Planting Ideas
Another gardening post… I got about three quarters the yard dug once over and amended today! Woo hoo! I’m got the soil and root systems all mentally “mapped out” and everything and soon I can re-seed the lawn part in a middle circular area made up by blue stones (only about 8’x10′ of a regular…
Another gardening post…
I got about three quarters the yard dug once over and amended today! Woo hoo!
I’m got the soil and root systems all mentally “mapped out” and everything and soon I can re-seed the lawn part in a middle circular area made up by blue stones (only about 8’x10′ of a regular townhouse garden.) Any ideas on what to plant? I’ve never gardened in this zone before, I’m from way north. Most of my stuff will be veggies and annuals in containers for focal points, but I wanted to do some sprucing around the edges.
Thing is, place is a rental. I got a bunch of free mulch and free container soil…so I decided to go all out Right now I’m about $70 in for the soil amendments, grass seed and seed netting.) I don’t want to put in anything the landlord might not want there, and I know I should be able to take up stuff when I leave the city (still a couple years away.) I’m thinking a red twig dogwood, some hostas, japanese forest grass elijah blue in the shady areas (which is most of the garden.) None of this self pollinated and spreads I don’t think. Any thoughts on maybe a rose of sharon shrub or dwarf peony? I’ve seen those get big, and I know they grow in anything, but I don’t know how quick they grow and how obtrusive the root system is. But the garden really could use just a couple medium sized shrubs with some flowering to reduce the current “barren” look.
Last tenant was a single guy who was here for 10 years and apparently never worked the garden. There were only tufts of crabgrass, some of the neighbors invaded ivy and the two trees. (There is a cute little rock garden built up around the trunk, hence the elijah blue.) I’m sure the landlord isn’t going to be grumpy with a new lawn and someone taking the time to overseed every season. I’m not sure he’d even notice if a rose of sharon was added and I could even leave my gardening work when I go if he doesn’t notice, but I just figured I’d ask and see what you guys thought or if you had some better suggestions.
I’ll probably just order through catalogs, but I was hoping with a $200 budget (about $130 left) I could make the garden a passable place to entertain and spend the summer.
Hello, I don’t think most landlords would object to someone landscaping and improving the garden. I created a garden at my last rental and when the house was sold the broker said my garden added about 10K value to the property. Actually Home Depot is a less expensive source for many garden plants, just not the variety that the catalogs have. Most of the catalog plants arrive quite small so it could take a few years for them to become mature. The suggestion for Brooklyn Terminal market is good, also asking friends/neighbors for divisions is a good one.
Awesome! Thanks a lot for the suggestions, I may know someone in Jersey that may be dividing some stuff now. I wouldn’t even have thought to ask (oddly enough.) Astilbe would be a great choice too to highlight ornamental grasses.
BBG’s plant sale is May 5th and 6th and I will be heading there to see what I can find! Thanks for the tip, I’m excited already!
I laid a fescue mix today. I really hope the crabgrass doesn’t overtake it. I really dug at it, but crabgrass is other worldly.
Also, I’m glad no one said, “your landlord is going to be pissed!” Since its not technically a permanent fixture, I didn’t bother to ask any permission…
Springhill are nice and cheap, but my experiences with their stuff have not bee that great. In general, everything comes absolutely tiny, often does not survive, and certainly will not give you much bang for your buck this season.
I like http://www.springhillnursery.com for perennials…astilbe, hostas and ferns…I think there’s a sale on ferns now,
Do you have any neighbors that have nice gardens? If so, ask them if they are going to divide or thin anything this spring that you could take off their hands. I have been the recipient of many lovely plants that way, and it is free!
White Flower Farm is nice but $130 won’t go very far there.
Start checking out the farmer’s markets and Brooklyn Terminal market for stuff that’s well-priced. You can get stuff in the ground now. I like Bluestone Perennials for mail order.
The hard part on a tight budget is that bigger plants, which will give you more impact this season, are more expensive. Grasses are a good idea because they can grow and fill in quickly.
Peonies are great but they take at least two seasons to flower and should be planted in the fall (unless you buy a much more expensive mature plant).
Firstmediation has some good plant recs–I’ll try to think of others that grow quickly and have impact.
White Flower Farm — the one in Connecticut. Fabulous. http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/
I am not a fan of Rose of Sharon, which often self-seed and are not attractive except when they are blooming. I recommend for a mostly shade, north facing brownstone garden shrubs like oak leaf hydrangea, pieris japonica (variegated sort gives special focal point), or some of the azelea/rhododendrons called “swamp azalea” For perennials, go with true geraniums like crane’s bill, and different heights of astilbe. Wayside Gardens in South Carolina is a good mail order source; so is a place in Connecticut the name of which escapes me at the moment. Brooklyn Botanic Garden has an annual sale (soon I think) of perennials and shrubs, well worth the membership fee.
Good luck!