Re: Landscaping Woes
- Subject: Re: [SG] Landscaping Woes
- From: M* T*
- Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 05:29:45 -0400
Tammy,
Diane is right, your 'plop-plop' is due to young plants, probably
purchased at about the same stage of growth. As you have noted, your
older beds are looking great. Young beds will look a bit raw for a
couple of years - there's really no way around that unless you manage
to plant totally mature things to start with...not too practical.
You have some lovely plants listed - most appropriate for the site
you describe, but none are particularly fast growers. It sounds to
me like your basic problem here is a lack of height variation...your
young shrubs are still small and the perennials you mention are not
(except for lilies) particularly tall. You may also not have the
massing you need to give shape to a garden. If you plant one of each
and far apart, you will tend to have a spotty type look.
IMO, there are no hard and fast rules for design except for massing
and bones. One needs to consider the bones of a garden
first....those plants who are not, necessarily, extremely exciting in
and of themselves, but who provide the substance that is always there
for other plants to shine against. Some time ago, I did an article
on Form in the Garden, wherein I used simple shapes to illustrate the
massing and bones theory. It might prove of interest to you. URL
is:
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/shade_gardening/13865
Young gardens require patience and you probably won't have it "right"
as gardens are always works in progress. You never know whether
something is going to do what you envisioned until you try it because
plants all have minds of their own and react to specific sites in
their own way...either they thrive too well or die on you:-)
In early years, while you are waiting for woody plants to fill in,
you can select either fast growing (possibly short lived) - woodies
or larger perennials to create the height and mass you aren't getting
from your permanent plantings.
Try adding some Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle'. These are hardy
for you and bloom on new wood. They grow from the ground to about 4
or 5 feet tall in one season (I cut mine back to the lowest bud each
spring). If you put in a group of three of these in a strategic spot
- you'd have a substantial mass of plant and flowers with some height
to it almost immediately. Of course, you'd need to buy something
larger than a quart size to begin with or you won't have "imposing"
for a couple of years.
See this article for info and pix on 'Annabelle' and some other H.
arborescens varieties:
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/shade_gardening/45466
Do you grow Digitalis? These mostly biennial (some perennial) plants
will give you some height during their blooming phase and do well in
high shade. Most of the taller ornamental grasses want some sun, but
if you've got a spot or two that provide more sun than the rest of
the garden, you might consider using some of these for some height
and mass. Eupatoriums (the various Joe-Pye weeds) will take part
shade and become quite tall each season...they can get really tall in
shadier spots...try the one sold as 'Gateway', it is more like 4 or 5
feet tall in sun but will get taller in shadier areas.
Your deck sounds a perfect host for a nice vine...think (slow to
mature) climbing Hydrangea - either Hydrangea anomala subsp.
petiolaris or the Japanese climbing hydrangea, Schizophragma
hydrangeoides. This article has info about both and some pix:
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/shade_gardening/24583
This series on vines may offer you some other ideas in the vine
department. One nice thing about vines in your deck situation is
that, growing vertically, they leave ground space for other
plantings.
Patience is the hardest virtue for the gardener to achieve in a young
garden. I look back at photos taken of parts of my garden when it
was young and remember how I despaired of it ever filling in....now,
20 odd years later, my problem is combating that overgrown look:-)
Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor: Gardening in Shade
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> From: Tammy Jones <tammlyn@EARTHLINK.NET>
> Date: Wednesday, April 25, 2001 11:56 AM
>
> We are on our fourth year of gardening in our present location.
When we
> purchased this house, the land (an acre) was nothing more than
horrible
> underbrush with gorgeous shag bark hickories and oaks.
>
> Our trees have high canopies and the understory trees and shrubs I
have
> planted (dogwood, japanese maple, rhodies, azaleas, yew, birds nest
> spruce) are still so small. My perennials - hostas, (about 200+),
> astillbe, lilies, ferns, etc., look really good in the older beds
we put
> in the first spring - but everything else is looking so "plop,
plop," -
> I am wondering if this is still due to their youth, or my lack of
> appropriate design.
>
> So - my questions are - how do you know when you have it "right" in
> those early years?? Are there any tricks you use to unify your
design?
> Any ways to make a youthful garden look better? In your opinion,
what
> makes for a "good" design?
>
> We are also in the process of completing a deck and I need some
good
> ideas for foundation planting. It will get morning sun, filtering
at
> mid day and total shade in the afternoon. The deck has wide column
> supports, and lattice, with about three feet for the plantings.
>
> Thanks in advance - looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts
on
> design!
>
> Tammy
> Zone 5b
> Central Missouri
