Hi everybody, this is my first time posting here. I was wondering if anybody had any suggestions on what to plant on either side of my sidewalk in the front of the house. The sidewalk is about 9' long and part of it is in partial shade in the afternoon and part is in full sun all day long. This year I have petunias planted and they are doing great but I would like to plant a perennial there for next year. I am just stumped on ideas on what to plant there. Maybe I should take a picture tomorrw and post it???
planting suggestions
Sure- post away.
Welcome and pics are always helpful. Whenever anyone asks me about what to plant when there are different conditions in an area, daylilies always come to mind. You can plant early, mid and late season bloomers and different colors or similar colors depending on your preference. How deep are the borders and what colors do you favor for blooms? I am sure you will get lots more suggestions if you want a mixed border here. Can't wait to see your pic.
Welcome to DG!
As soon as you post pictures we'll all chip in with ideas.
You could plant daffodils under the day lillies and get two set of flowers in the space of one!
I helped a good friend and neighbor plant these Stella d' Oro a couple of years ago. They will bloom in sun and partial shade. The more sun, the more blooms. They look good when not in bloom for their foliage. They are tough and fairly economical to plant. We planted these 18" on center. Just a thought.
I would edge a walkway with fragrance - catmint, lavender, lilies.
maybe a rose like Lyda - shade tolerant - supposed to be very fragrant.
here is the plant file:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/52504/
I actually edged my patio in lavender for the fragrance and the look.
The lavender looks so nice! Very pretty!
Just look at the blooms on the DL's too! Wow!
rsquared....I like the look too. When does it bloom? How long? Naturalize? Does it crowd out weeds or does it need pretty constant care? Looking for something fragrant along the parking lot in back of the house which gets about 6 hours of sun.
We have lavender at the bottom of the steps. It has grown around the mail box and people brush against it. Smells very nice
Lavender loves good drainage and will die fast if it doesn't get it.
Thank you everybody! Such wonderful ideas!! The Stella d' Oro day lilies look so pretty!! Are they fragrant? Here is a pic of what I have now.
I do remember a sidewalk thread similar to yours.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/620035/
I would be concerned about the winter wetness also. There are some good options though - I need to think on it yet.
Al has a good point about wet from the shoveled snow. Good drainage and plants that can take it will be very important in this situation. Purple Dome Asters can stand the winter wet pretty well and if mingled with a small DL like Stella or Happy Returns would give you a long bloom time. Add some spring bulbs like Yankee Cat suggested and you have even longer color.
David_Paul My lavendar is in bloom now and will last about a month. It does need good drainage. Since mine is sitting next to a 12 inch bed of gravel and 3 inches of crusher run for my slate patio, it gets good drainage. My DH dumps all of our driveway snow on it each winter and it still does well. Lavender likes a lot of sunshine, but part of mine is under dappled shade and it still does well. It really brings in the bees too...a good thing for my gardens. I used Hidcote vs Munstead for a little additional height. I have little to no problem with weeds. It needs little care; in fact I must stop myself from the too much pruning. It just wants to be left alone. It is kind of homely in the Spring until it takes off and looks great all Summer and into the Fall.
I agree that any of the re-blooming DL like Stella or Happy Returns is a good choice too. I think that once you get some viable choices, you need to plant what you like the look of.
Best wishes on your project.
Rose
This message was edited Jul 20, 2007 9:49 AM
Hi and welcome to the thread! Some good tips so far. If you decide to go with Lavender or something else requiring good drainage, you can always create a berm - that gives you the best drainage, as opposed to trying to amend the soil. I would consider the following as well. Foliage - you don't always have bloom. Height - don't want anything too tall in a narrow bed like that. Also, you don't want anything that flops. If you do mix in Spring bulbs, make sure the plants you choose will be hiding the dying bulb foliage. Pests - if you have deer, rabbits, etc., that will definitely influence your choice. Having said all that, there are still many choices. Depends on your preferences.
Welcome to the NE forum great bunch of people here.
I was going to suggest daylilies also. I have them underplanted by tulips works great when tulips are dying back the lilys are coming in.
I like the idea of daylilies underplanted with tulips. Smart move, flowerjen :-)
Daylily foliage hides Tulip foliage??? Hard to believe.
It doesn't work in my garden.
Yes - Daylily foliage is not much foliage at all! Tulip foliage is much wider. Something like Hostas would do a much better job.
Any plant that will require division will be a headache on top of bulbs.
I put lillies (not day - the other kind) on top of my tulips and then I put Queen Anne's Lace in with the lillies to hide them when they die back. Works pretty well - but much to tall to go next to a sidewalk.
Very good point, Pirl.
What about violets along the sidewalk? Pretty foliage after the flowers stop blooming. But how invasive would the be to my lawn??
One option is to inter-plant hardy Geranium - Geranium macrorrhizum - with whatever else you choose. They form a nice thick mat, have nice pink flowers in Spring, have real interesting seed heads, form cool looking clumpy rhizomes and color up nicely in Fall. Also, the foliage gives off a nice scent and deter deer.
I have a question about the winter and the winter snow removal affecting the plantings along the sidewalk. How do you remove the snow? Do you use any chemicals to help break up the ice in the winter? These might leech into the soil near the sidewalk.
Does anyone know of any kind of plants that could be planted there and snow removal chemicals wouldn't hurt them?
We don't use the sidewalk much in the winter. My husband snowblows in the winter so the snow is thrown a little ways away.
You guys a scaring me. When I moved into this house there was only 2 overgrown shrubs. NO flower beds nothing. I have dug out the whole front of the house and the sides of the sidewalk replaced the dirt with black soil and compost. Planted I think 25 or so different perennials, only a couple of kinds of annuals. People all over the neighborhood were stopping by to tell me how nice it looks, telling me how wonderful it is to see somebody take an interest in the house. That never in the 45 years some of them have lived here have they seen it look so good. I hope it makes it through the winter!!! I should search the postings there must be a thread about this someplace!
Welcome! Don't let the overabundance of feedback get to you. Whatever you try will be wonderful...OR.. you'll learn something. Good luck!
I agree with Dave ... don't let us all get to you. We can be quite a handful at times, but those are the times you'll love us the most! I learn something every day from these guys and gals. This is just the most amazing forum!!!
My daylilies look as good as ornamental grass and hid the tulip foliage wonderfully. They're not directly on top of the tulips.
I wound up planting the stella's so far I love them!! They are fragrant and so far they have been blooming steadly since May! Thanks for the suggestion.
Any pics?
It is a work in progress. I have been thinking about putting in a small garden around my gazing ball, my daughter thinks it is too much, I'm still out on it.
The empty spot on the right is where my near black irises that I traded with jleigh are.
The only thing I have underplanted DL's with were daffodils. Which is something to consider. I would probably like to try to underplant with tulips, but I usually underplant tulips, or should say, I have underplanted tulips with bleeding hearts, and columbines.
Like Arlene said though, when you want to divide the DL's in a few years, you are going to end up chopping up the daffs, or whatever else you underplanted with the DL's.
There is a whole series of DL's that are either reliable rebloomers, or they bloom almost continuously throughout the season. The series is called the "Happily Ever Appster" series created by Dr. Daryl Apps. http://www.perennials.com/hea.html I have 4 of these varieties and they have been blooming for months now!
Depending on the lighting of the area, 6 hours I believe is what you said, but, is the light morning, afternoon or evening? If it is in the cooler "light" of the morning to early afternoon, or the later and cooler light of the very late afternoon into evening, you may take a try at some hosta varieties. There are some hosta varieties that have a very pleasing smell to them.
Since it is a walk up to your house, start with a smaller variety of hosta, and work your way up to a larger one closest to your home. If you mix it up with blues, variegateds, cupped, quilted, yellows/golds, and greens, you almost don't need anything to "flower" per se, it will look as if your bed was constantly in flower in the first place.
Now why did I mention only hostas and DL's? lol
If weeding is a concern, which I believe most will agree with me on this, plant thickly to choke the weeds out. Make an edge, and if drainage is a concern, it shouldn't be to far of a stretch to make a berm there, and plant into the berm!
Hope that helped...I am a bit biased on the uses of DL's and hosta though...lol.
Funny you should mention the Happily Ever Appster DL's. I just bought Rosy Returns. I can't wait until that starts blooming next year!! I am going to have to get some of the others, Just Plum Happy seems to be calling my name ;)
Darryl Apps had his DL farm next to Fairweather Garden for years. Think he retired recently.
This message was edited Aug 22, 2008 12:41 PM
Looks good, Yep I can see a garden around your gazing ball too. You can never have enough gardens.