I have been growing plants for about a year now. I have had great success with indoor plants but I have run out of room inside. So I would like to try growing some things outside. My husband and I are moving to a new home, well not new but new to us. There is no landscaping at all at this house. Only a couple of shrubs in the very front of the house. Other than that, it is completely bare. I want to make some flower beds of some sort, but I have no idea what to plant. Do you all have any ideas on what type of plants I should start with? And I am embarrassed to say that I just learned the definition of perennial. So I would welcome any information that you could give me. One of my favorite flowers is daffodils. Is this a perennial? Thank you for any help that you can give me.
JesseK
I'm a newbie
Jesse....we need a little info about your house. First...Is it in Durham? The area is important so we recommend things that are hardy for your area. Second.....how is the house oriented....north, south, east, or west? Third....what are the sizes of the areas, planters? On and on.....trees that add shade???....soil info....sandy loam? clay? in between?... What is the style of your home?....it's important to put the right looking things around your house....then....what color is your home? I could ask 50 more questions....it would be much easier for us to recommend if you could supply pics. General front yard, general back, side yards if they are to be landscaped, and any special areas (ie...under a tree next to the patio...etc). With this info we will innudate you with plants and ideas ...but we need you to do the "homework" for us!
Karen
Daffodils are a bulb that is perennial in most places. They need a cool period to bloom, so we northern gardeners plant the bulbs in the fall and they bloom in the spring. After they bloom, the foliage will die back. They are pretty in the spring, but not in the summer.
Karen is right. We could use a little more information to be helpful. One suggestion I might make is to spend some time preparing the soil and making a plan before planting perennials. In the meantime, you can always do some annuals to give yourself a little eye candy this summer.
Weez and I are on the same page! Another thing that may be helpful is the use of what I call "backbone shrubs" with your perennials. I've been gardening since I was 14 (31 years, but who's counting....) and perennials are one of my favorite plants, but they can give a "messy" look and can be labor intensive. The backbone plants give structure and and an evergreen background for your perennials, annuals and deciduous plants. Plan on changing your yards....as you experience gardening you will learn what you like, what you don't, what you have time to care for and what you don't...etc! Many gardeners find that keeping a journal is helpful to sort all the information you will be gathering.....and welcome to DG.....you will gain LOTS of gardening help and info here! Gardening is such a wonderful hobby because if you get bored you just change they types of plants you "play" with and have tons more to learn!
K
I feel your pain. I also bought a house last year. It had been vacant for a couple of years and the yard was dead. I am also a newbie so being completly clueless I started with this website and any books I could get my hands on. I found "Pernnial Combinations" and "The Well-Tended Perennial Garden" to be very helpfull. Great ideas, wonderfull pics. Pernnial Combinations outlines what will grow in what conditions, ie shade, sun, dry, wet, etc. You can find it used on amazon.com. Good luck. Gardening is so theraputic. You clean your house and it just gets dirty again. But if you garden you are (hopefully) rewarded with beauty. So I just stay outside when I can and forget the dirty house LOL.
Me too....we gardeners just track more dirt into it anyway.....LOL
Welcome JesseK, you have been given some good advice above. IMO pictures are very important. For your own information and to look back at in years to come. I have been gardening practically my whole long life, 78 years, and will be glad to help if I can, however my climate is much different than yours. Donna
Daffodils are good for zone7a, and they are easy to work with. HOwever, since they must be planted in fall for spring flowering, they are a better choice for next year. Next fall, buy a bag of daffodils and plant them 6-8" deep with the "nose" pointing up.
My recommendation for this year, is to start preparring the flower beds. This preparation work will go along way no matter which type of plants you later decide.
I would locate a suitable flower bed, say 10 x 5'. If there are any grass/weeds, use a spade to dig them out, or spray Round-Up and wait for it to die out. Then cover it with a 2-3" layer of organic matter (sphagnum, compost, dehydrated manure, composted manure, etc). Mix the layer of organic matter into the top 6-10" of garden soil. You can do this by digging one spade dept down and turning the organic matter into the soil.
After you have finished amending the bed, then pick a few plants only to start with.
Good choices for a 1st year flower bed:
a) hardy lilies (asiatic lilies / oriental lilies)
The bulbs go on sale soon in stores. Buy them and plant them in groups of 3 spaced about 1 foot apart. Should go with roots down. Plant about 8-10" deep (from top of soil to bottom of hole)
b) summer annuals (petunias, marigolds, salvia, etc)
c) very sturdy and versatile perennials: black eyed susan, for example
Welcome to outdoor gardening JesseK. I love perennials and just found out what they were 3 years ago, so don't feel bad! In my "vast" experience, I have found that they do way better when planted in the late summer or early fall. You can get perennials for every face of your house, even for shady gardens. I like perennials because they are low maintenance-once they're planted, you just have a little spring and fall clean-up. I have clematis, japanese iris, columbine, salvia, phlox, english daisies, joe pye weed, and some others on the north side of my house. I'm still experimenting with the south side, and planted oriental poppies and forget-me-nots last year. I'm planning to add spider dahlias this spring, but they're not hardy here so I'll have to dig up the tubers in the fall; they're way too high maintenance for me, but they were too pretty to resist.
Happy Gardening!!
Christine.
Welcome to outdoor gardening : )
I agree with others that you should spend time preparing your soil. You might want to look up information about lasagna gardening (basically layering on top of grass with layers of wet newspaper to kill the grass and topping the newspapers off with layers of organic material such as leaves, grass, old manure, coffee grounds, etc).
You also might want to find some lists of low maintenance perennials for your area. Some low maintenance perennials include:
hosta
lamium
astilbe
bergenia
Siberian bugloss
daylily
coneflower
liatris
coreopsis
balloon flower
sedum
daisies
heliopsis
coral bells
lady's mantle
columbine
To get cheap perennials, you can
1. grow some from seed
2. ask your garden friends for starts from plants that they divide
3. buy perennials in the fall when they go on sale
Good Luck!!
Welcome, JesseK! As you can see, you have come to the right place for gardening help. :-) And remember, no question is a dumb question. I have been gardening for about four years now and I am still learning something new almost every day! Just remember to enjoy yourself.
Terrie
Check out the NC State web page for the extension part of the web- they have GREAT info there. Read up on how to plant perennials and shrubs.
Buy or borrow a copy of The New York and Mid-Atalntic Book of Lists by Bonnie Appleton- Lists of plants for every site, condition, etc. - then look them up on the Web- find the 'image' button at the top of the Google results page.
Spend some time at a botanical garden and/or local nursery and ALWAYS take a small notebook- write down the things you like, and use the botanical name as well as the common name. Note what conditions they are growing in, color and size. I know the botanical names are overwhelming at first, but try to get used to them- many plants share common names and you want to make sure you get the plant you chose. Also, many plants have annual and perennial varieties- Salvia for one- if you know the botanical you're less likely to spend money on one of the annual ones by mistake. Search the plant on the Web by the botanical name- you're more likely to find the college and extension sites, which frequently have data sheets for plants. (None of this will keep you from making mistakes, even the most carefully researched and pampered plant will croak- but it will cut down on the number of mistakes! Fortunately, you can move most plants.)
The local nursery may be more expensive for plants, but they usually have helpful staff (especially if you can get there during the week, not Sat.) and the plant material is better. The big box stores have some great deals, and often they're plants are fine, but until you get some experience, I'd llimit them to annuals.
Read the tags on the plants before you buy them- lots of people don't realize the mature sizes of plants- they're not going to stay 'so cute' forever! Also- be sure the tag is for the correct plant- check a few in the row to see if they match- customers are always moving tags around!
And lastly- I bet you never thought I'd quit- follow the above advice- soil prep will go a long way towards enjoying your garden.
Enjoy yourself and get some exercise- if it doesn't grow, it was the season - too hot, wet, dry, etc.- don't give up on a plant until you've killed at least three of them!
Susan K
This message was edited Feb 11, 2005 5:55 PM
What do people do with the flowers that are blooming right now, such as daffodils? Home Depot has a lot of daffodils blooming in pots right now. Do you buy them and plant them now or do you buy them and then plant them after the flowers have died? And one other question is what is a primrose? I have seen them in Home Depot and I think they are beautiful but I don't know anything about them. Are they perennial, annual or what? Thanks so much.
JesseK
I've never tried planting daffodils like that. Are they the big yellow ones or the tiny white ones? The tiny white ones don't generally move into the garden well, they are for 'forcing' indoors.
The primroses are probably Primula x polyantha. They are a perennial, but not often long-lived. They need consistantly moist soil and part shade. They are one sure way to find out if you have slugs! Look them up on the web to see if I guessed right!
Susan K
Hi, Jesse--
I also recommend the UNC site. The site is full of good info for you and I believe has a nice page on Daffodils and other seasonal bulbs (both fall and spring planted) appropriate for your area.
When you determine which spring blooming bulb varities you want to plant in your garden, you can order them at a discount from online suppliers this summer---check out Garden watchdog listings here on DG-- or later in the year (Thanksgiving time) when the catalog and online suppliers have late season sales. Then plant them in October and November for a spring garden. Don't buy the blooming ones now from Depot or Lowes--they are pretty much spent...
The advice about building your soil is awfully good and timely and something I did not take seriously enough in my first garden...One idea that made flower bed building and soil improvement easier for me was creating raised beds--even just four to eight inches higher than the lawn...then you can just remove the grass/sod and and maybe some original soil and replace with a truckload of a good mix of premium topsoil and compost already mixed by the landscape supply people. (If you strike up a relationship with a landscaper/supplier (not HD or Lowes) they can really give you lots of sound advice for free) Buying 'by the yard' will eliminate hauling bags compost from Depot and often can be cheaper, and you get first class top soil already mixed with the compost (and even other nurtrients if you ask for it).
The last thought (for today!) is that if you have two bushes, you may want to think about adding more for structure and for easy maintenance. There are wonderful azaleas and hydrangeas that you can grow. And don't forget wonderful winter berry bushes to attract birds and for winter interest. (Check out bird/butterfly attracting plants with Google).
Just was in Raleigh Durham and over at Wake Forest U. and toured the lovely Reynolds Plantation and Gardens. Lots of ideas for you there. And so beautiful.
Have fun. And be sure to post some pics! t.
Here is the UNC extension site. Excellent info: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/bulbs-perennial/bulletin37/perennial_bulbs.html
Here are a couple of good bulb suppliers that are popular with DGers:
http://www.bbbulbs.com/spring/?PHPSESSID=f549dc13079c9d891684e0390634bfc1
http://www.johnscheepers.com/ or Van Engelen's their sister wholesale site if you are buying larger quantities...
You can email for their paper catalogs, then order in the preseason sales or I like to wait until the end of season sales for better mark downs. (You can also buy from HD or Lowes, of course, but the bulb quality is often inferior and the selection is not as varied)...