Saturday, May 30, 2015

Holes in the allée

The allée is still a newer garden. It was started a tiny bit in 2012 but I dug out the rest in 2013. I've added plugs, divided plants, and last fall I bought about $200 worth of perennials and planted many of them there.

But still, when I walked through it this week I noticed that there are a lot of holes. No, not those kinds of holes. We're fortunate that in this part of the city (and probably in many parts of the city), we don't have to deal with moles or voles or other critters. The holes I have are embarrassing because there is nothing growing in them.  I'm sure when I plant new flowers in late summer/early fall that I have a plan in my head but I didn't realize that the plan included leaving great spaces of nothingness.

I seem to have three categories of holes: Places where there's nothing because the plants around it get bigger; bare spaces left when bulb foliage dies; and then just pure poor planning on my part.

To wit: I know that I didn't plant a lot here because the ninebark will eventually be 8 feet across, though since that probably won't happen for several more years, I need to plant and then move when the ninebark takes over. 



And this is a tough spot because when the hibiscus gets going in July, it crowds out everything around it. So instead of giving it space, apparently I planted right next to it and then left blank spaces closer to the pathway. Awesome.



These next two pictures show problems that arise when the bulb foliage finally dies. Then, there will be absolutely nothing in their places. I need to work on some choreography in these spots.




Then there are the spaces of nothingness or just really bad planting on my part. Like here - apparently I like to plant on diagonals. 



Here next to the back door - I know it wasn't this empty last year. There were some Geranium 'Rozanne' and more than one Coreopsis but I guess it didn't come back. I planted some annuals there but I have to do something about this. It's a tough area, though, since it gets stepped on all winter when the bench isn't there to block that route.



Under my Eastern redbud (which had TWO flowers this year, by the way, an improvement over zero so it gets to stay), I planted two Amsonia hubrichtii last fall. I know they'll get larger but right now they're just sprigs and it looks so bare.



Or this - let me just bunch plants together around a hole of nothingness, and then plant some annuals in there to try to mitigate the damage.



As you can see, I have a lot of work to do. This mainly involves online shopping for new plants but may also include moving some things around and dividing some plants. For now, I'll just sit here in the a/c and window shop online.

6 comments:

  1. How about grounndcovers? You have lots of upright things that will grow up out of bare mulch --- some will fill out and get much bigger but there will still be bare mulch underneath. While waiting for stuff to grow in (or while waiting in spring for growth to emerge) you have empty areas. A groundcover would solve that. Ajuga (unless you are worried about it invading the stepping stone walkway), or geranium-- although you said yours didn't come back well. Or even low flat stuff like thyme if it's sunny enough. Creeping sedums, there are many. Having a layer of greenery weaving around your planted things might help it feel less like holes in the garden.

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    1. That's what I was thinking. I bought some low/creeping sedums last fall for some holes in my back yard and though they're still petite, they're there and doing something. Thanks for the input :)

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  2. What Laurrie said! Daylilies also work well with bulb foliage because the new dayliliy foliage hides it as it turns brown. :o)

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    1. Ahhh...good idea. Just need to get rid of the invasive orange ones we have here and plant some nicer cultivars.

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  3. I've also done well with hostas around bulbs. I have some taller hostas that cover my (ugly) iris foliage. It was an accident, but a happy one!

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    1. I've always tended to shun hostas because I was full sun for so long and I always forget that I now have some shade thanks to my (little) tree. Good idea!

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