Please help me to identify these plants and give me some tips on how to create this look. My fence line is identical to this and the area gets really hot and sometimes rainwater collects in the low part for a day or so. When I found this picture on a website it said bog garden. Thanks for looking and please leave a quick tip. For those of you with a little bit more time, please give me steps to complete this look from start to finish.
The plant with the orange flowers is a Canna, and the one a little farther down along the fence with the big leaves is some sort of elephant ear. Looks like there might be another smaller elephant ear just to the left of the Canna too. Beyond that, it would really help to have some closeups--too hard to tell what's what with a small picture taken from far away.
what type of soil is in this area for you currently?
I am new to gardening, so I will not be able to tell you what type of soil I have. Here is a picture of my area. Thanx for the responses!
Here is a close up
take a shovel to the main area you wish to plant in, shovel down one depth of the shovel and tell me - was it hard to do, easy?
When you turn the shovel over, pick up a handful of dirt, squeeze it does it stay compacted? is there any orange clay in it? small rocks? big rocks?
Trust this is just as important as planting what you want (in fact more important in my book) I know you say it gets wet easier in this part of the yard but knowing what type of soil you have will help you understand if it's slow draining or fast draining - clay is more slow draining and without good amendment will rot bulbs like the Canna's and Elephant Ears in the picture you like
Sandy soil is more easily amended with compost to help make up for the fast drainage (sandy soils have issues with nutrients leeching out too fast)
So...honestly - before you start spending money on plants - take the time to learn about your soil - it really is important - tossing plants in the ground hoping they will look like a picture is a crap shoot - if you're going to learn about gardening...this is your first homework assignment LOL :)
