under layers, but it still easily pools on the surface. Underneath, I seem to get good moisture retention for many days. I think will be good for the plants when they are more mature. It's been a bit more difficult with the young ones...and seeds...to keep the surface damp for germination and initial establishment of transplants. I need a mulch, but have not found a good source yet. I'm fearful of when the monsoons come...I'm sure my garden will flood out. I suspect I should plan to trench and direct the surface excess to run off instead of pooling...but I would like to have some of that rain soak in deeply as well. I have not thought about how to create that balance of keeping enough to saturate down several feet, but allowing excess to run off...any ideas?...See MoreJennifer Hogan
3 years agoJennifer Hogan
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