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Landscape Design

driveway border landscaping

last year

The mature plants in the back are lovely - peony, heather, shrubs, etc. but I don’t love the alternating lavendar and gold heathers along the driveway. Any suggestions on what to plant along there? The lavendar smells great but there are too many bees when you get out of the car. This is full sun and in the Pacific Northwest.

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Comments (11)

Jj J
last year
A row of blueberries? Dwarf hydrangea? Or an evergreen, but more interesting than boxwood.
Ashley Green
Original Author
last year
Yes I love the simplicity is boxwood but I need something a bit more interesting in the mix. The deer will eat the hydrangea and blueberries. An evergreen would be nice
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First, I think there are many driveways done entirely in pavers. I wouldn't want to speak to snowplow issues, mind you. I've hardly ever even seen one! But my main point is that unfortunately I don't have a clue how to handle such a problem, and I suspect that the best place to go for an answer would be a paver supply yard, a paving installer, or a contractor who handles asphalt. Obviously too, local sources will more familiar with your climate.
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joepyeweed's list is good, but you'll need a fair amount of seed for a 150' drive. Flowering spurge seed is very expensive, and butterflyweed and prairie smoke can be expensive as well. Coreopsis would be a good choice, but will not persist. It is a short-lived perennial. Black-eyed susan would be another good choice, but is likewise short-lived. Wild lupine (Lupinus perennis) would be another good choice. Spiderwort and prairie drop seed are great plants and seed is pretty inexpensive. Another good plant to consider would be rough blazing star (Liatris aspera).
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Comments (3)
The border does serve a purpose. Depending on your climate and the soil in your area, as you use the driveway along with weather and heaving, the asphalt will have a tendency to want to spread and the driveway starts deteriorating at the edges. Vegetation wants to grow there also and forces up the edges of the asphalt. A solid concrete curb effect will do a better job if installed properly and will look better longer. The pavers or bricks will shift over time and become uneven and in my opinion, will not look as "tidy" over time. If its the concrete strips look you don't like, you can use some driveway sealer to cover them, to match the new driveway. Don't be taken in by the offer to seal your new driveway...it doesn't need it and will contribute to early failure. Use that money to have a good solid border installed. There are stamps that can be used on the poured concrete to give it a cobblestone look. If you want color, you can even tamp in dyes. That is being done to many bridges and concrete barriers these days to give it a more asthetic appearance. A friend of mine in Connecticut went to the city of New Haven and obtained marble that was used as curbs in the city. They were removing the marble as they widened the streets and were putting in concrete curbs. The marble was slabs about 6 inches thick, 4 feet long and 12 inches deep. It took some digging on his part but really looked good. He then had the asphalt driveway "heat stamped" to give the whole driveway a cobblestone look. It looked good but I wonder what it will look like after a few snow plowings?
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Comments (4)
Where are you? This is important since it will influence what plants you can use as well as other factors such as need for snow removal. Here's how to add that information to your profile so that it posts with your name: Go to Your Houzz in upper right of every page, click Edit Profile, and on the left side click advanced settings. Well down the advanced settings page is a blank labeled Climate Zone for Garden Forums along with a link to find your zone. If you add info on your state or the nearest large city you will get even better information since zone only relates to average coldest winter temperatures. Then return to the top of the page and click Done Editing.
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Jj J
last year
Try Liquid fence to keep deer away, it’s formulated for deer and rabbits. Sarcacoca (sp) is an evergreen with small, shiny leaves and a looser form than boxwood but has a wonderful vanilla scent in February. Prefers shade but does quite well in full sun with adequate water in the plantings near my clinic.
Jj J
last year
Here is some info
Jj J
last year
Flowers are teeny and make people wonder where the fragrance is coming from.
PRO
Dig Doug's Designs
last year
Here is an alternate idea:
Ashley Green
Original Author
last year
Wow, cool mock up! Thanks. I like the way the Japanese maple ties in with the red in the stone work. We are planning to add an address rock but we were going to put it closer to the rear because we sometimes need to access the double fence doors in the background and the opening to that area is narrow. My front garden has been run over by various trucks 3 times this summer 🙃. What are the plants surrounding the rock in the front? Maybe I could replace that rock in your drawing with a taller grass…
l pinkmountain
last year
I'd go with some small tidy shrubs, like magic carpet spirea (gold leaves, chartreuse flowers) or wine and roses weigela, some landscape roses . . . something with interesting foliage as well as flowers. Perhaps a groundcover like lamium or mondo grass. Both are invasive but if you live in suburbia maybe no place to invade . . .
littlebug zone 5 Missouri
last year
Doug’s idea is a lot better than a row of whatevers along the driveway. I’d do what he suggests or do away with the driveway bed completely.
olychick
last year
Sarcococca but
Jj J
last year
Dig Doug for the win!

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