New from and to NC

Just moved to a new house with lots and lots of bare backyard. Any suggestions or experience or resources with ornamental grass plugs or liners appreciated.

N

I feel your pain. When we moved to our new home last May the backyard was bare and became a huge mud puddle everytime it rained. We "bit the bullet" and had bermuda sod put down which has been a great investment. We had the landscaper create beds first (even though we had nothing to plant in them), this way it decreased the amount of sod needed and broke up the huge expanse of grass. This year we will be filling in the beds with shrubs, trees and ornamental grass. I put some Japanese silver grass in a planting bed in our front yard and it looks great. Gets tall plumes in the fall. If you have a shady backyard, I heard that mondo grass works well.

We are planting centipede in the Spring. Sod is the only way to go here - plus an irrigation system plus a well. We are keeping enough lawn in the backyard for croquet, playing around, and grandchild.

I've been working on my own landscaping beds - after lots of reading and internet searching. Started off using a computer program and have since graduated to paper, ruler, pencil and eraser. Now I'm working on what to put in what beds. Most of the landscapers around here work with big oceanfront yards - second home where the owners want the tried and true. Russian Olive, live oak, indian hawthorne, and Pampas grass. Most of the contractors put in the same thing plus a bradford pear or river birch. We are about five miles from the beach but separated by land, sound, swamp, and more land.

The wind blows constantly.

Nancy

Your plan sounds great. It must be so nice to be near the beach. We have 3 grandkids and I hope to have one area set aside for them to play. The internet has been a great resource but sometimes the abundance of information is overwhelming. I seem to like everything. Deers are in the neighborhood and that limits somewhat the types of perennials/ornamentals we plant.
Question, have you ordered any plants/shrubs, or trees on the internet? I'm wondering if it is worth it. I'm trying to locate (if possible) any wholesale nurseries that allow public access since we have so much to buy initially. We don't mind doing a lot of the work but digging large holes for 10-12' trees is back breaking. Our soil is very heavy clay and when it's dry, it is like shoveling cement, but I love playing in the dirt!

I've searched for wholesale nurseries as well but no luck. Especially in North Carolina. Some sites won't even let you view prices.

We have sand and some clay and then more sand. Well-drained. We also have deer so I'm planning on things like Russian Sage - keeping Hostas close to the house.

I have a source for ordering through local nurseries but I'm finding they end up ordering from Raleigh if it is anything unusual. I've also located a source of labor - $25.00 an hour for digging a hole. We plan on doing the small stuff ourselves and will leave the tree planting to others.

N

Hi N,
Welcome to DG. You are out of my zone, but I'll help anyway I can. I know that Plant Delights and Wayside are closer to you. I would advise you to get a good plan for the areas before you start them and remember that you don't have to do everything at once.
I draw all my plans on graph paper, you can keep the scale accurate that way.
Russian Sage are a must.
Al

Welcome to the garden, --from N. Florida, --Michael

hello from upstate new ork