HELP! I need quick help for a church project

Hi,

We are planting and putting new planter boxes around an entire church building. Most of this will go on top of old gravel...so the heighth of the dirt is around 18". What can I plant there shrub wise, tree wise, and plant wise?

Thanks!

Kirk

Hi Kirk, really sory, but I am not fully understanding what you mean, re the dirt will be about 18", is this dirt inside your new planter boxes, or is it that is the only depth of the soil/including the gravel beside the planter, do you want plants in the gravel or just inside the boxes, sorry if this is confuseing, but it will help also if you can give more information like sun, shade, who and how often the planters will be cared for ie, watered, fed etc, get back with some more info and I feel sure we can all colectively help you get started. WeeNel.

Sorry about that.....let me explain. The dirt will be 18" on top of the gravel. There is nothing below the gravel to grow from....so 18" is the depth of the soil for plants. Plants are inside the planters. This is part shade/part sun.....mostly sun. The planter boxes can be watered often. Does that help?

You say the planters are around the church...does this mean right up against the church? If so, trees might not work.

Do you want perennials? If so, sedum is unkillable(at least I haven't killed it yet) and very easy to get more from. you can just pull off a leaf or cut of the top and plant it in the ground. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/51498/

For annuals impatiens or petunias work nicely. Not sure about shrubs, but I know that spirea is nice http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/54025/

just a few ideas....

Kristie

Thanks Kristy,

Well we have 5' between building and planter stones, but what about roots for trees? Going on top of gravel........how will they root?

Kirk

Well, I'm not extremely experienced yet, but I think it would depend on how deep the gravel is, if there is plastic under the gravel, and if there is any good dirt under the gravel. I think the trees could probably grow through rocky soil and eventually plastic, but depending on the size of your root ball, you may have to dig a deeper hole than 18" to plant. I'd imagine if you wanted to plant trees you could work up the gravel and soil underneath to give the roots somewhere to go. Hopefully someone who knows a little more will pipe in.....

Kristie

If this is right up near a building, you probably don't want to do much in the way of trees anyway. If you are going to plant something that might have deep roots, I would investigate how deep the layer of gravel is and what's underneath it, then decide whether it's a good idea to plant something. Otherwise, if you stick to smallish shrubs and some colorful annuals and perennials it should work fine. I'll let someone who lives closer to your zone suggest things that might do well for you.

Weigela is nice it can be grown like a hedge, I personally like the wine and roses and have seen it planted around an apartment building looks nice. Then you could plant annuals as a border in front of them.