One of the things I liked most about our house is that the yard is rather large with a variety of exposures. I don't really have space for a number of grand garden "rooms", but within the bounds of a smaller garden I have few limits on what I can grow.
The limit I do have is budget. Consequently I have had to start several projects with some very small steps. Fortunately as a child I filled my personal garden with cuttings and gifts from my grandparent's gardens. Along with my plans both simple and grandiose for my current spaces I have experience with filling up a garden with free plants. I want to replicate in one corner a luxurious display of hostas and hydrangeas. Instead of mature shrubs and plants I have started with offsets from my late mother-in-law's garden and divisions from my own hostas supplemented by a very few purchased hostas of rather small sizes. It is in its second summer now, and may look quite nice next year. I actually am planning for the look I want to appear in year five.
My sunny bed surrounding the veggie patch went in this year with a few small purchases and a selection of divisions from Inace supplemented by a few divisions from my own garden. I am trying to be sure that each bed has its own character and selection of plants, so I really only added a few liatris and some montauk daisies from my existing beds. The liatris is something I have all around the yard, so I am considering it to be something of a theme plant, keeping in mind that as a prairie wildflower it has the ability to carry all before it. The Montauk daisy likewise is repeated around the yard. Neither of these plants seem to be commonly growing in anyone's garden in the neighborhood but they are doing well in mine. With only a few additions next year this area should look full and luxuriant. I'm planning for some bearded iris, poppies, asiatic lilies and columbine. One thing I do want to add to this area is an ornament of some kind for the back wall of my shed. I may be able to create something during the winter to make the shred wall into a visual asset.
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| a row of pitiful sticks |
The shrub border between my yard and my southernmost neighbor is more problematic, because I am looking at about a hundred feet of no budget. Right now it is a row of assorted sticks. Eventually it will be a mixed border with perennial flowers, hostas and ground covers but even the most ambitious plan must start somewhere. Every plant currently in this row was free. Not all would have been my first choices, but it will be an attractive mix of flowering shrubs and small trees with interest from early spring to late fall. I can't ask for more than that. The sheer volume of mulch required to put my plans into action is somewhat daunting, given that the quantity I can bring in from the dump on each visit depends on the number of bins I want to fill and unload each time. I may ask for a couple yards of mulch for my birthday next year!
One of the things I liked most about our house is that the yard is rather large with a variety of exposures. I don't really have space for a number of grand garden "rooms", but within the bounds of a smaller garden I have few limits on what I can grow.
The limit I do have is budget. Consequently I have had to start several projects with some very small steps. Fortunately as a child I filled my personal garden with cuttings and gifts from my grandparent's gardens. Along with my plans both simple and grandiose for my current spaces I have experience with filling up a garden with free plants. I want to replicate in one corner a luxurious display of hostas and hydrangeas. Instead of mature shrubs and plants I have started with offsets from my late mother-in-law's garden and divisions from my own hostas supplemented by a very few purchased hostas of rather small sizes. It is in its second summer now, and may look quite nice next year. I actually am planning for the look I want to appear in year five.
My sunny bed surrounding the veggie patch went in this year with a few small purchases and a selection of divisions from Inace supplemented by a few divisions from my own garden. I am trying to be sure that each bed has its own character and selection of plants, so I really only added a few liatris and some montauk daisies from my existing beds. The liatris is something I have all around the yard, so I am considering it to be something of a theme plant, keeping in mind that as a prairie wildflower it has the ability to carry all before it. The Montauk daisy likewise is repeated around the yard. Neither of these plants seem to be commonly growing in anyone's garden in the neighborhood but they are doing well in mine. With only a few additions next year this area should look full and luxuriant. I'm planning for some bearded iris, poppies, asiatic lilies and columbine. One thing I do want to add to this area is an ornament of some kind for the back wall of my shed. I may be able to create something during the winter to make the shred wall into a visual asset.
1 comment:
what a gorgeous row of sticks! i confess i am very jealous of your yard!!
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