Need help choosing border plant for front of Mobile Home

We want to put a border that will stay green year round in front of the skirting of our mobile home. I don't like hedges, or anything you have to trim up like you do hedges.

I'm looking at Silverado Sage, what do you think of that? Or do you have any better suggestions?

Thanks!!
Jamie

Is the area sunny or shady? And do you know what zone you're in? I have a feeling the Silverado sage is going to be a bit questionable for you, most of the people I've seen around here from OK are at best in zone 7, and it's only listed as hardy to zone 8. If you want something that will stay green year-round you'll be better off going with something that is reliably hardy in your area. But maybe if you tell us what it was you liked about that one maybe there's something else with a similar look that would be hardy

What color is your mobile home? Texas sage is usually grey (silver), but there is a green cultivar. However, that may be a moot point, because, as the encyclopedic ecrane3 points out (what a valuable member of Dave's she is!), Texas sage or Cenizo is questionable in Zone 7b. It would probably survive some winters, but you would have money and work invested and it would be a shame to have it killed during a severe winter. If you're in 7a or lower, it would be a gamble few would be willing to take.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say you don't want a hedge. Probably you mean something like boxwood that people used to spend a lot of time pruning to keep it boxed-off looking or spherical or what have you. If you're going to have a screen, the plants will have to be close together. In order to get away from the hedge look, have you considered using groupings of several different evergreen shrubs? They could be staggered so that it would look more natural and less like a screen. Also, if one dies, the row isn't messed up. Your county agent could likely give you a list of evergreens recommended for your area.
I'm thinking that you're going to want plants that are hardy once they are established and that don't get over 5 ft. or so tall, so you don't have to shear them. We're next door in Texas, and a few come to mind right now- any of the nandinas (except Nana, which can't take our heat), Indian hawthorne, the shorter hollies such as Carissa or dwarf Chinese, or even Willowleaf, although you might have to prune it a little once a year. You might check on abelia, a wonderful flowering shrub, and even Italian jasmine, with its yellow blossoms, although they may get wider than you want. Red tip photinia is out because of the fungal disease killing them all over the southern U.S., and Chinese photinia is beautiful but the mature size is too great. Hollies and nandinas are going to be your most reliable plants, for sure. Most mobile homes are not near trees, but if yours is, either of these can take part shade. I don't know how much gardening you want to do, but you might think about spacing your plants with some container annuals in mind. Pots of seasonal plants in front of the screen would add a lot of interest. Mums in the fall, pansies in the winter, snapdragons and pinks (dianthus) in early spring, and your choices for spring and all summer are numerous.

My house is light tan with white trim and barn red shutters. I've attached a sideways shot of the front of the house. It faces west and is shady in the morning, but hot and sunny all day. I am going to plant a shade tree on each side of the porch to help with the intense heat of the summer.

We are doing alot of landscaping work and thought some kind of shrub, or hedge type thing would look good around the skirting in front and the sides of the porch. I LOVE roses, but not the diseases that come along with them (black spot, etc). I like those hollys that you see at Christmas with the pretty red berries (I have young grandchildren, so nothing poisonous).

I loved the sage green look of the silverado sage, but you're probably right - wrong zone. I guess I'd be zone 7 I'm pretty sure. South of Norman, OK.

I'm looking at some of the plants you suggested. That Indian Hawthorn is gorgeous! On the hedge thing, nope, I don't like the formal square look of them. I don't want to have to constantly be pruning and trimming. I'm really leaning towards the Indian Hawthorn.

Thanks for the tips!!

Jamie

lavandula augustifolia: old fashioned lavender. Right color, right hardiness, plus you can sell the flowers if you want on ebay or such. They can pay for themselves. I'm zone 6 here and they grow like weeds. Lavender's a classic accompaniment to roses (esp. Old Garden Roses, OGRs, which are much more disease resistent and low maintenance compared to hybrid teas) as well.

BTW this is the 6th attempt to post this. No idea what the diff is. I'm not a stranger to this site either.

Melis

This message was edited Aug 4, 2008 1:59 AM

This message was edited Aug 4, 2008 2:02 AM

Finally! this stupid thing 'took'. Okay, so the deal with lavender is it's height is self-limiting and there are several heights to choose from, but I'd stick to 'augustifolia' because of the selling-the-flowers angle. Plus they have an attractive upright shrubby look.

Here's a close-up of the flowers. If you trouble to cut them off and collect them, people will gladly purchase either the fronds tied together or just the fragrant flowers off the ends as sachets or things to put in underwear drawer or into potpourri. --Melis

Oh, and did I mention lavender is very fragrant too and if you do cut the flowers they will continue to bloom. Or you can let them go and not bother. And bees and hummers like them too. Tough, attractive, low maintenance plants. Often marked down cheap this time of year too. I just bought one at Wallyworld for $2. It was $14 beginning of the summer.

Melis