Northeast Gardening: Advice on planning a border?, 1 by rcn48

rcn48 wrote:
Meg, to heck with planting a "border" - rip out that edging and plant the whole area! Andy, gorgeous picture by the way and I love how Sarah always "poses" for you :) And great suggestion for planting the annuals while Meg's waiting for the perennials to mature.

Best advice you've been given here - amend that soil! You wouldn't believe how many bags of peat moss and composted manure I ripped open and added to my beds. Then of course, mulching every year, I'd stir the previous year's mulch into the topsoil each spring and then top it off again! It's amazing how much work the earthworms will do for you under the layer of mulch.

Looking at the other two pictures you posted Meg, I'm looking at that back corner, right where Frenchie is standing, and thinking it's just begging for a nice Oakleaf Hydrangea - would be the perfect height to cover up your neighbor's electrical box and would really fill that corner nicely - of course you'd have to dig up the rose and plant it someplace else.

I played with your photo this morning - placement of the Hydrangea and a climber between the windows - the gray is suggested placement for a few stones. If you plant the entire area, you'll need someplace to step to get in there to weed! Consider planting a silver leaved perennial at the base of the rose to hide its "feet" - a nice combination with a pink blooming rose is Nepeta x faassenii http://davesgarden.com/pf/adv_search.php?searcher[common]=&s... If there's enough sun closer to your steps, any of the creeping Thymes are great fillers planted around the stones http://davesgarden.com/pf/adv_search.php?searcher[common]=&s...

Just a couple of ideas for you :)