friday's gardening

"Well, Tyler and I are fixing up the yard to sell the house. Mainly we are getting rock to fill in the beds I had planned for flowers (keep down the weeds). I have planted some bulbs (which already look great). I love lilies and Hydrangeas. Our house faces west. Where should I plant the hydrangeas? I think the front (west side) will get too much sun. What do you think??

Also, do you have any cheap tricks to making the flower beds look nice?"

Catherine

So I know that some of this won’t apply to you, Catherine, because you’ll be moving – but I am also kind of generalizing some of it for everyone else that is interested.

Make beds look nice inexpensively: don’t cram too much in there – it will just look overcrowded and like you tried too hard. Weed-free is always nice. You can buy flexible plastic or aluminum edging if you want, but for now, the rocks should keep your lawn out of the flower beds. You don’t have to buy a ton of plants to make a bed look “finished”. About two-three feet between plants is enough if you can’t/don’t want to spend a lot of money. A couple of shrubs, one or two perennials and you could call it good (depending on the size of the bed)! (And that should be less than $50).

Shrubs of different sizes and colors really make beds look nice. If you are putting rocks down, I would go for a more “southern desert” feel to your yard. Cactus, succulent plants (like the stonecrops from last weeks post) Potentilla shrubs, Hen & Chick plants, Lavender, Coreopsis grandiflora and grasses look great. Try Blue Fescue and Blue Oat Grass. Xericscaping is the term used when you want to use plants that require less water, and less maintenance.

You could plant some lilies – what kind? Asiatic lilies? Daylilies? Those are the only two I know of that you could grow outside. There may be more. You could plant them anywhere – they prefer sun. Asiatic lilies only bloom in early summer (May-June). For daylilies, each bloom only lasts one day. Some bloom for one week, others keep blooming for several months. ‘Happy Returns’ and 'Stella de Oro' are the two most popular repeat bloomers. Most Daylilies bloom in the middle-end of summer.

As far as the hydrangea’s go – I would plant them on the north side of the house. You could put them close to the corner of the west side so that you could still see them from the front of the house. But they will get burned from the sun and heat. They like moist, acidic soil, which southern Idaho is not. You can make it work, though. So plant it on the north side, mix some compost into the soil, and you can dilute some vinegar and “water” it every 3 months or so. Just make sure to keep the vinegar off the plant.

You could make the north side of your house a shady garden.
Perennials:
Hosta
Ferns
Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra)
Cranesbill (Geranium macrorrhizum)
Vinca – groundcover
Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla mollis)
Heuchera (pronounced Hoo-ku-ra) aka Coral Bells

***pictures Monrovia.com; globe from www.gardeners.com***

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Have a question about gardening? Email me at martnicole AT hotmail DOT com.