Landscaping renovation needed along fence line
Kommentarer (14)
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
6 år sedan
PROEmerald Sod Farms
6 år sedanAzaleas or rhododendron in the back make your fence line become old. So I think you can choose any plant that has flowers and take care of easily.
mahtab93
6 år sedanNHBabs z4b-5a NH
6 år sedanmahtab93
6 år sedanÄndrades senast: 6 år sedan
Kaillean (zone 8, Vancouver)
6 år sedanmahtab93
6 år sedanKaillean (zone 8, Vancouver)
6 år sedanNHBabs z4b-5a NH
6 år sedanÄndrades senast: 6 år sedanI like fewer, more sweeping curves if any at all, both for aesthetics and for ease of mowing. Notice that Doug's sketch is basically an S curve that follows the fence line and has added depth only where there are larger plants. I am not fond of random wiggles to a bed edge since it looks contrived to me, and some of my beds are basically straight with just rounded ends. You would want the shallower parts of the bed to be the 60", with any curved out areas wider as opposed to the widest areas being 60".
Depending on what you find appealing, you can group perennials and smaller shrubs in large sweeps of a single kind so it has the effect of a groundcover when it has grown in some. Or you can have smaller groupings that repeat down the length of the bed. What you want to avoid is one of this and one of that with no repetition at all to give it some coherence. Which kind of repeating of plants you choose depends on what appeals to you. To figure out what you like, start looking at gardens with a critical eye. Find neighborhoods with plantings you like and wander around or visit a Botanic garden or demo garden at a nursery or look at online landscaping photos here on Houzz or elsewhere. Is the whole garden underplanted with a single groundcover to tie it all together? Is a particular color of flowers or foliage or type of plant repeated down a bed or around a yard? Are there gardens that look disjointed or don't appeal to you and if so, why?
You asked about under the teees. You could use the same ground cover in both places for some repetition or use different ones if you have strong repetition elsewhere. In the corner behind the little maple on the right, you could plant something like daffodils and hostas, so the daffodils bloom before the tree leafs out and then the hostas camouflage the dying bulb foliage and are shaded by the maple while the Veronica GB will grow anywhere there is space. VGB plays well with other plants to cover the ground but lets other plants grow also, something not all groundcovers do. Some are more aggressive. You may end up with not a lot actually growing under the tree since maples tend to have shallow, dense roots that don't share space with other plants well, so I would plant any groundcover there near the drip line and then let it wander where it can. Generally, I like to keep the groundcover beneath a tree low so that the layers are distinct rather than letting the lower level of plants growing up near where the branches are. And in general in a garden that is only viewed from one side like this one, (except under trees) you will want taller shrubs and perennials toward the back and shorter ones toward the front so that sight lines aren't blocked to the shorter plants.
This photo illustrates much of what I am trying to explain, though with a border that's mostly shrubs and both the border and the plants are larger than you want being perhaps 60'-70' and 15' deep with a height limit of 15'-20'. Notice that each of the larger evergreens cultivars is repeated along the bed in more than spot. Less visible at this time of year, but there are also evergreen rhododendrons repeated; one kind has 3 scattered along the length, and the other has 4 or 5. Their rhythm really shows up when they are blooming, but they fade into the background and just provide fill the rest of the year. I really value having evergreens (both the conifers and the rhodies) since it makes the bed ornamental in the winter when viewed from windows, as well as serving the function of blocking the background work area better. There are also a few kinds of deciduous shrubs or small trees that have multiples, though not at all visible when they have lost their foliage as in this photo. Towards the front of the bed are a mix of taller, shorter, and groundcover perennials and spring flowering bulbs in good sized masses which when in bloom show the same repetition down the bed. At this time of year it is less apparent since some have died back and others just blend in from a distance. There are also some individual specimens since I am at heart a plant nerd, but for me having the rhythm of repetition down the bed gives an organization that suits my tastes and rural area better than something like Doug's sketch. What you want should be what appeals to you, and only you can make that decision. Regardless, you would want one or perhaps two layers of woody plants and the rest perennials or short woodies as in Doug's sketch.
Be sure you check out ultimate plant sizes rather than just what the tag says which for shrubs is often 5 years. I like the MOBOT Plant Finder where you can search for plants that have certain requirements to fit your site or you can search by name. Either way, leave everything else beside what is important to the search blank on the form.
Dalton the Bengal (Zone 6)
6 år sedanmahtab93
6 år sedanNHBabs z4b-5a NH
6 år sedan
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