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| I am considering removing some back yard lawn and replace this grass with perennials and maybe some annuals. The shape of this new small garden will be circular, about 6 to 7 feet in diameter and will be front and centre in the back yard. It is full sun and zone 5/6.
I know it is a compact area but I was thinking of having some eye catching perennial planted right in the centre and then other plants surrounding. What selection of plants would you choose in such circumstances? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by gardenweed_z6a 5b/6a N CT (My Page) on Mon, Jan 9, 12 at 12:31
| Either butterfly bush or baptisia/false indigo would make a nice focal point. I'd look for something that has nice foliage and good form when not in bloom. Stokesia 'Blue Danube' foliage is still gorgeous in my flowerbeds even in January. It's a low-growing, easy-care perennial. Agastache rupestris/sunset hyssop would look nice growing with the stokesia. A few others I can think of: Iberis/candytuft Most, if not all of these are low- or no-care plants I've got growing in various beds around my garden. |
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| Thanks very much gardenweed for your detailed reply. Your suggestion of Butterfly Bush or Baptisia is excellent. I just wonder if there is some other similar large perennial that blooms for a longer duration as Baptisia blooms dont seem to last long (enough) and BB starts a bit too late in the season I think. |
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| When this medallion is supposed to bloom most? Is it for yourself or to knock the socks off your guests? I would definitely avoid Iris sibirica, peonies and phlox Blue Paradise in such a prominent place. Baptisia has GIANT roots, like a tree, it would suck the life out of the neighbours. I would go for some tall plants in the middle, like Veronicastrum virginicum album(beautiful foliage after bloom), Sanguisorba Pink Brushes, bold orange Helenium. |
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| I am thinking of plantings roughly forming 3 concentric circles. My thought is the outermost 'ring' will be all wax begonias. The inner most ring will consist of the one 'focal' plant i.e. 3 to four foot tall with flowering sometime in July/August. The composition of the middle ring is yet to be determined. |
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| This is a very small area. Are you sure that you want perennials for this bed, and not annuals, which can have a three season bloom period? I can think of so many terrific, compact annuals. |
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| rhizo_1, if I make the circle 7 feet in diameter than that is just over 38 square feet of area. I think that is enough space, if I choose appropriately, for a nice selection of perennials (with some annuals)....I think. |
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- Posted by mad_gallica Z5 Eastern NY (My Page) on Tue, Jan 10, 12 at 8:01
| Annuals. It's a very Victorian idea, so it lends itself to a very showy annual planting. Mildew resistant zinnias in the middle, salvias in the next layer, then something short like petunias or alyssum. In a 7 ft circle, if the outer ring is a foot across, then the next ring will be 5 ft across. If the second ring is 18", then the inner circle is only 2 ft across. That's not very much room. BTW, wax begonias only do well in sun here during a wet, cool summer. They pretty much are the mirror image of the petunias. Years they petunias do well, the begonias struggle. Year the begonias do well, the petunias struggle. |
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- Posted by gardenweed_z6a 5b/6a N CT (My Page) on Tue, Jan 10, 12 at 20:05
| I apologize for posting such a long list. |
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| Why the apology gardenweed? As I had commented in an earlier post in this thread your suggestions were helpful. |
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| Yeah, why on earth are you apologizing, gardenweed? :) The more choices you give someone who is asking a question, the better - at least I always think so, especially when I'm on the "asking" end of the question! Great list! |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sat, Jan 14, 12 at 12:25
| i would center a small decorative tree .... and then surround with perennials.. something like one of the variegated redbuds or eskimo sunset or a JMaple .. ken |
Here is a link that might be useful: link
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| I think the JM (very dwarf) is something for me to consider. Thanks ken. Here is a picture from last fall which unfortunately doesn't show the complete backyard rectangle but does give an a bit of an idea of the location of this proposed medallion relative to our larger corner gardens: |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sun, Jan 15, 12 at 18:02
| i dont understand what part of the picture is the medallion you are planting in ... and i dont know the sun ... but here are two pix of my esk sunset.. which i believe is the proper name... mine is in sun until about 2 pm.. then high shade for most of the rest of the day ... always a plus for things with white tissue .... [ i think is was moved since the post linked below] it will not come cheap.. and it is a maple.. so eventually.. you may have trouble growing things under it.. but in the meantime.. it will be one of the biggest curiosities in your garden ... the back of the leaves are maroon... you may be hard pressed to 'find' one locally.. and if you are really interested.. you may want to make phone calls now.. about ordering one in ... ken
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Here is a link that might be useful: don miss my 2/8 post with a further link
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| ken_adrian wrote: i dont understand what part of the picture is the medallion you are planting in ... Yes I do not have a good picture showing the complete medallion. You can see the solid blue shading in my picture (bottom right) giving the left arc of the circle "to be". |
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| I realise this is entirely a matter of personal taste and it's not what you asked about but I'd be inclined to skip the medallion and enlarge the corner garden by removing the little walls and creating a larger more natural sinuous shape. I think a 7 foot diameter circular bed risks looking fussy and contrived and would make maintenance of the lawn fiddly. |
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| flora_uk wrote: I think a 7 foot diameter circular bed risks looking fussy and contrived You may well be correct in this regard. So either I make the proposed circle of larger diameter (say 10 feet) or skip it. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Tue, Jan 17, 12 at 15:08
| i think he means to go kidney bean.. rather than a perfect circle ... not a bigger circle ... you have the design in one corner... is it the same in the other corner???? .. that would be symmetry ... rather formal .... but how would a big circle fit in there????.. an upside down arcing smile ... might fit better .... or an undulating berm ... check out the link.. you will be hard pressed to find a perfectly round one .... wish we could see the whole .... ken
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Here is a link that might be useful: link
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| I meant skip the circle altogether and make the existing beds more generous. |
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- Posted by mad_gallica Z5 Eastern NY (My Page) on Tue, Jan 17, 12 at 17:08
| There is a very old book called A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening by A. J. Downing. He was something of a neighbor of mine, so grew up with the old Dutch influences. Apparently 'a plethora of minutiae' was a recognized design style even then. There are drawings of 'designs' consisting of a multitude of small, intricately shaped beds. That is what this is reminding me of. The beds are really too small for anything but regular, Victorian bedding plants. Back then, these were status symbols because they meant the garden owner had access to a greenhouse. Now, they can still mean the garden owner has access to a greenhouse, but means a lot less now. My first thoughts when shown the picture were the same as Flora's. The corner beds should be made deeper to accommodate a larger range of plants. If the idea is to get a lot more garden area in a symmetrical design, then maybe a mirror image of those beds across a diagonal line. |
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| For sure I appreciate the advice mad_gallica and flora_uk as I have decided to not 'do' my proposed medallion. But I will keep the existing corner perennial garden and the two undeveloped 'side arc' sections as shown. These 2 'add ons' will be planted with mostly annuals. Because of this, by the end of next summer I should be able to see the full effect of these 3 adjacent gardens. If it doesn't look right at that point changes can be made in time for the following year. |
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