Greetings and welcome to our front garden. Sit back, relax, and put on your thinking cap because I need some help with this one!
Here's the lay of the land so you can get your bearings. I'll refer to the gardens as left (under the extra large windows with the little half-circle window on top) and right (um... the other side. On the right). Right is a bit bigger than left. It has a clear border (sidewalk and then the driveway just a little outside the picture to the right). Left doesn't have a border at all - it forms a little half-circle type shape as it curves back to meet the left corner of the house there.
Now, let's get up close and personal so you can see why I'm asking for some help.
Exhibit A: the garden Right
There's no shortage of day lilies here. They're planted in an uneven line along the front (ish) of the garden, effectively blocking the view of anything planted behind them. They're rather tall. They could easily be divided. So keep that in mind as we meander around the gardens. Where would you put the divided parts? Would you move all the day lilies so they're not right up front blocking everything else?
If your eyes are in excellent shape, you might be able to make out a recently pruned rose bush in that picture too. It's growing close to the white porch column, and it's really just 5 stalks right now. I'm really hoping that the youtube video I watched on how to prune rose bushes wasn't lying because it basically told me to cut them down. So I did. Now we wait. They are pink roses that have already bloomed, and the leaves go from green to dark red. I have no idea what kind of roses they are... do you?
Growing behind the barrier of day lilies, there used to be about 4 of these guys:
But after today's garden clean-out, I easily pulled 3 dead ones out so now Right garden has only one lonely twiggy leafy flowering bush thing (Do you know its name? Although my name is descriptive, it's certainly not concise). These bush things are okay, but they don't grow taller than the day lilies so I don't see their purpose if they're just hidden all the time. There are a few in the Left garden too - a few less now that I've nixed the dead ones there too. Maybe this garden isn't the best home for them if they keep dying?
So that's the Right side. Basically a rose bush (maybe), a bunch of day lilies, and a lot of extra space (approximately 6'x10' of pretty empty space behind those lilies right now). What would you do with that kind of garden space?
Mull that over as we move on to...
Exhibit B: The garden Left
Deja vu! A thick wall of day lilies. A few twiggy bush things. And, in that open space close to the porch, an incredibly well-pruned rose bush. There is not as much open space in this garden - we have a patch of land behind the lilies roughly right-triangle shaped with a base approximately 4 feet deep and a height of something like 8 feet (making the area 16 sq. feet if my geometry works).
Whatever shall we do with this patch of land?
Oh, you might be wondering about sunlight. The lilies have thrived up front where they get good sun for most of every day. Left gets more sun overall than Right, as Right is completely covered by the house (roof). Left is fully in front of the house - no roof cover to block sunlight or rain from getting all over it.
Finally, and lower on my list of priorities, is the side of the house (off the edge of garden Left). Way back there close to the chain-link fence, you can see a little brick garden box. It has four plastic pots sitting in it, each holding its own dead plant. I'm not sure what they were. Gifts from the previous owner that I've clearly not been motivated to part with yet. Anyhow, I'd like to someday have open, flowing beds along the side of the house here. That back brick area gets more sun than the front. But I'd like to get rid of the bricks and just have an open bed that flows into the yard a la garden Left. Sort of a continuation of this garden, in fact. All the way to the back.
Okay, I know you're just bursting at the seams with good ideas for the garden. Before you spill, though, a couple of important notes:
1. Low maintenance is key. We need plants that will love us back even when we rarely water, prune, weed, aerate, fertilize, or do anything else you're supposed to do to keep plants happy.
2. Cheap is good. Our garden budget is currently hovering right around the $0 area. I've got armies of lilies to divide and plant. I have a bag of chive seeds and one of basil seeds. I have half a bag of potting soil. A shovel. Some gloves. And that's it.
3. I don't know much about plants. But I do love hostas. Especially the Orange Marmalade ones. Beautiful. So even though we can't currently throw money at the garden, if you have some long-term ideas or you know someone who'll trade me hostas for some pretty awesome monster cookies, I'm open to suggestions!
Thanks in advance for any ideas you might have for the gardens!
BONUS QUESTION: What color would you paint that rocking chair on the porch?
Here's the lay of the land so you can get your bearings. I'll refer to the gardens as left (under the extra large windows with the little half-circle window on top) and right (um... the other side. On the right). Right is a bit bigger than left. It has a clear border (sidewalk and then the driveway just a little outside the picture to the right). Left doesn't have a border at all - it forms a little half-circle type shape as it curves back to meet the left corner of the house there.
Now, let's get up close and personal so you can see why I'm asking for some help.
Exhibit A: the garden Right
There's no shortage of day lilies here. They're planted in an uneven line along the front (ish) of the garden, effectively blocking the view of anything planted behind them. They're rather tall. They could easily be divided. So keep that in mind as we meander around the gardens. Where would you put the divided parts? Would you move all the day lilies so they're not right up front blocking everything else?
If your eyes are in excellent shape, you might be able to make out a recently pruned rose bush in that picture too. It's growing close to the white porch column, and it's really just 5 stalks right now. I'm really hoping that the youtube video I watched on how to prune rose bushes wasn't lying because it basically told me to cut them down. So I did. Now we wait. They are pink roses that have already bloomed, and the leaves go from green to dark red. I have no idea what kind of roses they are... do you?
Growing behind the barrier of day lilies, there used to be about 4 of these guys:
But after today's garden clean-out, I easily pulled 3 dead ones out so now Right garden has only one lonely twiggy leafy flowering bush thing (Do you know its name? Although my name is descriptive, it's certainly not concise). These bush things are okay, but they don't grow taller than the day lilies so I don't see their purpose if they're just hidden all the time. There are a few in the Left garden too - a few less now that I've nixed the dead ones there too. Maybe this garden isn't the best home for them if they keep dying?
So that's the Right side. Basically a rose bush (maybe), a bunch of day lilies, and a lot of extra space (approximately 6'x10' of pretty empty space behind those lilies right now). What would you do with that kind of garden space?
Mull that over as we move on to...
Exhibit B: The garden Left
Deja vu! A thick wall of day lilies. A few twiggy bush things. And, in that open space close to the porch, an incredibly well-pruned rose bush. There is not as much open space in this garden - we have a patch of land behind the lilies roughly right-triangle shaped with a base approximately 4 feet deep and a height of something like 8 feet (making the area 16 sq. feet if my geometry works).
Whatever shall we do with this patch of land?
Oh, you might be wondering about sunlight. The lilies have thrived up front where they get good sun for most of every day. Left gets more sun overall than Right, as Right is completely covered by the house (roof). Left is fully in front of the house - no roof cover to block sunlight or rain from getting all over it.
Finally, and lower on my list of priorities, is the side of the house (off the edge of garden Left). Way back there close to the chain-link fence, you can see a little brick garden box. It has four plastic pots sitting in it, each holding its own dead plant. I'm not sure what they were. Gifts from the previous owner that I've clearly not been motivated to part with yet. Anyhow, I'd like to someday have open, flowing beds along the side of the house here. That back brick area gets more sun than the front. But I'd like to get rid of the bricks and just have an open bed that flows into the yard a la garden Left. Sort of a continuation of this garden, in fact. All the way to the back.
Okay, I know you're just bursting at the seams with good ideas for the garden. Before you spill, though, a couple of important notes:
1. Low maintenance is key. We need plants that will love us back even when we rarely water, prune, weed, aerate, fertilize, or do anything else you're supposed to do to keep plants happy.
2. Cheap is good. Our garden budget is currently hovering right around the $0 area. I've got armies of lilies to divide and plant. I have a bag of chive seeds and one of basil seeds. I have half a bag of potting soil. A shovel. Some gloves. And that's it.
3. I don't know much about plants. But I do love hostas. Especially the Orange Marmalade ones. Beautiful. So even though we can't currently throw money at the garden, if you have some long-term ideas or you know someone who'll trade me hostas for some pretty awesome monster cookies, I'm open to suggestions!
Thanks in advance for any ideas you might have for the gardens!
BONUS QUESTION: What color would you paint that rocking chair on the porch?
Comments
Butterfly bush
'Stella de Oro' daylilies
Coreopsis
Achillea (aka Yarrow)
Heuchera (aka Coral Bells)
Forsythia
Salvia
Hostas of all varieties
Lantana
Daffodils
Muscari (aka Grape Hyacinth)
Crocus
Chinese Fringe Flower (the dwarf variety)
Most of these were planted in the beds that got partial to full sun. The one fully shaded bed that we had contained hostas and coral bells.
Plants that didn't work out so well for me (probably more my fault than theirs):
Azaleas -- didn't grow very fast, didn't bloom very much
Arborvitae -- green on the outside, but brown in the middle
Echinacea (aka coneflower) -- tried to take over the flower bed
Mint -- tried to take over the yard
Plants to include in our new yard:
Lilac
Peonies
Hydrangeas
Gold Thread Falsecypress
I budgeted about $100 each year on our plants/mulch and gradually added to our beds over the 5 years that were there. Hope that gives you some ideas!
i'd suggest herbs in the side bed. Basil, cilantro, parsley are all easy to take care of as long as you cut the flowers off (the flowers steal all the energy that would go into giving the leaves the oh so yummy flavor). I was always able to pick up herbs preplanted for a few bucks at random stores. If starting from seeds, best to start indoors and then move outside. Also, tomatoes grow pretty dang easily.
and if all else fails, plant mint. smells yummy, grows anywhere and will contribute to a tasty, well earned, mojito.
Everything in our yard is native to NC, requires NO care/water, flowers lovely, and thrives. Those were our requirements and Simpson came through major.
I'll see if I can locate it and I'll give you a copy. Otherwise, next time you're here we can take a walk around the yard and I can identify most things and you can see what they look like after a few years grow time.
-Abby