We have just finished building our new little wooden bridge, fence and placed the main bed in the back. We have put hosta's, blue and red lady helleborus and some poker primrose, and ostrich ferns in the back. What other suggestions would you have on plant type for this area as well as hardscaping?
Main Bed Picture
Here is the total landscape. We have used all hardwoods that were cut from the area to build everything.
Here is what it used to look like about 1 year ago
And well, our trusty side kick, roto-tiller and mole trap
What a face!!! What a wonderful buddy you seem to have.
I'd find colorful fish stakes - metal or pottery - and 'plant' a 'school' right alongside that bridge and set them so that they are leaping out of the 'water' (a 'pool' of river rock) all at once. Set a boulder or two along the path and plantings all around..fern, hosta, more leafy than flowery.
I'm not against planting (far from it) but the deer and critters have me trained to think 'garden art' for interest first...and lunchtime plantings second!
What is the dog's breed?
He is a bloodhound, so no hiding treats from him :D Thanks for the comments
We have these "jumping" into our stream. Couldn't locate in the stream as we would have liked, because the stakes would puncture the liner.
ah,that face,I have a 1/2 bloodhound named Mollie,a rescue, I love em....you can get lost in the wrinkles!
Love the bridge,that is going to be an awesome place.
I don't know plants for you zone but here is a plant finder I use a lot.
http://www.sustland.umn.edu/plant/search.asp?WoodOrHerb=Woodies&useGet=true&SearchName=&SearchScientific=&SearchTypeDd=&SearchTextureDd=&SearchFormDd=&SearchSIDd=&SearchFColorDd=&SearchHmin=&SearchHmax=&SearchWmin=&SearchWmax=&SearchUseDd=&SearchinsectDd=&SearchDiseaseDd=&SearchLightDd=&SearchZoneDd=&SearchSoilDd=
Start with plant type and plug in what you are looking for. The page itself is hard to get to so I did that part. It is from the University of Minnesota.
If you have deer you might be best off googleing native plants for your zone that are deer proof. Native plants are the easiest to grow and look the best in a natural setting like that.
Working in a wooded area like that I think you would be making a mistake if you added hard scape. If you want paths you could put down wood chips to walk on.
Oh, Tanker, what a splendid project you've taken on! A few questions: Are you bothered by deer? How far away is your house? Do you see this area from indoors?Since you mention a liner, will you have flowing water, full time or seasonally? I am VERY big on ferns, esp. the evergreen varieties so you don't lose everything when winter comes. I adore having a few color spots, if deer not a problem. We have coons and coyotes, but flowers are safe from them. Cyclamen and bleeding heart are so pretty in spring. Ah, the luscious green woodsiness of NC!
Tanker, looks great have fun with it.
We have 2 bloodhounds around the corner from us, their barks make me laugh.
Well, it has been awhile and alot of work, but here it is so far
larger picture, sorry
Here is the back area. It is planted with Hosta's, Ferns, Astilbe, Lily of the Valley, and one large Colocasia Plumbea Nigra. I have done a great little edit in photoshop that I will post. When looking at what I am thinking of planting, I get an image from google and do a little computer whiz bang to see if I will like it before I buy and plant.
The whiz
the bang. Hee hehe
The path looks great
They say to plant out at least 6 feet from the base of a tree, any extra dirt piled on it will slowly kill the tree.
I cleared out alot around the trees then build it back up with good soil. I sure hope the beds don't destroy the trees. From the original level of the ground, I would say I have about 2 extra inches of dirt. Do you think that will be a problem?
It depends on the tree--there are some that can tolerate having the soil built up over the roots but many will have problems eventually. The thing that will cause problems for pretty much any tree though is if you pile soil around the trunk--you should always be able to see the point where trunk starts to get wider at the bottom and the roots start to flare out...if you don't see that on your trees then at the very least you need to pull some of the soil back from the immediate area around the trunk.
I found a new visitor today in the rain
Hey, Tanker! How great you are such a computer whiz! I have to do all my imaginings in my mind! That's OK after your garden is sort of layed out., but I wish I could maximize my computer usage.
LOVE your visitor. Do you know his name? I adore raptors----maybe bcause they are usually aloft and aloof. And maybe because I don't raise chickens or anything like that.
Hope you have dealt with the tree situation. It's not difficult to pull the soil back a bit. Of what did you construct your garden path? Is it individual bricks? Set in concrete or what?
Here is and update picture of the area.
Another photo
Inner area. You can see the shade I have to deal with
Inner pathway
Well it's been almost 2 years building the garden and here are a few pictures of some of the plants. Double Knock-Outs are doing really well.
and my favorite rose. It's like orange sherbert ice-cream. Yumm
It looks wonderful.
Yep, that is some dense shade you have there.
Tanker, that is truly lovely. How nice to have a record of progress. You have created a beautiful retreat for yourself.
Tanker,
Very nice!
http://provenancegarden.com
