Gardening Thread 2017

T

TechnoDonut

Contributor
Veteran XX
Since I own a home now, I can finally plant some perennials! I have my foundation plants in the ground now. I think things are going to fill in quite nicely​ over the next few months.

DqbOZdC.jpg

The sunnier side. I went with a viburnum, 3 mountain laurels, and an Annabelle hydrangea, all of which are native (Maryland). Smaller plants in the front are creeping phlox, black eyed Susan, and coneflower. There are also some ditch lilies. In fact, there are ditch lilies everywhere in my yard.

Rgy5nbr.jpg

The shadier side. Shrubs are the same. Smaller plants in the front are astilbe, digitalis, and woodland phlox. Again more ditch lilies.

Not pictured is another cluster of digitalis and a narrow strip where I planted a packet of lupine seeds. Hopefully some of them come up. I have a lot more work to do this season, but I'm happy to have made this much progress so far, before it starts getting really hot. I would love to plant some stuff along my front walk, maybe some dwarf roses, but right now I don't have the scratch for a bunch more shrubs. Will post updates as things grow and start to flower.

So, TW, what do you have growing?
 
TechnoDonut said:
Since I own a home now, I can finally plant some perennials! I have my foundation plants in the ground now. I think things are going to fill in quite nicely​ over the next few months.

DqbOZdC.jpg

The sunnier side. I went with a viburnum, 3 mountain laurels, and an Annabelle hydrangea, all of which are native (Maryland). Smaller plants in the front are creeping phlox, black eyed Susan, and coneflower. There are also some ditch lilies. In fact, there are ditch lilies everywhere in my yard.

Rgy5nbr.jpg

The shadier side. Shrubs are the same. Smaller plants in the front are astilbe, digitalis, and woodland phlox. Again more ditch lilies.

Not pictured is another cluster of digitalis and a narrow strip where I planted a packet of lupine seeds. Hopefully some of them come up. I have a lot more work to do this season, but I'm happy to have made this much progress so far, before it starts getting really hot. I would love to plant some stuff along my front walk, maybe some dwarf roses, but right now I don't have the scratch for a bunch more shrubs. Will post updates as things grow and start to flower.

So, TW, what do you have growing?
Click to expand...

ur plants are too close together

unjoy ur overgrown shit in 2 years
 
lemontw said:
ur plants are too close together

unjoy ur overgrown shit in 2 years
Click to expand...

They are all spaced per the recommended spacing or maximum diameter on the tags, and everything was planned ahead and measured with a tape measure as I was going. I planted on the shorter end of the growth ranges because once the surrounding oak trees fill in, those beds only get a few hours of direct sun daily. Combined with the suboptimal soil, I figured that they would not reach the upper limit of their size. I can also prune. That said, I've never planted perennials before, so I fully expect to make some mistakes. We'll see what happens :)
 
I wish... really... but to be fair, they would never really prosper here in Montana.

This is high mountain desert, most of the local flora is pretty "bland" but that said it's all pretty hearty.

Still too cold out to plant things yet though.
 
TechnoDonut said:
They are all spaced per the recommended spacing or maximum diameter on the tags, and everything was planned ahead and measured with a tape measure as I was going. I planted on the shorter end of the growth ranges because once the surrounding oak trees fill in, those beds only get a few hours of direct sun daily. Combined with the suboptimal soil, I figured that they would not reach the upper limit of their size. I can also prune. That said, I've never planted perennials before, so I fully expect to make some mistakes. We'll see what happens :)
Click to expand...

perennials move easily but ur foundation shrubs should be 4-5 feet apart at least

that annabel hydranga will hate afternoon sun and poor soil btw

U did urself a disservice by not hiring a pro to do a design

2 or 3 k now would pay off big time in 5 years

gg

gl;hf
 
lemontw said:
perennials move easily but ur foundation shrubs should be 4-5 feet apart at least

that annabel hydranga will hate afternoon sun and poor soil btw

U did urself a disservice by not hiring a pro to do a design

2 or 3 k now would pay off big time in 5 years

gg

gl;hf
Click to expand...

They are 3-4 feet apart now. All the cards said their max diameter would be 3-5 feet, so I went with the shorter end. The hydrangea should do well in part sun, based on the reading I did and in talking to the folks at my nursery. I added a truckload of good top soil and amended it with a shit ton of compost (bought and made), but underneath it's a lot of clay and rock. Regarding money, I have very little of it. Including dirt, mulch, and plants I spent around $850 all told. Also, I enjoyed the process very much, and that's important to me. You learn by making mistakes.
 
TechnoDonut said:
I have so many lilies that I had to dig up huge patches of them. I'll pass on starting more.
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yup. I dig a bunch out every year. I think I'll take some more to the lake house so I don't have to mow the goddamn hills. Shit takes over everything.
 
u don't want them to grow together

u would have to prune then

no worries though just let them grow for a few years and re-design with existing material

get urself one of these, sharpen it with a coarse file, and move that shit at will during the winter

in a few years u'll be able to divide the perennials as well

edit: also keep adding compost and rip up landscape fabric if u've installed it
 
lemontw said:
u don't want them to grow together

u would have to prune then

no worries though just let them grow for a few years and re-design with existing material

get urself one of these, sharpen it with a coarse file, and move that shit at will during the winter

in a few years u'll be able to divide the perennials as well

edit: also keep adding compost and rip up landscape fabric if u've installed it
Click to expand...

Thanks, man. Is it best to transplant during the winter? No landscape fabric. The beds were there when I moved in. The sunnier side had two ridiculously overgrown azaleas that I pulled out with my truck. The shadier side had one sad looking azalea and a couple lavenders. I tore out everything, deepened the beds by a couple feet, added soil and compost, and tilled.

Edit:
Here is what I was going for as I was planning this thing on graph paper:
61474b75e4e4e430ea306f333dcb7a0f.jpg
 
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the solution to clay soil is to amend and mound above the clay

tilling is awesome but don't create a bathtub

moving before spring but after frozen soil is best
 
Don't listen to lemon. Not everyone lives in California. Check online for the best time to move things.
 
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