Re: Perennials low-maintenance?

**D* N* <n*@gmail.com>**

Susan,

Okay, I'll weigh in here since I have a large mixed perennial garden which
includes borders and beds.

It does take more maintenance, but (and it's a big but) it doesn't take that
much more. In the spring, I work pretty hard getting things ready and adding
mulch. I would do the same for the roses.

Also, once the flowers bloom, I must pull out some and deadhead others. I'm
also adding things all the time, but that's just obsessive me. The biggest
problem in much of the south for those of us who have Bermuda grass is
keeping the runners out of the beds. However, you'd need to do that with
roses too.

Now, we come to the but . . . roses, even the disease resistant ones I love,
if planted all together are a mono-culture, and we know that's a bad idea
for so many reasons. If we want to keep our pollinators, we need to provide
them with food at all stages of life and cover so they can rest. This means
mixed plantings with grasses, perennial flowers, shrubs, herbs and even
annuals. Most of my garden is filled with herbaceous perennials, and I don't
know how I would ever do without them. Neither do the bugs.

Also, a friend of mine in Nashville who writes a garden blog, Clay and
Limestone, said they are having trouble with the Knockouts. She didn't
elaborate on the problem, but I took it to be disease related. We aren't
having any trouble here, but I see a lot of red Knockouts planted all over
Oklahoma City. If they begin to be diseased, entire landscaped areas will be
wiped out.

Just my thoughts.

Dee
-- 
Dee Nash
Freelance Writer
2101 E. Lakewood Drive
Guthrie, OK  73044
405 410-2338
Blogging @ http://reddirtramblings.com
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