low maintenance
- To: perennials@mallorn.com
- Subject: low maintenance
- From: A* L*
- Date: Sat, 19 Jun 1999 17:44:55 -0700
For a sunny spot, I'd plant a bed of different grasses, echinacea
(pink & white), some tall small-flowered daylilies (see note below on
daylilies), sedum Autumn Joy, coreopsis 'Moonbeam,' hardy salvias
(like East Friesland,), baptisia, nepetas, some easy landscape roses (if
she likes roses), boltonia, and some clumps of Shasta daisies. I'd add
a shrub or two, maybe a tall thin conifer or two, and a low-growing
evergreen like juniper (or two) for winter interest. I'd leave a couple
of bare spaces and put in some plants of cosmos or other annual in the
summer for non-stop blooming. In the fall, I'd whack down everything
that looked grungy, leaving the grasses and sedum. In the spring, I'd
whack back the sedum and cut the grasses down, rake out everything, and
let it alone.
For Shade, I'd make sure the area was well amended to hold moisture,
then
plan hostas (all sizes, complementary colors), astilbe (early, middle,
late, lots of color choices), heucheras (dark leaved), ferns, some iris
pseudacorus for spiky contrast, epimediums for edging, bleeding hearts
(may have to cut these back in July but no big deal), and maybe a clump
or two of daylilies if there's a sunny edge. I'd add a few
shade-tolerant shrubs here too.
On daylilies as low-maintenance plants: true, they are relatively easy
to grow and rewarding. But many of the large flowered types leave
messy, limp deadheads after blooming and a big stand of daylilies can
look pretty crummy unless they're deadheaded every other day or so,
depending on your tolerance for the dead flowers. Also, I find the
foliage varies in its durability. Some kinds need little maintenance
or grooming. Others get so large and floppy and develop unsightly
browning leaves underneath the clumps that I wouldn't describe them as
low-maintenance if a well-groomed look is important (particulary in a
front yard).
Of course, both sun & shade beds need a spring and fall cleanup, some
soil amendments at least yearly, and probably a dollop of fertilizer
now and then as well. And mulching, to keep weeds down and slow
water loss. And eventually, those clumps will need dividing at some
point...!
Anne - Chicago
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