In the last post, we left off adding a native grass to the front of the beds. (You can click on the images for bigger versions just hit the back button on your browser to come back here)
We just about have our front beds filled up except for the area under the Serviceberry and Japanese maple.
Oh sure, I bet you think you know what I am going to add there don’t you?
Vinca?…nope, Pachysandra…nope, English Ivy…..GOD NO!
Lets wrap those front beds up by adding another native grass like plant, Penn sedge (Carex pensylvanica) also called common oak sedge.
What?
OK, this is definitely not one of most landscapers favorite plants. But it is a great native plant that can fill the role of ground cover in part shade area wonderfully, while also attracting birds that eat it’s seeds.
One nice thing about Penn sedge as a ground cover like we are using it here, is that is quite easy to plant some early Spring minor bulbs like Snowdrops.
On to the Side Yard
Lets fill that narrow part of the side yard bed with another ornamental grass. Instead of another native, we will go with the hybrid Karl Forester (Calamagrostis × acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’).
I have written about this plant before, lets just say it’s is Landscapers favorite grass for a reason.
Trio for the Pollinators
We are almost out of bed space, so lets come back and remember we were trying to not only create a beautiful setting but also wanted to attract birds and butterflies. The birds are pretty well covered with the two Service berry trees and the various flowers will attract insects, but lets up this area by adding three great butterfly plants.
The first one is the native of the Prairie, the familiar Purple Coneflower, we will use the ‘Magnus’ cultivar that landscapers like so much for it’s reliable extra showy flowers that butterflies seem to like as much as people. We will plant six of those at the back of the border.
The second plant will be the dwarf Monarda ‘Petite Delight’. This shorter BeeBalm is attractive to bees, butterflies and hummingbirds, particularly when massed like we will do with five plants at the east end of the bed. It is also reportedly has good mildew resistance and has a long bloom time in the middle of Summer.
The last plant we will add will be one you may remember me writing about a few months ago, Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa). I won’t rehash that post here, other then to say, if you love butterflies you should have this native to the US.
Here is how our design looks with eight butterfly weed added to the front of this side bed.
While we are with it, we might as well add some leaf mulch to those beds.
A walk around the Front yard
Now lets look at some renderings showing how the design could look if it was planted/built.
Or if you prefer a less sketchy style:
So what do you think?
I admit this is a pretty basic design using mostly common dependable plants. Did we manage to meet the goals set out in the first post?
Any other ideas we could add to meet them?
Here’s a problem I’ve never been able to solve in my own mind. If I’m planting a low evergreen–such as a dwarf pine or a dwarf hemlock, with a deciduous shrub or tree, should I put the evergreen(s) behind the stem of the shrub or tree, or the other way around? Should the shrub or tree emerge from behind the evergreens, or should the evergreens serve as a backdrop? I can’t figure this one out.
Both work. It depends on the specifics of the site and what’s behind the planting. Smaller lower evergreens more in the front then if they were larger. Again both can work.
I’m not sure where to post this comment, but I thought this design related posting might be an acceptable place. Yesterday I saw a print of Van Gogh’s Langlois Bridge. It’s a lovely painting but I noticed that the two tall conifers on the left violate the rule of odd numbers–e.g, 1, 3, 5 plants, not 2 or 4–that designers often recommend. And in this case Van Gogh got it right: one conifer would have been too few, and three would have seemed cluttered. So what gives? Is the rule wrong?
Here’s a place to see the print: http://www.gallerydirect.com/art/product/vincent-van-gogh/langlois-bridge
I agree two work in this composition. All rules are meant to be broken. There are many cases where even numbers of plants work well or better then an odd group would.
You are also looking at it from one view point. Real landscapes are seen from several viewpoints. Up closer to those trees and three or one may be look “better”.
I like the simplicity of the design and the way the two service berries are placed symmetrically at either end of the house–but not quite. That slight imbalance creates movement and really makes the design work. That’s the artistry here. My only question is why not put a small tree in the front, maybe in the green space between the walkway and the house–like a dwarf crab apple or dwarf upright Japanese maple? Something with a little more mass than you have right now.
Yep I agree 100% Richard. after I rendered it, I thought it looked weak in the middle of the front of the house. Although if allowed, the weeping Japanese maple could eventually provide some more weight with time.
An Upgright Japanese maple could have worked, perhaps better.
Do you know of a site that is more about shrubs and trees. I have 10 acres and am into these type rather than flowers ========although you do a lovely job. Dee
Sure there are tons, but I suggest you may want to look through my archives or just search for “tree” on this site. Also “natives” or “shade tree”. For starters I would look at Would you want a 70 foot statue in your yard? and It’s time to rethink the idea of having one big shade tree