☞ Opinions please

How much shade do you have? I have RRties and really like them. Mine are only 3 ties high and are steps with planting beds coming up to a raised patio. I also use them to edge walkways and other patios. It is an older look and not as modern. They have a tendency to rot out from the back and bottom, try drilling into them you may have or can make larger planting pockets than you think. Think of them like a rock wall or stone walkway. What about Mini-hosta or smaller types of ferns that you can show case. Dwarf varieties of junipers or evergreens. I like the ground covers sweet woodruff and golden creeping jenny. Do be careful with ground covers they can really take off and you may find you don't like the look as much as you think. A larger quick growing ground cover is Variegated Vinca Major. You could plant something at the top that will spill over,or at that bottom that will climb up. If they are strong enough and with a little extra support you could attach window boxes or planters. Remember that Clematis can be used as a ground cover.

Dale, you are right. If it were instantaneous then look at all the fun we'd be missing!

HollyAnn, I have morning sun, then pretty much dappled & mostly shade all day.

Funny you mention clematis because I do plan on putting up plastic coated wire trellis type fencing and covering some of the fence with shade variety clematis'. So far I have the fencing and 5 clematis' in pots.
Here's an idea of what I'd like to do with the fence. I know she has tons of sun, so I'll have to use different clems just for shade. I have a couple out front and one is fabulous! Blooms are 8".

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.westvalleyrose.org/roseinfo/climbers/cl19.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.westvalleyrose.org/roseinfo/climbersinthelandscape.html&usg=__ONiu06SpCG-3KtggS1MEQsmD2Ow=&h=640&w=480&sz=118&hl=en&start=78&sig2=xMSk9jsMUrt6tTwcLv8udg&um=1&tbnid=WxPXNLdCh169OM:&tbnh=137&tbnw=103&ei=U_uRSb7AJtaQmQfAopGnDA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dclematis%26start%3D60%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

Can you grow Lewisias in Tennessee? They look so good tucked into rock and wood crannies and crevices. They have shallow roots, so they don't need much of a soil pocket, and they're even happy growing sideways if you tuck them into a crevice in the vertical wall of the ties.

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=lewisia&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

Oh, I like this one, may have to try it!
http://www.amaturagardenia.com/bilder/plants/1024/lewisia_cotelydon4.jpg

They look so good growing in the side of a rock wall, Sue. It always keeps them thriving too. They don't like to stand in water and that position is perfect for keeping their roots fairly dry.

Zuzu I don't know, but I'm going to find out! I really like those!
Sue, that one is really nice too. Off to google I go!

Thank you for that link, They are high on my want list. Last year about this time I saw some at a shop and knew they would be perfect for our stone wall. I knew that we were adding a new section to the wall and I was pulling out a lot of the plants in the old section and moving them around. All that was done last summer and I have been hoping to no avail that Lewisias would be in one of the Co-ops. So I was planning on buying a few on my own.

If you can't find them locally, Big Dipper sends really nice ones for the price.

I first saw them at a Nursery about an hour or so from the house and as it turns out I will be going down there this weekend and was going to stop by and see if they still had them. Not really sure I want to buy them right now as they would be coming out of a hot house and probably need to be kept inside till it warms up. We have a couple of pretty good nurseries around here but I didn't find them last summer when I was looking.

They don't have to be kept in the house. They're alpine plants. They grow at the top of mountains in the snow and wind. The only thing that really hurts them is too much water at their roots. That's why it's better to plant them sideways or on a steep slope. I grow mine in pots, and the pots don't come inside in winter. They do go under the roof overhang, however, so that the rain doesn't drown them.

I was just thinking that since they were in a hot house they might not like being tossed outside straight from the warmth. Do you think it would matter? If not I just might pick some up and plant them right away. Or let them sit in their pots on the porch until I can get them between the rocks. The ones I saw last Feb were blooming when I saw them wonder if that would throw them off, too?

Is it an actual hothouse or just a covered structure to keep them from getting waterlogged in the rain? They certainly don't need heat. If they have been in a hothouse, leave them in their pots and keep the pots in a sheltered spot outside until they've acclimated. Mine usually start blooming in late February or March, even if there's a lot of morning frost. The Lewisia blooms aren't affected by frost.

Yes it is a Nursery warm enough to house a large selection of tropicals. They had the Lewisia and some other plants like pansies and such towards the back in a not quite as heated area but they were still very much in the warmth. I have a covered porch and an unheated garage with a glass sliding door that would maybe be a bridge from the very warm to the very cold. I'll check them out when I go down on Sat and if they still have them at a good price I'll bring a few home. I have been thinking about those plants for a whole year.

Be sure to post photos if you do get them. I'm waiting impatiently for mine to bloom. Maybe the hothouse conditions will force blooms earlier.

No I didn't get them didn't even get a price on them. They did have some pink ones, that weren't in bloom yet. Looked like they would be pretty but not the ones I wanted. They didn't have any prices marked on them. The girl at the register couldn't give me a price. Said the manager had stepped out for a few mins and he hadn't set a price yet.

hello 2racingboys,
i just saw your pictures, and i taught if your ideas dont work to cover up the area, maybe you can make a little
rock garden around the area and a little waterfall running down,in that way when the wood keeps wet it will eventually
grow its own moss and look lovely;also with the humidity around it will be easier to grow other plants, what do you think?

I love that idea, & all of them. -Only problem is, dh says we need something easy or inexpensive to use 'in case' the phone people do need access to it. (even thought they haven't needed it for yeeears! ugh!) I know ivy & stuff like that will cover it in no time, but I don't want something that can potentially "take over".

wonder if I used say 2 round tomato plant trellis things, cut them in half and make like a "U" shape??
that way I can plant something on that in the front but they can still get to the phone box from the back??

I dunno!!! lol