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Poll: Help pick my flower bed shape PIP
This weekend DH & I are working on creating two new flowerbeds (one along our fence and the other around our septic vent pipe) and tearing out and redoing a small rock wall with a flower bed on top. That is if it's not raining all weekend...
I have an idea of what shape I want 2 of the 3 beds in but I'm getting stuck on the bed along the fence. Along the area we want to put the flowerbed the fence is 50' long. I do not want to have a straight flowerbed but I don't want lots of unnecessary curves either. I was thinking a few gentle curves would be nice. I want to tie this flower bed into a peninsula shaped flower bed that will go around an oak tree and a large black walnut stump right next to it (behind all the tall weeds in this pic).
I plan to put a big container with annuals on the stump and fill the bed in with shrubs and perennials. The double gate is just to the right of this picture.
Option 1:
2' wide at the back corner, widens to 5-6' in the center, curves back down to 3' at the double gates (main entrance), and then curves back out to 4' for the flower bed closest in the picture (which connects with the peninsula flower bed). The wider section would follow the curve of the "flower bed" along the house which currently has no edging and is full of vinca minor (we just pulled 2 garbage bags full of garlic mustard out of this bed last weekend). It would turn that part of the lawn into a 8' wide curving path. This wider section will also be right outside our basement window giving a good view to the desk that will eventually be under the window.
Option 2:
4' wide bed at the end, gently curves inward toward the fence, then curves out to 6' wide at the gate entrance, and curves back down to 4' wide before creating the peninsula. This wider section would put the wider section in the sunniest location of the bed (I have a very limited amount of sunny locations) but would also put the plants closer to the black walnut stump so they will all need to be juglone tolerant which excludes a lot of plants I'd like to use. At the gate we'll be putting flagstone surrounded by mulch and/or groundcover for both options but I'm not sure if a longer trail to the gate would look strange.
Looking back at this quick pictures I took quickly last night I might need to put more of a curve in than what is shown. Or maybe it's just the angle I took the pictures at.
[Poll]
Re: Poll: Help pick my flower bed shape PIP
I would put the widest part of the bed at the gate. That would look really nice, with beds reaching out towards the trail. Little corner pockets on edging beds always look pretty.
And I agree, I think you should make the curves more dramatic. You don't want it to look like you couldn't make a straight line, KWIM? If you're wary of more substantial curves, I do think that a straight bed would look fine with your space, given the natural curve around the trees and at the trail/gate head.
LOL yes I don't want that! It probably didn't help that the only bright colored hose I had was all kinked and tangled.
And by little corner pockets do you mean pockets of lawn?
Is that a concrete wall at the edge of the house? Gosh darn it I wish I could see the whole property....
My natural impulse is to create another foundation bed allong the concrete wall, and curve it & the bed along the fence out to meet each other, with a 4'-5' wide opening in the middle for a pathway from front to back, then lay stepping stones into the mulch there that blend (texture and color) with the stonework you did in the front.
Thanks for the advice!
Missusbee - Ah I see. Yes I would have some nice big beds to fill in on either side of the path with option 2.
NB - Yes actually we have/will have a big curved bed around the concrete wall. Just to the right of that photo is our patio door and existing patio which I want to expand and replace in a few years. At that point we're going to make some intergral flower beds that curve around that corner of the house, reach the end of the concrete wall, and continue to curve up to the front of the house. Currently we just mow that edge but it's pretty defined behind the wall because we mow the flat part and the sloped part is flower bed (again it's not much of one yet). We're not going to redoing the area until we redo the exposed basement exterior (new windows, replace the vinyl siding with rock, add lighting, add a water spigot to this side of the house, and redo the patio). The area will be completely torn up so for now it will just stay a mess of vinca and weeds that I try to control. I did find a Tsuga canadensis 'Cole's Prostrate' for sale the other day that I might just buy and put at the top of that concrete wall. It can slowly grow over and cover that ugly eyesore. Besides vinca we have ostrich ferns, lily of the valley, wild geraniums, and solomon's seal on the slope. We're hoping removing all of the weeds and black raspberries last weekend will give those room to spread.
DH would like to maintain some type of lawn path between the house and the fence flower beds because he's worried the riding lawn mower would tear up a flagstone & mulch path. It is the only piece of lawn that connects the front yard and the back yard so it get's heavily traveled by the lawn mower...not so much by people walking though.
Oh and if it makes any difference we're going to continue with the paver edging we used in the front last year:
LOL stupid nest! DH is all over the weed whacker we're just trying to make it easier to mow with the paver edging flush with the ground. He can put the mower deck wheel on the pavers and mow right over the top.
Well I haven't picked out plants yet. I was wanting to put in the edging, add compost, mulch, and put some of the shrubs or dwarf conifers in since they will take a while to fill in. Mostly just prep the beds for next year. I have a few plants I got for free/cheap already along the fence (sedum, white bleeding heart, white plumonaria, and dark green hosta with a white stripe down the center...yes I was kind of in a white mood and I liked how it contrasted with the dark fence). They will be staying in the bed but I'll have to dig them up and replant them now that we'll have a defined bed and are adding compost. I also have a Invincebelle Spirit Hydrangea waiting to be planted. That will have to go far away from the black walnut stump though because it's questionable weither or not it's juglone tolerant. Most hygrandeas aren't but the Hydranea arborscens are supposed to be OK. Well see. We cut the tree down two years ago but as the roots decay they still put out the toxin. Anybody want some nearly dead Weigla 'My Monet'? I got them on clearance before I knew what juglone was or that they couldn't handle it!
One thing I'm very excited about is Cornus alternifolia 'Golden Shadows'. I'm planning to make that my little statement piece for the bed putting it between the black walnut stump and the corner of the fence which can be seen from all of our windows in the living room, dining room, and master bedroom. I finally saw one at a local nursery and fell in love! Below that will be a wide and low container with annuals and some type of small conifer. Only Tsuga canadnesis (Canadian Hemlock) and Thuja (arborvitae) are juglone tolerant though... and deer love Thuja so I'll be using Tsuga. There aren't any good priced Tsuga that I don't already have in my local nurseries though. Otherwise I was considering using a Snowberry. I need to find one that stays small though and a pink berry would be nice. Apparently they are juglone tolerant...most native plants are. Closer to the gate I want to use either a Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Golden Pincushion' or 'Tsukumo' along the front with taller more sun loving plants behind. I love that they look like little mossy rocks! I'd love to have a Daphne but they are poisonous and I don't want to risk it with the dog or future kids.
Eventually I want to add hollyhock, lots of astilbe, begonia, asters, iris, lots of ferns, garden phlox, primrose, coneflowers, epimedium, snowdrops, meadowrue, trillium, golden spiderwort?, helleborus, unique violets, coral bells, and daylilies. Many of which I already have but I'll try to find different varieties to mix it up a bit. All of the above are juglone tolerant.