Eyesore front garden bed - would like suggestions

Greetings. I'm new on DG, but hope to stay a long while, learn heaps and eventually be helpful to others.

Here, I'm posting 2 pics of my front garden bed to see what you all would do with it. I'll post the long view first to give you some perspective, and the second pic will be a close-up to give you an idea of the size of the area. Of course, we are in mid-winter so things look particularly ugly, but even in summer, this area needs a lot of help. What would you advise a gardening beginner such as myself to do to make this front yard look presentable?

Notes:
-The live oak makes it shady
- There's a layer of rock just a few inches below the surface
-NE side of the house,
-San Antonio has periodic watering restrictions.
-The only flowering thing that is in there now is the ring of perennial plant around the live oak, which provides tiny pink flowers during much of the year.
-The bushes that flank the window probably need to stay. The windows are to our bedroom and we want them for an added sense of privacy.
-Preferred colors for flowers would be in the pinks/purples/blues/white.

I'm thinking that I'd like to focus on xeriscape and low maintenance -- maybe create a bed that is largely mulch (but what?), punctuated with a few perennials that would stay fairly neat-looking. We'd love some things that would flower.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated. We've lived here three years and it's time that I fix this. Stay tuned for the second pic.

Here's the second pic, to give you an idea of space.

On a related topic -- you might notice some volunteers of Texas Mountain Laurel (the actual tree is nearby but out of view here). I've heard that most of these die when you try to transplant them, so shall I just destroy them? Seems a shame, if they could benefit someone else. I was thinking to advertise on freecycle if someone wanted to come and try to dig a couple of them up. Worth it or no?

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions.
Lise

Please don't waste the Texas Mountain Laurels, they are beautiful and valuable trees.
As a matter of fact you could use those to flank your windows, they are evergreen, have lovely blooms and they are Texas natives which would make them very appropriate.
If you transplant them, soak the area around their roots very well at least down to 12 inches and if you pull carefully then I think you can get them out.
If you don't want to use them, you can pot them and give them as gifts to people that would love to have them.
Josephine.

Hi Lise,

I can tell you from experience that transplanting Texas Mountain Laurels is very difficult. We tried some last spring, about 5 of them, some as tall as 2', some 6". None of them survived. I was very disappointed. Here are some plants that do well in this area that are drought tolerant:

Mexican petunia, tall and short varieties, but they are pretty invasive.
Mexican heather
purple coneflowers
knockout roses
plumbago
dwarf plumbago

I know there are many more, but this will give you a start if you want to begin looking in the Plant Files. I look forward to hearing what others have to suggest as well. Maybe htop will pop in, a DG uber gardener in SA. You might check out his Have list, too, that would be a good clue as to what does well in SA.

Tonya

Hi Lise, welcome to the Texas Forum. Texas Mountain Laurel has a deep tap root. If the soil is that shallow, most of the roots are have grown into the cracks in the limestone. If you plan to keep the live oak healthy, DON'T add any soil underneath the tree. As little as 1" of added soil will reduce the amount of oxygen the tree roots receive stressing the tree at best. In the worst scenario, it could eventually kill the tree. However, you could space a few raised beds (for deeper rooted plants) here and there without much damage, at least not enough to kill the tree or permanently damage it. One suggestion I've seen is to use plants growing in small pots to start with. That way, any disturbance of the soil you have to make is kept at a minimum.

My suggestion is to go with Texas natives that do well in shallow soil. A number of books on gardening with Texas natives are available at the book store. Your local library would probably have some as well. Here's a link to Amazon.com for reference only, but it gives you an idea of the help available through publications. There is a lot on the Internet. Here are a few links:
http://urbanlandscapeguide.tamu.edu/
http://uvalde.tamu.edu/herbarium/index.html
http://www.bio.utexas.edu/courses/bio406d/
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/southerngarden/contents.html
This is what I got when I goggle landscaping with Texas native plants
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=landscaping+with+texas+native+plants&aq=0&oq=landscaping+with+Texas+native
Here's what I got when I goggle xeriscaping with Texas native plants:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=xeriscaping+with+texas+native+plants&btnG=Search

Another suggestion would be to visit you local cooperative extension office, now called AgriLife.
Edited to say: I'd forgotten about Hazel (htop). She has a wealth of information. Yes, I hope she chimes in.





This message was edited Jan 15, 2009 2:10 PM

Oops Sorry Hazel, I said "his". I think that is the first time I have seen your real name. Now I know!
Tonya

Thanks for all the comments.

frostweed, I agree with you about the beauty of the Texas Mountain Laurel. The source of them is in our yard near the front sidewalk and it is a lovely thing to behold every spring. I'd be happy to pass them along to someone and I guess I will try to move them just for the experiment of it -- thanks bettydee for your input on this, and nbgard, I won't get my hopes up. But -- ya never know, maybe I'll get lucky.

nbgard, thanks for the list of suggested plants. I've already got some Mexican petunia and it's not my favorite, but I'll take a look at the others.

bettydee, thanks so much for the links. I will take a look! I did also happen upon the San Antonio Water System's website and it has a nice section of "approved" xeriscape plants. I will list that here, in case it's helpful to anyone else. http://www.saws.org/conservation/h2ome/landscape/plantlist.cfm.

If you are looking for drought resistant native plants Rose Pavonia would take care of the pink, it is a lovely shrub that blooms almost non stop;
http://wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PALA13

For the white, Blackfoot Daisy would fill the bill;
http://wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=MELE2

For the purple you could try Salvia greggii it comes in many colors and it is almost undestructable;
http://wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=SAGR4

another lovely little shrub with yellow flowers is Zexminia another big bloomer;
http://wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=WETE

I hope that helps.
Josephine.

Great ideas Josephine. I have the rock rose and salvia greggii "wild thing' and love them both. Lise, I have seeds of the rock rose if you want to try a few. D-mail me if you're interested.

Tonya

Wow, you guys are so helpful. Thank you so much.

Josephine, thanks for the additional suggestions -- I'd had blackfoot daisy in the back of my mind, having seen it somewhere recently, so that helps cement it as one I'd like to try. And for color, the others look good too. I'm glad to have all the suggestions that have been given here.

On that note, Tonya, that Rose Pavonia.rock rose looks lovely and I'd love a few seeds if you have some to spare. I will D-mail you.

Lastly -- I tried clicking on the hyperlink I tried to send yesterday of plants approved for Texas xeriscape, and it didn't come up. Sorry about that! There must be a trick to it. But if you want to see it, go to the saws.org website and then click on rebates and then watersaver rebate and then click on "extensive plant list" and it should come up. It lists shrubs, trees, groundcovers, annuals, perennials, etc. (A list still doesn't beat talking to actual people though!).

Thanks again.
LiseP

Lise, we use all of the plants that I suggested in a wildscape here in Arlington and all of them work great, I could suggest more, but sometimes too much can be confusing.
However if you can live with red, I have two that I dearly love, also proven winners.
Flame Acanthus can tolerate shade, it is very hardy, i have never seen disease or insects on it.
http://wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ANQUW

Turk's Cap, another wonderful shade and drought tolerant plant, again no problems.
http://wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=MAARD

Josephine.

Josephine,

Wow, your wildscape sounds lovely! I agree, I'd better keep it somewhat simple, so y'all have probably filled the bill for me with suggesting plants, unless you think of a 'must have.'

I can well use your Flame Acanthus idea in the backyard, where I would like to lean towards reds and yellows. Much of the yard is in shade there too, thanks to a live oak and two other trees. I have a yellow flowering bush in one corner (name escapes me), some nandina across the back fence that gives me lovely red and orange colors all winter, and I do have Turk's cap under the live oak.

BUT! Something ate all the Turk's cap recently -- ALL of it, except some spiny skeleton stems. Obviously I wasn't paying attention but it's like locusts invaded or something. Nothing else seems as ravaged, although I have a few round or crescent-shaped holes in a few other things, so that may be a clue. I don't know if the Turk's cap will revive. I cut down the stems because it was too ugly to look at. I hope it comes back, because it attracts a couple of hummers every year.

LiseP

The Turk's Cap will survive for sure, it is best to cut back every year down to about six inches that way you have fresh new growth every year.
I have one bed with Fame Acanthus and Turk's cap just for the hummers. You can always count on finding some there, but the butterflies like them too.
Josephine.

So glad to hear I can look forward to Turk's cap again, and that by accident, I already did with it what I was supposed to do! (Every blind squirrel finds a nut now and then!)
LiseP

Look in your phone book and see if you have a conservation office in your area. They could tell you what grows best in your area.

How odd that something ate the Turk's Cap foliage! I've heard that the Turk's Cap White Skipper uses that for its host plant, but I haven't been lucky enough yet to see it (butterfly nut here!). Here's the site for recommended plants for your area, for future use:
http://bexar-tx.tamu.edu/HomeHort/F4Best/BexarBestindex.htm

This has been a great thread - I'm so glad I found it! LiseP - this is some great advice from some very knowledgeable Texas gardeners. I know because they've taught me so much over the past 3 years! Josephine, the plants you've recommended are some of the best! I have almost all of them here in Houston, and can attest to the fact that they're beautiful and low maintenance. The bees, butterflies and hummingbirds love them. I love wildflower.org and the native link Linda listed in the previous post. Bettydee has given me some great tree advice over the years, too!

Lise,

Prioritize:

1. Trim existing bushes now.
2. Start digging up and amending the soil and prep bed(s) ASAP
3. Plant new bushes shrubs ASAP
4. Mulch as much of the area as possible now - this will activate and keep the newly amended soil moist and in an active composting state.
5. Apply a healthy dose of organic fertilizer
6. You can turn in the old mulch when you add plants later and mulch again.
7 Fertilize with organics 4-5 times per year.

I would advise you to take out the Holly bushes in front of the windows and start over with smaller younger bushes more suitable for the alkaline soils. The ones in the picture are spindly and don't appear to be very salvageable. They are slow growers and will take too long to reestablish any structure if you cut them back severely. Holly's don't fare too well with that much soil alkalinity in your area and the added leaching from the concrete and brick foundation. For the height check out Leatherleaf Viburnums. Hawthorne's are easily manageable, Nandinas are hardy and colorful - Firepower stays short and small for under the windows.

I agree on the Laurels. Unless you can carefully dig up the complete tap root, you will be out of luck transplanting them. They are not that big, so if you have to waste them so be it. Ideally, you can submerge some one gallon pots and start new seedlings.

Not sure what bushes are along the sidewalk. I would chop at least 1/3 off the top to promote growth from the bottom and fill in the gaps. For other plant fillers many good suggestions have been given. Perhaps one corner with a bit more sun you could plant a Rosemary bush or two. Fresh herbs year round, evergreen, etc. Trimming and shaping Rosemary is easy and they are very hardy.

Salvia Greggi is nice, but they prefer full sun. For borders, there are various Liriope, but I prefer the variegated varieties (white/green or yellow green) for shaded areas to add a little brightness. Hardy and water friendly once established.

Definitely start with amending the soil before anything else. You'll be chopping a lot of the smaller spider type feeder roots around a 10-12 foot area of the oak base in your bedding area, but I assure you the tree will be just fine and they grow back rapidly. The tree will benefit more from amending the soil than chopping out some roots. It will take some work to cut and chop them out, just avoid cutting larger roots. I have to do this every year or two in my beds under or close to the oaks, and they don't seem to mind. In fact, with the use of organic fertilizer the past five years, mulching and turning the beds annually or bi-annually, the oaks have doubled in size.

Add 2-3 inches of compost and work into the soil, rake up all the oak leaves that are about to fall and work them back into the soil. Covering the oak roots in the ground with more soil will not hurt the tree, but do avoid covering up the root flare at the base of the tree with soil, mulch is fine. The tree breathes through the exposed root flare at the base, not from the covered roots.

Mulch heavily 2-3 inches after you plant, and use organic fertilizers to feed the soil, which feeds the plants. I have four oaks and find that Holly, Autumn, Tassel and Leatherleaf ferns thrive very well in shaded areas under the oaks with minimal watering once established. The Holly Fern makes a nice border ring around the base of the oaks. Buy the compost and mulch in truckload bulk to save a lot of $$$. You'll be surprised at how little one yard of mulch covers at 2-3 inches of depth.

St. Augustine grass under an oak is another tough issue, but I would get a couple dozen squares of the Palmetto variety, chop into 1 foot pieces and spot plant to take over what appears to be an older garden variety St. Augustine. It grows well in your area and is shade tolerant. Del Mar St. Augustine is another great choice if you can find it. It is a darker emerald green, broader leaf, and very shade and cold tolerant. Add topdressing or compost to the grass area to boost humus and water retention.

Unfortunately, this will take some additional watering the first year for the plants to get established. The sooner you start with the plantings the better off you will be going into the summer months. Heavy mulching of 2-3 inches deep will help a lot.

Good gardening to you,
Chuck

Wow Chuck! Great advice all around! I love the "larnin'" I get on this site.

Lise, your rock rose seeds are on their way!

Tonya

I have a nandina between my front window and bedroom window in the front of my house. My grandmother planted it when she bought the house over 30 years ago. I highly recommend it. Mine has filled up the space between the two windows real nice. I usually trim it up just a little once a year. If I don't it reaches the bottom of the eaves of the house and I can't see the driveway from my bedroom window. Ha! ha! ha! But it is very pretty. I have people ask me all the time what it is. Nandina is not just real common here in Woodward.

I had three nandina that were given to me in the spring and they grew very little. Are they typically a slow grower or should I be giving them some special care of some kind? I believe they are a dwarf variety, however they maybe put on two inches and now stand less than a foot. Just wondering...

Dedn't mean to highjack Lise, but figured it might be a helpful answer to you, too, if you're considering nandina. Sure love the coloring of the foliage.

What you have may be a dwarf type. I have been known to transplant new growth to other places on my property. Those that got at least 4 hours of sun a day grew well. I had one in my east flower bed that grew REALLY WELL and fast. I attribute part of it to the soil in the flower bed it was planted in. The soil is very rich there and very, well, soft is the only word I can think of to describe it. Its very loose there. I have also planted some on my west property line where they are shaded from the "heat of the day" sun. They are growing there but at a much slower rate. Where do you have yours planted?

Mine are planted in full sun with only very late afternoon shade. The soil has a clay base, but has been amended extensively, though I wouldn't say it's soft yet, but working on that with coffee grounds, etc.! Maybe they just needed a bit of time to get used to their new "digs" (pun intended). We'll see how they do this year. Thanks for the input, bubba.

Maybe you do have dwarfs.

Oh. I forgot to mention. A few weeks ago I discovered for the first time how to find the seeds for my nandina. I now have some planted in peat pots to see if I can get them to germinate. From what I have read it is difficult but can be done. They key is to use fresh seeds. I am thinking surely I can germinate them 'cause I get new growth every spring. If I am successful, I could try sending you some of the berries. If you clean the pulp off you will find the seeds.

That sounds cool. I didn't see any berries on mine this year.

I just remembered a saying I heard years ago that is applied to shrubs. The first year they sleep, the second year they creep, the third year they leap. I have to mentally quote that to myself every year when I look at the phoetinias I planted for privacy on my east property line. I am hoping this year will be leap year!

I've heard that here on DG before, too. Good to know I should apply that to shrubs in addition to perennials. I have some shasta daisies that I started from seed last year that look great, but never bloomed. Hoping to see those this year! I guess I was also hoping that the saying didn't apply to transplants, although these might have been babies (first year) when they were given to me last spring so I guess it very well could apply.

Hey Lise, have we talked you into Nandina yet?

Lise, A number of Chuck's recommendations regarding changing soil level and gardening under live oak trees make me cringe. It runs contrary to university and Texas Forest Service recommendations. Losing that live oak can reduce the value of your property by several thousand dollars. When gardening near and under one, remember those feeder roots extend out at least twice the diameter of the crown. Those fine roots are called feeder roots for a reason. They are the ones that provide the tree with the food, oxygen and water the tree needs to stay healthy. Both the Texas Forest Service and TAMU's AgriLife have offices in San Antonio. Contact them!
When you open the following link, click on your county for the office address and contact phone numbers.
http://txforestservice.tamu.edu/main/article.aspx?ctrl=10
http://bexar-tx.tamu.edu/

Bettydee,

Perhaps you might cringe - however, check out the pictures from 01 to 08 of one of my trees. It is a five trunk live oak, and is now 24 inches in diameter. We also added the expanded patio and a fish pond three years ago. This tree has spread to cover almost the entire back yard.

Every year I usually dig in and around in the entire bed, turning in mulch, leaves, adding new plants and continually hack out piles of feeder roots to maintain soil viability. I have used organic fertilizer in the yard the last five years. Doesn't seem to bother this tree, or my three other ones that have doubled in size the past seven years and tower over the house.

Chuck

This is the 2008 picture - see 2001 in next post for comparison.

Bettydee,

This is the 2001 picture for comparison. Lise stands to lose the tree more to oak decline in her area than from improving the soil and disturbing a few feeder roots. So improving the overall health of the tree is more to her favor.

Trees absorb carbon dioxide through the leaves and exhale oxygen at the root flares, not in the roots. Synthetic fertilizers can do more harm than good to the trees as it inhibits the special symbiotic fungal growth in and around the roots. Organics expedite and help this symbiosis and absorption and exchange of nutrients by feeding the soil, and not the plant.

Chuck

This message was edited Jan 26, 2009 2:04 PM

Nbgard, if you have the dwarf Nandinas, those don't bloom and they don't make seed, you have to propagate them by cuttings.
Josephine.

Chuck, I stand by my recommendation to Lise to contact the Texas Forest Service and TAMU's AgriLife. Young live oak trees don't have the extensive root system that a large mature trees has. As young trees they may take more fertilizer and water, but that changes as they mature.

This message was edited Jan 26, 2009 1:59 PM

Chuck you have a beautiful backyard. Your hard work is paying off! Now. Could you come take care of mine?

Bettydee,

If you look at Lise's second picture, this is a very mature tree with a root flare and it extends over her house. I follow the Master Gardeners like Garrett and Sperry about trees carefully, and with their advice and my experience, I'm only posting what I've learned. My trees have outgrown my neighbors who were planted at the same time by 30-40 % in size.

Bubba1,

Thanks for the complement, but I'll have to decline with more than enough to keep me busy. I have a corner house and it's wrapped entirely with 2,000 sq ft of beds. Here's a panorama of the whole back yard last summer. We do enjoy it immensely. Not sure if the whole jpg will show up, might be cropped.

Chuck

Wow Chuck, that's beautiful!. My garden just whispered to me that it wants to be like your's when it grows up!

Thanks Josephine, I think they are dwarfs, which would explain the "no berry thing"!

Tonya

Wow Chuck! I am so envious! If only I could get my backyard to look like that! I am trying to make mine looke tropical. I have cannas, bananas, castor beans, etc.

Very Lovely backyard Chuck, congratulations !!!!
Josephine.

everyone ideas are great but Im gonna be a tad bit different.. I see a small patio with the oak for shade, landscaped with some of the plants mentioned.. a small fountain to greet people as they walk by,a small table and couple of chairs to relax in and watch the neighborhood activity..
being new to Tx Im not going to make any plant suggestion. I know I enjoy sitting out in the front of my house watching people and a lot of homes dont have that anymore

Just my $0.02...

Chuck, I am envious of your gardens! :) I only dream....

Just wanted to comment on the Oak tree roots... I have 13 monster live oaks in my front 'yard' and the roots seem to go on forever. I'm always paranoid about digging/planting around my oaks because I am terrified of oak wilt. My neighbor has lost several oaks recently to wilt, so I know it is out here. His trees are a couple of acres away so at least we have some separation, but I would really be devasted if I lost my oaks because I was digging around the roots and got them infected. Anyway just a word of caution. I'm not a tree expert or Oak expert, but I know that loosing a tree is a sad thing.