New hillside garden

Howdy Neighbor! I don't mind answering questions via the thread. And there are
a lot of other folks with more expertise than I here too!

I was so afraid of the hillside just washing out too. I actually had just planted a bunch
of it before one of our big fall storms & it stayed put. (I find I have time & inclination to work
on such projects in the fall. Too hot in the summer & so much to do in the spring!)

I positioned the rocks as best I could to hold the dirt. Some stayed and some didn't.
But I just keep plugging in new plants and it seems to be working. I haven't completely
finished yet - the upper part is still in need of work. (Well - I've never finish it but I have
plans I have not implemented on the upper section).

I haven't tried species tulips on the hillside but I bet they'd work. I figure anything
that thrives in good drainage will like my hillside. Most of it is very sunny & the soil
is very sandy & rocky.

What exposure do you have with your hill? And what is the situation w.r.t. existing plants?
I had to really work to clear out the old stuff - lots of multiflora roses & crown vetch. And
bittersweet, honeysuckle and verbascum. I pulled and pulled and then I very carefully
used round up. It took a few years to clear it sufficiently to attempt planting it.

Mike - you don't live that far from me. You are welcome to send me D-Mail to arrange
a visit on some weekend day for a little tour. (Its much prettier in the spring but you'll
get a better sense of what I've done in person).

Tam

My hill is lawn that I've manged to remove sod from, and used carpet scraps to keep weeds down while I'm working (slowly) on it. It's mostly sunny, but the one end is shaded by a big white pine, so I have a lot to choose from in the different areas. I have some azaleas and hostas for the shaded end, and daylilies, iris, coreopsis, miscellaneous plants for the sunny end. I'm doing one of the wintersowing swaps, so I'll probably wind up with who knows what next spring. I ordered a lot of bulbs from one of the co-ops, so I need to plant those next month.
You're right about working in the heat, these next few weeks is my time for The Big Gardening Effort !
I managed to remove a big,sick Norway (just say No Way!) Maple from the front yard, so that's full sun now. I'm looking for a nice kousa dogwood or something there. Boy, the weather is perfect today, no more excuses!
Thanks, Mike

Sounds like you've got lots of fun ahead! Are you documenting the project with pictures?
It'd be fun to see your progress.

Tam

Hi Tammy, thank you for luring me over here. The progress on your hillside is wonderful to see, and inspiring even for ours with so much in full shade. I'm thinking a "primrose path", but first the vinca needs a talking to. Is anyone else gardening on a hill with lots of shade? We made "random" curves on asymmetrical terraces with stone left over from double trenching other gardens 30 years ago, and those stones really compensate for drought conditions while at the same time providing necessary drainage. Pinks and campanulas (partially shaded areas) have never grown so well just planted into plain garden dirt here. I'd love to see those fringed, white bells of Shortia galacifolia colonizing the sloping drystone walls in this shade.

Thanks again for starting this thread.

PS - Mike, regarding keeping a slope from sliding down, I seem to recall hearing in a class about a product called "Tack" (Tac?). If you've mulched a slope, supposedly you're supposed to be able to spray it with this Tack to keep the mulch from sliding down in a hard rain. Our instructor said it was available in hardware stores.

Love your view, Tammy - your garden is doing it justice.

An early evening shot of the orange mum's coming into bloom.

Bluespiral - pls post some pictures of those Shortia galcifolia! And pins
and campanula's... it sounds lovely. I've got a very small spring and boggy
area on the property that I've planted with primroses. I love primroses. Do
you have a moist place for your primrose path?

Tam

Tammy, thanks for the image of setting sun - beautiful. Would love to see that view in different seasons and times of day.

Nope, don't have a DC. And I am in the habit of looking at something and seeing something not there - like shortia colonizing one of our drywalls, LOL. Yes, these plants do require evenly moist conditions, which we don't have. But I think we have several factors that would ameliorate our dry shade in that spot:

1) moisture-retentive clay-based soil heavily amended with compost and peat;

2) I might use those hydrating crystals - I think a tablespoon or teaspoon mixed in the ground just below the roots of each plant; Am not sure who sells them or what their brand/trade name is;

3) rotted-leaf (or shredded bark, whichever is available) mulch on the horizontal plane of the bed;

4) stones on the sloping "vertical" parts that for reasons I don't entirely understand maintain a relatively even moist environment for plant roots with good drainage at the same time (capillary action of moisture in the stone?);

5) planting in "communities" as opposed to each plant in its own place (for example, here the primroses would share the same beds with ferns and whatever other compatible associates I may discover). Within a plant community, individual plants benefit from the combined synergistic effect of the whole with respect to water retention/availability;

6) Maryland has a relatively high rainfall (although we are no rain forest);

7) choosing primrose species relatively tolerant of dry conditions like P. kisoana (possibly because of its purported creeping habit). I have found that many shade plants that go dormant without water in summer do fine every spring - Dicentra spectabilis did that wonderfully right within the roots of a monster Pawlounia in the years before we had any water with which to water the garden. So, I'm hoping that perhaps a species like P. sieboldii might be similarly cooperative - its spot will be near Christmas ferns whose fronds should fill in their space, if all goes according to plan. There's another species said to be tolerant of dry-ish conditions - P. nervosa, if my memory is working right now. Another plant that grew for years in our stones without any additional water was Primula veris (cowslip).

8) last, but not least, I'd have to water every 2 weeks in a drought, which I'm prepared to do in the small spot I have in mind. For the most part, I'll be looking for plants whose needs match the conditions of the site like epimediums. I may have to treat a small number of primroses like annuals, because as a whole, I'm not looking to create a water-dependent garden.

I apologize for preaching to the choir, here, but thought it might be helpful for anyone reading this who is just starting out.

Can anyone suggest some plants that would associate well with primroses? I'm thinking of small vignettes, with the greater part of the garden being more self-sufficient with respect to water.

Mike, one of the best books I ever found on rock gardening was by Lincoln Foster (H. Lincoln Foster?). I can't remember the title, but the chapters were organized by type of habitat, and there were great little essays on the plants he grew. Hope you can find it. I'm looking forward to checking it out from the library again for "woodstove reading" later on, myself.

And, we're in the same seed swap. Can you and Tammy use seed of the following? (I could just send this into the swap with your name on it) -
Phlox stolonifera
Viola labradorica
Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens'
??? (I apologize to others, but I don't have more seed of these to share)

Tammy, I hope I'm not hijacking your thread. Leave it to me to write a book if asked a questions grrr. It might be a while before I can post here again - DH just came down with shingles. Fortunately, he started treatment early enough to hope for a good outcome.

bluespiral, that sounds great! I had to look up the Ophiopogon/mondo grass, it's beautiful... Thanks for the book suggestion, and sorry to hear about the shingles, I hope he's ok

I really enjoyed your post! Yes to those seeds. I have
Primula Japonica

I can offer to a quite a few folks.

Thanks
Tam

Thanks for the trade Claypa and Tammy - will be sending mine to you shortly. I've posted too much about my garden here - apologies if I have hijacked your thread. But the subject of creating a gem of a rock garden out of what may seem a recalcitrant or difficult situation really struck some chords in me. I hope you two keep posting as your gardens develop and share those wonderful pics.

I have absolutely no issue with your discussions here on the thread I started. The best
thing about DG is the discussions with other gardeners.

Did you want the Primula Japonica seeds? I'll send you D-Mail.
Tam

Here's a couple pictures

I'm inserting flat stones perpendicular to the slope, lots more to go

Exciting! Looks like you've got soil amendments there top? It'll be fund to watch
your progress as you go. The stones will help with the soil retention, help moderate
temperatues and add to the visual beauty of the hill planting.

Today is a glorious sunny day! I cleared out the brambles (and poison ivy)
along the stone wall behind my hillside. More planting space!

Tam

I cleared out the brambles & weed trees in front of the stone wall that runs behind the gardens &
garage. I've always tried to clip off this part of the scene in my pictures 'cause it was so wild.
You can kinda see the stone walls before in the post of Sept24 8:49. Anyway - I'm gonna be
planting some shrubs /bulbs in front of the stone wall and maybe some pretty trees behind it.

And the real "before" shot - taken with a film camera. Got it scanned to post recently.
(This is when we first moved in - before we had the garage built).

Wow Tammy - that is quite a difference! That before photo is really WILD! It's looking mighty fine!:-)

Am very much looking forward to the development of your gardens come next spring, Tammy and Claypa. If you two haven't poked those seeds of Ophiopogon planiscapus 'nigrescens' in the ground by now, it's not too late. They always come up - a little late - in the following spring when I do this in December...about 85 - 90% should be "black"-leaved.

Thanks for the reminder!... I have winter sown only a few plants so far, and now the holidays are winding down, so I can get back to it. I've never done it before so I'm a little wary of this weather, but it seems to be cooling down finally.

I planted mine a few months ago. Can't wait to see them!

Welcome to spring! I just weeded my hillside gardens and stuffed in a couple
of phloxes. I thought I'd share the spring bulb extravaganza.

Here's the uppermost part of the upper hillside. I took out more of the brambles
& mulitflora roses last fall, created some small rock walls and planted lots of
bulbs plus an exbury azalea.

Tam

I still have to clear out more of those nasty multiflora roses (I took out quite a few
more today but I just didn't have the time to do too much. So many weeds and
so many garden beds ... I'll have to come back when thing are more under control).

Here's the steepest part. I got it cleared quite a bit last fall. There are mostly
sedums and little rock garden plants (penstemon hirsutus, dianthus, heliathamums
and such) on the lower portion. I've got more dianthus & penstemon seedlings
going to put in later. I'll have to weed there again first though.

The lower hillside isn't really doing much yet. I added some daffodils and
they are just barely open now.

Here's the a shot from May 26.

This garden is actually one of the prettiest I have. I am so amazed that a place
that started out so difficult worked so well for these plants! I've added more
helianthamum's, phlox and sempervivums.

Beautiful garden!
Almost missed this,
Happy Birthday!!
I hope you had a wonderful day.
Have a great year!
Bernie

Thanks Bernie!

Here's a few pictures I took yesterday.

From the other side

And a section with the conifers, sedum & Semps (which were from my
very first DG trade)

Excellent, Tammy! Belated birthday greetings, also.

Happy Birthday Tammy! Thanks for the the even more wonderful pics!

Tam, I missed your birthday :-( Hope it was wonderful! Happy belated....jan

ps your hillside is looking really great!

Thanks Jan!

Tammy, your hillside garden looks like it is really coming into its own. I've enjoyed seeing the transformation from start to present.

A belated happy birthday as well!

thanks everyone. Its kinda nice to have the documentation of how its changed over time
for me too. :-)

Tam

Was browsing old pictures and decided to put one
up on this thread since its been a few years.

Tammy, ever consider a nice vacation in MN ?
I'm going to redo my flower bed & pond area this spring & summer & fall. A little help from an expert would be great!
Your hillside looks wonderful.
Bernie

ah shucks. Thanks Bernie.

You could visit me too. I'm sure I've got a few things you'd like to go home with . . .

Well done Tammy! That is a stunning hillside garden!