Need to pick your brain (Blame Rick, his idea! LOL)

I would be grateful for any ideas for shrubs, small trees to plant under, or around, these trees in the new bed.

The total length of the new bed is 116' long. (I got carried away) The space from the tree trunk to the fence behind it is 8ft.

As you can see I wouldn't mind hiding the weeds or trees on the other side of the fence, which is not our property. I'm stuck with the chain link fence because 1) I love my dogs, and 2) a solid fence would hide the spectacular views we have in the other areas 3) lots of coyotes, deer & other critters in the area.

The area is full sun, and windy.

My problem is that I love everything! I don't want to start buying things to fill it without some plan in mind and not knowing what will withstand the winter, winds and sun. I like a Very full look, texture, interest, blooming would be great too as long as it had interest afterwards. Garden art, statues, bird houses, all would be great too.

Ric, before you start laughing and playing Taps, I AM working on rearranging the rocks LOL, it still has a cemetry look to it. I have part of it done but it is slow going trying to roll those big rocks around by myself.

I have another picture from another thread that kind of shows what most of the new bed area looks like. I'll repost it.

I welcome and appreciate any ideas!

Ric, or anyone, who wants to come look (or have a laugh at my project!) is more than welcome!!! I love to cook and make a mean cheesecake! Warther makes the best knives too LOL

Annie

It was kind of hard to find a good spot to take a picture of the entire new bed.

Viburnums are never a bad choice.

With a 16' deep bed and 116' feet long, you could easily lose 50 different plants there. With four seasons of interest in almost every one that you could grow, you'd never fail to have flowers, fruit, foliage, form, fall color...Fabulous!

All I can contribute is WOW!!!! I'd have it all in veggies so I'm no help. LOL

50 plants.. therein lies the problem!! There are so many beautiful plants & shrubs my list doesn't stop at 50! I've been on line making lists of those I like, it's endless. I want to "jungle-ize" the area LOL. It's so hard to decide. I did see a couple Viburnums that I liked. It's a good thing I have all winter to decide because so far I'm still as confused as ever!

CajuninKy, nope, there will be NO veggies in my yard! We share a huge garden with friends. Last year I canned tomatoes, hot peppers, froze corn, I ended up giving most away, there was no time to do it all. Sharing was fun!

I love sharing too. I bring lots of stuff to church.

LOL! Annie they blame me for about everything anyway so what's one more!

First off when Annie says Warther she is talking some of the best and prettiest Kitchen knives made in the USA.
http://www.warthercutlery.com/catalog/
My BIL is from Dover and his Parents brought me a new long paring knife on Thanksgiving.
Our other knives from them are at least 10 years old now and still beautiful as well as razor sharp.
And of course you need something to cut so go to Heini Cheese!
http://www.heinis.com/

Anyway I can definitely give you some things to stay away from.....
English or Boston Ivy, Vica, Ajuga and definitely Galloping Buttercup.
They are quick fixes that you will pay for in removal sweat for years and years.

You can definitely use some of the honken big Yellow Hosta like 'Sum and Substance'.
They grow big fast don't spread and aren't too bothered by the sun.
No 'Blue' Hosta till you get more shade canopy.
Ostrich Ferns would be great and love sun.

Grasses would fill it in quickly too.
You have enough room for some big guns.
Giant Miscanthus would be a good one but will have to have a barrier.
(easy to do and quite affective)
But at 10' tall and w/ 14' tall plumes it will surely make a statement.

Can't go wrong with daylilies. They are easy and come in so many colors. Azaleas are a sure bet too.

Yup, love my Warther knives too! You can bring them to Warther anytime and they will sharpen them for free. More than occasionally mine end up in the dishwasher and it hasn't hurt them at all. Yes, Heinis cheese, love their Swiss, it's the best!

Thanks for all the suggestions. Sum and Substance would be perfect around the trees, it's beautiful, had no idea there was a Hosta that would tolerate full sun! I've been busy looking through Plant Files too.

You're right, no quick fix plants. My "want" list is long and when I get close to finishing it I will post it to see if anyone has any suggetions and experience with them. I fell in love with the pictures of Sambucas Black Lace Elderberry and the ornamental grass called Muhlenbergia Capillaris (mist grass, pink muhlygrass).
I'm going to call the local nursery to see if they can order these for me as well as some others.

I keep trying to remember that I need even amounts of tall, medium, and shorter plants. I want to JUNGLE-IZE the area so I need to choose carefully instead of just buying with no plan. That is so hard to do!

CajuninKy, there will absolutely be daylilies! I ordered & planted way over 100 last year and have a spring order that will also be, so far, about 150 new daylilies. I have to stop ordering them and concentrate on plants for the new bed! I will plant some of them in the new bed but do have beds for most of the other new ones.

I was wishing for Spring to hurry and get here, now I'm glad that it's a long way off - there is so much planning to do!

I bought the program Plant Steps to help keep me semi- organized LOL

I really appreciate everyone's time and suggestions, thank you!

Annie

I've had and lost Sambucas Black Lace Elderberry twice.
It's touchie here.
Love the Muhlie Grass!

All the yellow Hostas can take some sun. Then Green/yellows, then Green for sun tolerance.
Blue Hosta have a waxy coating that melts off so no go w/ them.
Any w/ white will burn.

Oh no, Ric, why do you think your SBL Elderberry died? What are they touchie about? It's supposed to be good in zones 4 through 7.

I pictured the Muhlie grass in front of a mature elderberry, thought the colors would be stunning. I might have to sulk about the elderberry! Is there an alternative to the SBL elderberry? I love dark color and interesting leaves.

Annie

Whoops sorry Annie it was Sambucus 'Black Beauty' we had problems w/.
It was developed in England and just never did well here.
Hot, dry weather got it I think.
A Buddleia is doing great in the same spot.

We just put S. 'Black Lace' in last Spring and so far.........
Our neighbor Eric has had it for two years now and it's doing well.
Again Sorry.

Ric

One of our Iowa RU friends has beds similar to those.
I'll just post a picture & you can decide. This was early spring 2008.
Personally, I would fill it with anything I could beg, trade or steal. (Not really, just buy at ridiculous low price.) You can call it a Cottage Garden & get away with anything.
Bernie

LOVE the Sea Monster!

We call ours a Tropical Themed Collectors Cottage Garden w/ Japanese Influence.... :-)
Our Son calls it the Jungle...... LOL!

Bernie rest assured we'll fill'er up rather quickly if she hits the Spring RU.
Our members have dozens and dozens of 'quietly aggressive' plants... ;-)

Annie give a thought to Petasites japonica.......

CountryGardens, thanks for the picture, that is a huge area and they seemed to have filled it very nicely! What plants did they use?

Ric, I google every recommendation here and check plant files too. I have pictures printed out and hanging all over my office trying to decide. My sweet husband walked in, looked at everything, then asked if I had a "budget" in mind for the new beds. I said I didn't think there was a plant named budget, but I'd look. LOL

I like the pictures, real life is different, of Itea v. Little Henry Sweetspire, and the Hydrangea paniculate Pinky Winky too. It's so hard to know what they will look like after blooming.

I'd love to attend the spring RU but as a newbie I don't have anything to trade, maybe I can bake cookies for trades? LOL.

In late August I gave away about 60 cone flower plants and probably 40 to 50 black eye'd susans - ok so I got a little carried away buying them for a couple years! Summer of 2011 I will have daylilies galore to give away!

The planning is so FUN and nerver wracking too LOL!

You can bring cookies to Iowa RU to trade for plants. Anything chocolate.
Kentucky RU, the hot item is Fudge!
Seriously, no one expects plants traded one on one at RU. Just show up & you probably will be over whelmed with plants.

She had a rather large odd shaped lot. The flower beds went all the way around. Tulips, Iris, Daylilies, & Lilies abound.

This is front of her house.

Her yard is just beautiful! Great place to walk around, relax and enjoy the scenery and feel peaceful!

I will absolutely plan on attending RU's this spring, with lots of cookies and chocolate!

Annie

Annie as I mentioned earlier Dave's hides a bunch of experts in it's midst.
Bernie, a friend from the Weather Forum, is a very gifted Cabinet Maker and Carpenter/Builder.
He also grows the biggest 'Truck Garden' or as they call it here on Dave's 'Market Garden' I've seen and in MN to boot.
Plus he and his Wife are long time KY RU visitors.
Those shots are perfect Bernie!

As he said Annie the RU's aren't about Plants.
They are about Plant People.
The ORVG does indeed have a Plant Swap but these are more private trades.
Some members trade crafts and art, some jellies and jams, some cookies and recipes.
All share their extensive knowledge.

For the new garden challenged we also do a TON of Plant Gifting.
In fact more surplus plants are given away than swapped.
(Two years ago my neighbor expressed an interest in Daylilies.
We brought home 3 paper grocery bags of tubers.......)
We have filled many a new garden in the years we've been together.
The only limit we set is the size of the vehicle you came in.
Though I do seem to remember spending a few trips dropping off plants at Joyce's ... LOL!
By the time we end the day it's like the Biblical story of the the Loaves and Fishes.
Everyone leaves w/ more plants than they came w/......

One of the best things about giving new plants is the Joy of watching them grow and fill someone else's space.
The pictures sent ARE the trade.

Ric

Annie:

Funny your husband should ask - there is a Pieris japonica 'Budget'.

If you could 'Budget' - you bought it...

Better have one big budget cause that is one big expensive 'Budget'!

I'm soooo excited already about the RU, being able to put faces to the names here! I will bake cookies and bring what plants and other garden things I have to share. I will absolutley take pictures of all that is shared, and am so thankful for all the nice people I've met here on DG's.

Viburnum Valley, LOL on the Budget and it's a beauty too!! My dear husband is very understanding and supportive of my plant and animal obsessions... I don't think I want to push my luck! I'm still trying to sweet talk him into hauling in more top soil for new flower beds.

Annie I forgot if you'd mentioned a Compost Pile?
GREAT source of free humus and much better than just plopping topsoil down.
Plus w/ all that grass you can get a VERY hot pile going.

BTW here's most of the gang.
And a good look at an RU.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1042383/

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/998943/

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/907535/

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/860306/

Here's countrygarden (Bernie)
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=7077486

Ric

Yup, I tried the compost pile for a year or so - had every coyote and raccoon for miles coming for a snack. They fought so much and so loudly it would wake us up at night - the pile is/was 75 yards from the house! Who knew coffee grounds and greens were worth fighting over? I put a tarp over it and all that did was provide a nice rain cover for them to fight under. The lawn service has been putting the grass clippings on that area for two years now. It had been kind of washed out. Today I raked it all smooth and we dumped a huge pile of top soil on it to make the area a new spring planting bed. So, the moral of the story, for me, is no more compost piles! I felt bad for the animals fighting!
Thanks for the link to the pictures, it's great to put faces to the names and OMG the gardens are all sooooo beautiful!!!!! I'm in awe!!!

Annie

a couple of my favorite trees include Halesia Carolina and
Stewartia Pseudocamelia. The former has glorious white
bloom in the spring and the latter is a four season glory.

Remember winter interest if you will be looking out over this
view during winters. A few evergreens would be very nice.

Tam