landscape ideas
Travis Mitchell
Help!!!! I'm at a loss of what to plant in my new flower beds. I
have a new home and have spent the last year getting everything ready
and now I don't know what to put in them. Any Ideas? where can I get
photographs of different landscape ideas?
r...@usa.pipeline.com
On Jul 23, 1996 05:19:03 in article <landscape ideas>, 'tra...@mcr.net
(Travis Mitchell)' wrote:
>I
>have a new home and have spent the last year getting everything ready
>and now I don't know what to put in them. Any Ideas?
planted purple gay feather. In front of them I plant an arc of
chrysanthemum daisies. In the very front I planted several kinds of
dianthus. These were recommended to me by the nursery because they are very
hardy. I live in Colorado and we have clay soil. I worked the soil with a
local brand of compost called EKO and mulched heavily with shredded bark.
This bed gets lots of sun. So far things are going well. The daisies must
be hardy because they're getting chewed and I don't like to spray for bugs
too much. Must be those darn earwigs...so many this year. Anyhow, I have
only lost one dianthus out of all I planted. It just seemed to fry and
disappear shortly after planting. This selection _was_very hardy.
Good luck,
Helen
Mo + Glen Lee
In <4t1nk9$k...@sylvania.sev.org>, tra...@mcr.net (Travis Mitchell) writes:
>Help!!!! I'm at a loss of what to plant in my new flower beds. I
>have a new home and have spent the last year getting everything ready
>photographs of different landscape ideas?
>
Travis, here's a couple of thoughts:
- Leave room in your flower beds for both annuals and perennials.
It's nice to have a garden full of both. Consider planting some
spring bulbs this fall.
- Plant some/many of your perennials with an eye to variegated,
or unusual foliage. Most perennials flower only 2 to 4 weeks,
but striking foliage remains in your garden spring, summer, fall.
- Plant a mix of tall, medium, and short perennials and annuals.
A mix of plant heights makes for an interesting-looking bed.
- Planting perennials in groups of 3, 5, or 7 usually seem to
look better than groups of 2 or 4.
- Spend time in local garden centres looking at the perennials
now on sale. Discover your likes and dislikes. Over the
winter, research which annuals are appropriate to your climate
so you're ready to grow/purchase and plant them next spring.
I have a lot of fun in the winter going thru the seed and plant
catalogues. Dreaming about how different plants would look
in the garden can be good fun.
- Find a good magazine store, and purchase/subscribe to
gardening magazines. Watch the TV listings for gardening shows.
Find a good bookstore and spend an afternoon browsing thru
the gardening books. I have built up quite a collection of
gardening books and magazines, I find they're full of inspiration.
- If you're in a city, jump on a bicycle and discover the nice
flower beds belonging to your neighbours. When you see
a particularly nice garden, jump off your bike and have a good
look.
- If you feel like splurging a bit, you could ask a gardening centre
to develop a plan for your bed. Or, draw one up yourself. My
wife and I have a hoot planning our flower beds. I've learned
when I draw up a plan for my flower beds they look much
better than if I just start planting things here and there (although
that's kind of fun, too.) However, in your unplanned beds, be
prepared to be moving things around for the next couple of
years when you find yourself asking: " what was I thinking when
I plopped that plant in there?"
All the best, Glen in Regina, SK, zone 3
jos...@cimatron.co.il
Mo + Glen Lee wrote:
>
> In <4t1nk9$k...@sylvania.sev.org>, tra...@mcr.net (Travis Mitchell) writes:
> >Help!!!! I'm at a loss of what to plant in my new flower beds.
>
>
> or unusual foliage. Most perennials flower only 2 to 4 weeks,
> but striking foliage remains in your garden spring, summer, fall.
>
> - Plant a mix of tall, medium, and short perennials and annuals.
> A mix of plant heights makes for an interesting-looking bed.
These two points are essential. You MUST consider plant form, and not just
bloom, for an good effect. Think of yourself as massing various shapes and
textures. You can usually find the more common plants in various colors, so
the flower color-scheme can actually be worked out later than you think.
Think of spiky iris and daylily, rounded, lobed peonies, finely-cut
grey-leaved plants like lavender or artemisia - and how they work together.
> - Planting perennials in groups of 3, 5, or 7 usually seem to
> look better than groups of 2 or 4.
>
Interesting to see this here - this is a basic design formula used in
Japanese gardens. Rock formations, division of areas into beds, and planting
patterns are all based on odd numbers as you mention. This gives Japanese
gardens their purposely asymmetrical look. While this looks more natural, it
takes a bit of thought to get a "balanced" effect.
Other thoughts:
If you have the time, try doing a bed of just bulbs and annuals one
season before planting a perennial design. This will give you a feel for the
design issues, and you'll gain a rough (and realistic) idea of what will grow
well, and just how much plant material your bed can hold. Don't ignore bold,
largeish plants among the annuals and bulbs: use cannas, cleomes,
delphiniums, and other big stuff. Some perennials and shrubs are even larger.
Joshua