13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Possibly, it depends on what is growing under there and how tender it is. Because the area gets full sun later in the day, though, I think you won't have much trouble.
Even if you do, they will recover. I had some large, dense evergreens removed a few years ago, which had a bed of myrtle and some struggling hostas underneath. They received no sun at all, then bam, instant full sunlight. They fried really badly, but soon recovered. I moved the hosta but left the myrtle, and its thriving in full sun.
I think boxwood topiary would be an excellent idea for the semi-shade. I'm a big boxwood fan anyway, you can't really kill it. I have one poor bush that looks like a doughnut now because something chewed the center out, but it keeps going.
There are several choices of dwarf rhododendrons that would stay much smaller but still serve the purpose.
Experience has taught me that those masonary retaining walls almost always affect the PH of the soil. This would not be a problem for the boxwood or maple, but could be for the Rhododendron. I recommend a soil test before you try an acid loving plant.
Daylillies, the Japanese Forest grass suggested already, or hosta could all be used and are easy to grow (if you don't have too many voles).
I finally dug out all of the Monarda that I had because I couldn't stand the PM it always got after it was finished flowering plus the plant simply looked ugly after flowering. I am not a fan of the foliage. My gardens have drip hoses installed under mulch and all other plants around it did well. Nothing I ever did improved its appearance. In flower it was lovely, but afterward it was awful.
Zoecat, it seems to do okay with medium-moist soil and does really well in part sun. Since I have practically NO full sun in this yard I'm grateful when a plant thrives in part sun.
Yes the foliage can get ratty looking, but Monarda is not the only perennial that gets ugly foliage by any means. It's hard to have a perfect looking garden all season long. I wouldn't be without it, it's so beautiful and the pollinators just love it. My red Monarda is just starting to bloom and the hummers are already checking it anxiously.
I don't know if the main stem always dies. All I do is diligently deadhead and give them some compost approx. once per year. You can leave a stalk or 2 if you want to have seed, because it makes a zillion tiny seeds in each pod (similar to Foxglove). Actually, I do the very same thing with Digitalis purpurea, and sometimes get a 3rd year out of that biennial.
That lasagne bed was made with a layer of cardboard, an inch or two of coffee grounds, a layer of leaves, and a bit of other misc. organic matter. It was not very deep - maybe 3-4 inches. I created it over the summer and fall, mostly to kill the Vinca and weeds underneath, and started planting the next Spring. The bed got even better the next year or two as the organic matter continued to decompose!
Everything in that bed grows really well - except for Foxglove - one year I had HUGE beautiful clumps started from seed and the crowns just rotted over the winter. Too rich and moist I am guessing?
I just love Cardinal flower and it is also the hummer's favorite, at least in my garden!
Thanks a2zmom - things are a little disjointed this year with bloom times being all over the board. You can really tell what likes heat and what likes sun. Some flowers are blooming 3 weeks ahead of time.
I had tip in Garden Gate about 6 months ago about a spread sheet I keep for bloom times. Many things are blooming a month early this year.
Lost some daylilies for some unknown reason - I thought those were indestructible. Only one kind, the ones right next to them are great! Weird.
My observation of Osteospermum is that it doesn't bloom well in the heat of summer under good conditions, more of a cool weather plant that goes green in summer and will bloom again towards fall. However, I haven't really messed with them for a few years, some of the newer ones may be better in the heat and longer days. Dahlias, as you already know, are for the most part short-day plants, although it varies and some will bloom better in the summer than others.
About all I can suggest is using a fertilizer with moderate N and higher in P and K to help promote flowers, there are a lot of these "bloom booster" type fertilizers on the market.
At the end of my post david883, I said that I think you might already have L periclymenum. If it flowers only at the ends of the shoots and not along their length, then that is what you have. Did you check to see if it does indeed have flower buds like I thought I could see?
Since you didn't state how or where you're growing these, the one thing they do need is full sun. Less than that would affect blooming. We've had a ton of rain and my Alma is doing great this year.
I don't know what the deal is with Alert and Prof K, but I did yank both the past year. I was just so tired of the crappy blooms late in the season. For some reason they just didn't open properly year after year and I got tired of 'em. A very long time ago, I never had problems with these, but in recent years they just don't work for me. Maybe because our summers and falls seem to be getting hotter??
For me, a much easier and more reliable alternative has been Aster Woods Pink and Woods Blue. They never disappoint. Alma has also continued to do very well as does Purple Dome.
Kevin
The wood is just decoration and doesn't stop the grass.
I respectfully disagree, based on many years of experience in different states, with different grasses. When I lived in OH, I had "nice" grass, non-rhizomatous, mostly, like it looks like bgaviator has. Bricks or timbers laying on the ground will stop about 95% of the grass permanently, especially when the bed is well mulched such as this. Wherever there's a low spot, or seam between pieces, the grass may creep under/through. Easy to fix in a few minutes about every-other month. As the timber settles, it will sink a bit and then it's even less of a problem, something to check maybe once in the spring, once in the fall.
Even here, with a yard of St. Augustine or Bermuda or whatever type of vine-grass this is in my yard in AL, with Bahia invading that, something like this timber is enough of a barrier to easily achieve control. Agree it's not a type of border that is completely certain, but certainly worth doing, especially compared to the effort and expense required for a completely reliable border.
I prefer this type of border because it's easy to pick up the timber and definitely remove any invading grass by the roots. I spend very little time on out-of-bounds grass.
Often grass is let to make seeds before it's mowed, then not enough care is taken to direct the outflow away from the bed, or it drops in the bed before mowing. When the seeds sprout, the border gets blamed for not doing its' job.
I guess you've never heard of Aster Yellows virus. I'd bet money that this is the problem with your plants. Control is very easy...pull up all of the plants and dispose of them. Do not plant them again.
I've heard of it, all right, but not seen it. I did some on-line research after your post, and I'm not sold on CD having that. Every site I read mentions a few other symptoms, such as yellowing leaves with green veins, reddish colored leaves, twisted petals - the normal blooming flowers DO have twisted petals, but they are supposed to in this variety, tiny twisted leaf-like clusters coming out of the flowers,stunted growth, among other things. My plant has none of these, just healthy looking centers with no petals on some of the flower heads.
I'm sixty this year and have seen a lot of weird things through my years of gardening. One year, I bought some echinacea seeds on ebay that were opened pollinated varieties of the some of the early-newer varieties being introduced. Art's Pride was one, and there were others that I never see mentioned or sold anymore. A friend who has a green house started them for me and gave back the seedlings, which I potted up. When they bloomed, there were some really odd looking flowers. I had some with centers and no petals, some with tightly quilled petals that never opened up - I know, they sell one like this now!, and some with teeny tiny petals around a large center. I figured that the genetics of these echies were causing the different looking flowers. The brother of another gardening friend took them and has been growing them now. I've not talked to him in a while, and I wonder if he is still growing them. Anyway, this is the first time I've seen a healthy looking Shasta Daisy put out normal flowers and flowers with normal looking centers with no petals. I guess I was wondering if there could be a genetic issue here too. If it is indeed Aster Yellows, I'd like to be sure, and I'd then destroy the plant. I have no problem doing that.