I'm building a raised bed on the east-northeast side of my house. It will get morning sun for a couple of hours, then shade from the house and the fence the rest of the day. It's in a protected spot from wind. It will be an L-shaped bed running along the side of the house, then the fence. In all, probably about 12 feet long, 3 feet wide. I want to plant some George L Taber azaleas, and I have a few mixed hostas my mother gave me. Any suggestions as to what other shrubs, plants and color combinations that work well with these two? I'm really new to this, and this will be my first major project. I've done lots of small beds to get my feet wet - now I'm ready to tackle something BIG. Also - what's the best mix for soil? Since it's raised, I can do anything.
Planting new bed - need advice
Hello, chef_tish. It probably depends on what colors, forms, plant height and types of plants you like more than anything. You could select from varieties of agave, azaleas, columbine, ferns, heucheras, hydrangeas, kalmia, mahonia, St. John's Wort and yew for that bed. You could also add camellias but be aware that these grow into trees unless pruned (they are very, very, very slow growers though). Go to some online retailers to see pictures of these plants so you can see what colors are out there: www.monrovia.com is a wholesaler with many azaleas and camellias in their website while http://www.nantuckethydrangea.com and http://www.hydrangea.com have many hydrangeas. While two hours of sun is ok, be aware that the less sun your rhodies receive, the less flower production you will get; ditto for the other plants.
As for the soil mix, rhododendrons prefer soils whose PH Level is acidic. Anything under a 7.0 is considered acidic; best performance is attained with levels between 5.0 and 6.0 (although they will tolerate 6.0 thru 7.0 specially if you add lots of organic compost). Just use any acidic soil found in the nursery that you like to shop. If you were using a pot/container, I would recommend something like 50% of a potting soil mix that is soiless + 50% composted pine bark. I would top that with 3-4" of pine bark mulch and an automatic drip irrigation system.
Luis
Thanks Luis. That gives me a very good idea of what direction to go.