So I've got a house that had a totally neglected yard, so I've cleaned a lot out and ready to design something beautiful. The yard is 95 ft wide and 70 feet deep. There is a mature water oak on the West fence putting out a lot of shade and about 5 sweetgums and 4 pines (2 of each are getting taken out within a couple of years but shouldn't affect my shade too much). We also want to extend the patio/deck area in a couple of years and add a pergola.
Here's the West side of the yard.
I've put in 20 hydranges along the back fence and will add some Oak leaf hydranges and a mix of azaleas and other taller things behind those. I want to keep everything around the fence line with the exception of a couple of beds around the bigger trees we're keeping (so the big dog has room to run and my fiance doesn't have so much to trim around) and have some really great hostas ordered that I'm really excited about and I'd like to attract some hummers since I saw my first one since I've been here just 3 days ago.
Here's the middle of the yard...
This side gets the most sun except the very back, I want a small vegetable garden on the Southeast corner and berries and fruit on the East fence (The neighbors and I are going in on the berries and cutting down all their ugly hedges). I also just put in a small fig tree on the east side and putting in a weeping willow after we have the selected trees taken out.
Here's the East side of the yard!
Wow mini, you have a beautiful canvas to paint on there. I look forward to seeing what the experienced gardeners suggest for you, as I have a large shady area (diff zone though).
Mine is currently under construction (yard, not house!), with more than half still 'wild', and right now I'm fighting weed seedlings in the places that we have successfully cleared. I also have clay and no grass, so you don't have to fight the same fights as I!
Best wishes,
-Sunny
Good luck in your fight, I just moved from AL around the Anniston area so I know the difficulties of digging in clay/rocky soil. I sure do miss the mountains though, I'll trade a few tropicals to see some mountains and big pines again...I also miss the lower humidity (not to remind you of the drought most of the area is experiencing).
What's your water situation like?
Lay out where you want the pergola and the vegetable garden now - form follows function. Are the lines on your photos how you are thinking of laying out your beds? You've got them pretty deep. You've got a big enough yard that with positioning of your new trees and blank slate you can have a couple of wandering lawns and still have room for the dog.
Here's what I mean
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/616385/
If the lawn is struggling in the shade, you can plant midget mondo grass so that the lawn won't get torn up by the dog and it has some chance of living in the shade. (midget mondo grass does grow in the sun too) Boyfriend will be very happy as it doesn't need mowing and can be walked on. Dogs can't tear it up.
And Hmmmmmmm.. I know that weeping willows are beautiful (I've always wanted one) but......... perhaps something a little less invasive? Don't mean to blow on your dreams though.
Here in the mountains, there are a few things that grow on the coast where it's warmer and that includes camillias and gardenias. I can't imagine a southern garden without them. However, my zone is too cool for them. sometimes we are closer to zone 6b than 7
Doss:
I think the "line" you are referring to is a garden hose...no particular placement intended just to lazy to roll it up when I have to water the new hydrangeas every other day. I need a little more explaination about how a weeping will is invasive...I've never had one before but am super jealous of all those people that do. I love your back yard with all the japanese maples. We are going to put the pergola against the house over a concrete pad. so that shouldn't interfere with anything else right now.
Woodspirit:
I love gardenias and have several already 2 against the house in the back and 4 or 5 on the southeast side. I think that will be enough for me, I'm so sorry you can't grow them though.
Oh, that back yard isn't mine. It belongs to Todd Boland. I just think that it's such a beautiful example of what can be done if you take advantage of deep beds to get some movement in the borders and have beds that you can get into to use.
How lovely to have a pergola. What will you grow on it? Have you decided?
There are a lot of different types of Willows though but I'm assuming that you are talking about the big weeping type that we would all want. There are differing opinions but the downside is:
Those weeping willows will get 35 feet wide and should not be planted where their dripline will be in the space of foundations or plumbing. They are shallow rooted and so take up water in the space around them and can crack foundations. Also, any cracks in plumbing may be filled with roots causing a constant plumbing problem. Since they are shallow rooted and dense, not much will grow under them. They are also messy, and not a good tree for high traffic areas. In other words, they are not a tree that will easily share space with a garden. This is not a universal opinion though.
If you feel that you have room for it and you really want one though, they sure are beautiful. There is someone here on DG who grows them in a drainage ditch which is adjacent to a garden. You might want to ask him about them. His name is John_Benoot. I think that John keeps his in line by cutting all the branches back to the trunk every few years though.
I'd sure have one if I lived out in the country. You do have a beautiful space to work with.
Really cute dog!
How will you use your garden? Have you looked at photos of things that you might like?
What kind of hydrangeas have you selected? I'd love to know.
Regardless of whose it is it is beautiful and is an example of what you can do w/ a lot of time and even more money...as a new homeowner and a student there is no way I can afford that in the next few years. What I'm doing is goign to have to be a work in progress. I'm looking to have something like that in about 10 years.
The benefit of doing it over time will be twofold:
* keep my fiance from flipping out at me taking all the yard to be a flower bed I'll have to take over slowly.
* not break the bank
Even though what I have going now is a straight line of hydrangeas w/ azaleas and oak leaf hydrangeas behind them that is to screen out the neighbors and I'm looking to meander in front of that w/ some large hosts and other lovely things.
For the pergola (that is in full sun until around 3 or 4) I was considering several things: moonvine, bouganvilla if it'll survive the winter, scupadines, clematis (for spinning around the posts since it's such a slow grower) and any others that have flowers or something that tastes or smells delicious is in for the running. (but not honeysuckle, wisteria, and anything else that is going to take over and have to be cut back every other week.)
I have been warned of the roots of weeping willows, just like the fig tree it is going to be far away from the foundation (about 50 feet or so) and sewer lines (they go out the front of the house, I checked) so I should be clear of water lines my foundation and sewage I just want to put some hostas and a hammock underneath.
As far as plants go I love everything... for shade I love hydrangeas (all kinds) and every hosta ever named. I don't know the names of most of the hydrangeas I have. Several are verigated and several are double blooming a couple of snowflakes. I'm trying to root a few white ones from my mom's garden and others from my aunt's (all theirs are so old they don't remember the names).
I also want lots of fruit so if there are any fruit trees/bushes that anyone knows of for shade or sun in north FL I'm definitely open to them.
Sounds as if you have the root problem all sewed up. I have Montanta clematis growing under the eaves at my house and they can grow in a lot of shade and still bloom. Montanas are big enough so that they will definitely cover a lot of your pergola. Clematis Broughton Star is beautiful and blooms double in spring and single in fall.
http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk/new-clemdetail.cfm?dbkey=299
Another good vine for shade is passionflower - although of course not for a pergola.
I have found that the evergreen farfugium are very fun.
http://www.forestfarm.com/search/search.asp?aPage=1&index=genus&field-keywords=farfugium&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=Go
I grow four kinds. The crested, crested spotted, spotted and variegated.
And evergreen ferns are quite fun. Fancy Fronds has some very fun and different ones than you'll find in the local nurseries. The owner is quite happy to help you with picking them out if you know what you are looking for.
http://www.fancyfronds.com/
And astilbes have to be the foundation of my shade garden. You can get them on sale at bloomingbulb in the fall and spring for not very much money. Otherwise they can run up quite a tab.
Wow those are pretty, esp. the clematis and I have thought about maypops (what you call a passionflower) why do you say no to a maypop? I know it wouldn't cover the whole thing but on one post. I think they have the most interesting flowers and the "fruit" is great esp. when it is still green so sour!
I hadn't heard of astible but it looks pretty good, how much shade can it handle? I have trouble with the "partial shade" directions, should I put it towards the front of the shade beds?
I'm also excited about some alliums I'm getting from a neighbor.
The farfugium will take partial sun. I have astilbes growing in full shade but I know that they can be grown in partial shade too. As you know afternoon shade is so different from morning shade. The only reservation I would have about maypops is the fruit being a mess if it is growing across the pergola. The regular ones can get 30 feet tall so my guess is that they could cover the whole thing if you planted it on both sides.
Some of my very favorite plants for sun/part shade are sasanqua camellias. They can actually take full sun and bloom in the winter. Also, they are very easily kept to size and the foliage is beautiful and evergreen.
http://www.floridata.com/ref/c/came_sas.cfm
Daylilies will grow if they have 6 hours of sun a day and will take afternoon sun. I keep wishing that I could help you with fruit trees but I'm florida-challenged - except for citrus that is, especially when we are talking part shade.
However I will say that if you like hummers, butterfly bushes will grow in a lot of shade.
this photo is from my garden and has ferns. hosta and farfugium areomaculata.
Can you grow hardy fuchsias?
We (Floridians) don't have as many hummingbirds as you do and in fact I've just gotten my first in 2 years. It's a male rubythroat and he seems lonely, I haven't seen any others but I'm hoping he has a lady friend who is really shy. He was on my plumeria before I put the feeder back up (I had given up and just taken it down thinking we don't have any in Tallahassee). I hope I'll get a rufus every now and then. But I think I'm a little too far south to have any real summer homes for the rubythroats since this nervous little guy didn't show up until August.
I love your ferns and farfugium and especially your stacked stone walls that is beautiful.
I am also getting some day lilies from family and neighbors when it gets cool enough to dig them and I'm going to dig some daffodils and lillies from my mom's garden as well--most of the things in her garden haven't been touched in the 26 years since she planted them and I dug, separated and replanted the irises 2 years ago and they look amazing now. I'm going to do it with all her daffodils and lillies when it cools off (they'll be plenty to create 2 new beds there and a couple and my house too as long as they've been there).
I'm not sure about the fuchsias but I'll look into it I love them but I havn't seen them at any nurseries around here.
If you are interested in hardy fuchsias you might want to check with this place:
http://www.fuchsias.net/index.html
