I tend to be extremely conservative with garden features as they can over-dominate a garden pretty easily...and I'm so not a fan of a lot of stuff around. I prefer to do things with plants.

These photos are just post-planting; things are much more developed now, nearly a month into the season. Consequently, stuff is straggly, I haven't trimmed anything in the shots yet, and so on.

The keynotes here are a Hinoki Cypress and a fringe tree. The rest is filled in with annuals:


This has several highpoints, most notably the cannas (out of shot) and the currently small Kousa dogwood. I fill in most of the rest with a mix of annuals and perennials that create differing and moving high points through the season:

Simpson, you've been holding out on us! That looks great.

That is exactly what I'm looking for - more garden, less fluff. I would rather have a handful of features and then fill in with annuals that I can grow myself, as long as it looks good, I'm happy. And damn, thats a lot of mulch!

19 cubic yards this year, but that's a rarity. It'll do for three years, with only top-coating.

Those azaleas in the back got seriously hammered back. And of course the bulb greenery is almost gone at this point.

I know I've written about planning an annual garden (which sounds hard, it really isn't). This year is a bit more randomized as that's what I felt like doing.

Nice back patio, Simpson! And you avoided the mistake of planting right in front of the windows with something tall. Or, the mistake I made out front by the living room...

jfd...I'll think about bed layouts. Some would look nice expanded as well. Which way is north?

A few more questions:

How into this are you? Or, how much bed area do you want?

What's the square footage of the property?

jfd.lew wrote:Oh I'm into it. I'm going to do all my own annuals for next year from seed (at least to try it out). I definately picked up the sickness this year. My wife thinks I'm crazy but is happy the lawn is improving.

It's not hard. I did about 85% of mine this year from seed (I needed to fill in with 1 1/4 flats that I bought). Next year I do fewer of the larger things so I should manage all but a few plants that aren't worth growing from seed. I don't use enough ageratum to bother but like it as an accent here and there, for instance.

The top of the photo is North. The whole lot is 130x77', the fenced back yard is 50 deep.

Fairly big, then. You could do some serious gardens in that area. I tried to put something together here, but it's not quite right--I can't draw. What I'm seeing in my head is about this shape, though. I might curve the back line garden a bit, but just drew a box there. I'm not completely happy with the right front garden or the right against-the-house garden as neither quite merge their areas well enough. Those I'd need to think about some more, but don't want you to give up too much property.

Seriously consider drip or microspray irrigation if you undertake gardens of this size. Having the garden water itself, either using a programmed system or just turning on the hose and wandering off for twenty minutes or so, is a huge plus. I couldn't manage without mine.

Up front I have 3 Dwarf Alberta Spruce in front of the house along with some Barberry bushes and another small shrub. Don't remember the name, King's Gold something or other. Two nice burning bushes on either side of the driveway in the hell strip, and a taller Alberta Spruce is to the West of the driveway by the garage. The west side of the garage is lined with Lillies, and the east side of the house has a few small hostas running down the side. Good shade on that side from my neighbor's house.

Any suggestions, specimens, focus points would be great, thanks everyone!

Flowers or evergreen shrubs? I think flowers, so that's the current answer I'm giving.

Kousa dogwoods are slow-growing and can be trimmed easily. Once mature enough, they bloom in early June and are attractive trees the rest of the time. Full to part sun, although they'll tolerate considerable shade.

Re-blooming dwarf magnolias, like the Rutgers 8 Little Girls series, range in height up to fifteen feet. I have a Jane magnolia, which is shrubby with a spreading form and reblooms regularly if well-fed. They can be trimmed shorter if you like.

The Miss Kim lilac is a dwarf, six to seven feet tall, later blooming than a standard lilac, and will tolerate considerable shade (mine only gets about four hours of sun a day or less). It's a spherical form, but can be caned and trained if you want.

Azalea and rhododendron are available in heights from 1' to 20'. Rhodies are taller, but tend to try to be evergreen and like afternoon shade (and morning sun). Azaleas prefer fuller sun and are the shorter of the two.

Viburnum can get monstrous and requires cutting, but it's a nice, velvety shrub and blooms like a trooper in May. Full sun, but will do fine on morning sun and afternoon shade (or vice-versa).

Spirea are anything from dwarf to huge, and some variants these days are re-bloomers. My mother's typically bloom three or four times a year. Full sun to part shade.

Butterfly bush ranges from six foot dwarfs to 20' tall shrubs, usually spherical or vase-shaped depending on the variety and how you shape it. They bloom in summer, heavily and then repeat bloom to frost or even a bit beyond--still pretty heavily. Full sun to part shade. Not suggested if you're allergic to bees or dislike butterflies and hummingbirds.

Rose of Sharon (actually a northern hibiscus) used to be those hideous purple blossoms with red throats that were a total mess. Nowadays there are tons of colors and varieties available. They're still kind of messy, but getting better. Full sun to part shade, and not very particular plants about anything once established.

Hydrangea are a nice accent if you have the ability to keep them watered. Full sun to full shade, some now rebloom copiously (like Endless Summer). Heights range from two feet to about five feet. Check the tag for sun requirements as they differ.

Bittersweet (American) is a great October-November display with bright orange berries, but can be a bit tough to grow. Full to part sun, and it'll get thirty feet tall if you let it.

Knockout and Double Knockout Roses are some of the easiest roses to grow. In your case, I'd keep those to the southern or eastern face for winter protection. Blooms June to October (at least that long). Full sun to very slight partial shade, about 4' tall and 4' wide if not cut back.

Potentilla (cinquefoil) is cute, smaller (1-3'), yellow or white blooms, and pretty easy to grow. It's a nice accent. Full sun to partial shade.

St. John's Wort varies in size, I tend to keep mine cut to about 3' but it'll go much taller if you let it. Golden yellow blossoms from June to frost, full sun to light shade, almost effortless.

Clematis can be given a wrapped pole to climb, or allowed to take over a fence, or given a trellis on the house. Varieties are available from 6' to 30' tall. Blooming time and color varies by variety; I like the Jackmanii (4" purple blooms in July with multiple reblooms through frost). Full sun to part shade, but keep the roots well-mulched as they hate being hot or dry.

Stella d'Oro daylilies, and their half a dozen friends nowadays, are about 2' tall, can go 4' wide if you let them, and bloom gold heavily in May with reblooms throughout summer. Full sun to part shade, and not all that particular about anything once established.

Asiatic lilies range in height from about 2' (the Mona Lisa) to 6' or more (like Connecticut King). Colors vary, just about anything but blue. They rarely require staking, bloom once a year (but for a fairly long time), and like anything from full sun to part sun.

For early spring, rely on bulbs to do the work for you--crocus where you see them from windows and driving in are always nice. Daffodils for later on, tulips throughout (March-May bloomers are available). English hyacinth blooms in May, while regular hyacinth tends to bloom in April. Things like crown imperials are exotic and impressive, and not something everybody has (and they're easy, too).

Dahlia (little guys up to dinnerplates) can be fun, as can cannas, but both will require lifitng for winter if you wish to save the rhizomes for next year. Or treat them as annuals and replace them. Cannas range from 3' to 8', very tightly constrained horizontally. Dahlias are 4" to 6'.

Ornamental grasses...hundreds of varieties. Easy to grow, tons of sizes and colors.

That's what comes to mind offhand.

MorpheusPA wrote:I tend to be extremely conservative

I know it's out of context and all, but I just wanted to capture that quote, because I don't think it's something he says very often.

bpgreen wrote:

MorpheusPA wrote:I tend to be extremely conservative

I know it's out of context and all, but I just wanted to capture that quote, because I don't think it's something he says very often.

Depends.

NP, I can come up with more if you still need stuff, or just wander around your local nursery. Things suggest themselves as you look.