Help me plan our landscaping?

[Rajah]

Okay, I'm less than a week away from being allowed to "go to town" with our gardening -- I've had to stay away from it for a few months because I'm trying to avoid fire ants so I can get fire ant allergy testing. Unless I get bitten again by Wednesday, I'm done with that and can actually start doing things.

If I remember correctly, I'm in zone 9? (Houston)

What we have to do is our front and back yards. Front is already partially landscaped with all greens, DH wants me to add some color. (I want to add some too) And, believe it or not, he said he'd help!

Front faces generally south, though we have one wall that *may* get some afternoon shade. I don't *think* it will, but I need to look outside again to see for certain. I'm pretty sure it's going to be full sun, though, and it doesn't drain well.

I've *no* idea what to put out there. They aren't overly-well drained beds, so that's a negative.

One thing I've got in mind to try is some iris. I've got bulbs that I *need* to plant soon or give up on. I intended to plant them several weeks ago, but couldn't because of the blasted fire ant testing. One of the iris is supposed to do well in swampy areas, so I'm thinking those are going to go in that bed.

I'm thinking maybe some...uh...the thing I haven't been able to kill despite a month in the garage and a week soaking in a pot that I didn't realize wasn't draining. It's *almost* dead, but not quite. I *think* that was the geranium? I'll have to look again. Kinda clover-shaped leaves that are fuzzy and a deep green. I'm not sure whether the one that has thus far survived (granted, there's only one green leaf left on it, but still, it's still alive) is the red or white, but it's one of those that I had from the apartment.

Anyway, that's done so well no matter what the conditions that I'm thinking of trying some of those mixed in our front beds.

I'm at a loss as to what else to try, though. We already have a few greenery things, so we need color that can withstand lots of heat and medium to poor drainage (depending on where in the bed I plant it).

The back I have more planned out.

I'm thinking in the north-west corner of our back yard, where we have a big electrical box of some sort, I want to make a bed around the box and plant 3 or 4 or even 5 Azalea bushes. DH really wants some azaleas, and I love them, too. I've also heard they're fairly easy to care for (true? False?). I'm thinking of putting something short and bushy like hosta but not hosta (since I've heard it doesn't do well in beds) in front as a border plant.

In the north-east corner, I think I want to try a "wildflower bed". My parents have a Texas Vital Tree that goes *wild* and every year they have a ton of starts that they just toss. They said this year, they'll give us one of those starts. It's not the most beautiful tree, but it attracts birds, butterflies, and other good wildlife. So I want to make that the main thing of that garden, then throw some bluebonnet seeds, actual bluebonnets (in case the seeds get eaten or don't take), some red indian paintbrush, and maybe a couple of other wild-like plants (wild onion) all tossed together instead of planted in rows or clumps. See how many of those I can kill (well, the bluebonnets did *amazingly* well last year, even on the sunny part of our apartment porch...)

Then, about center of our yard, right at the corner of our porch (concrete slab), I think I want to build a raised bed for more "cultured" plants, though I have no idea at this point what I want to put there yet. LOL! Maybe some of the bulbs I got and haven't yet planted.

And, finally, near our back bedroom window, I think I want to try a small tree (maybe a crepe myrtle?) so maybe it will attract some birds that the kitties can watch, but still won't block our view out the window. It would really have to be raised up a bit, though, because that area gets soggy in the rain.

So... does all of that sound like a plan, or am I about to waste a TON of money on things I'm just going to kill?

 

[amid chaos]

Sounds like a great plan. I'm envious you have so many spots to start from scratch.

I dont have any ideas except to buy magazines and look at pictures...sometimes it helps with height and colors.

 

[gina2000]

Rajah, I'm not a professional gardener...I rather plop and plant....no planning. I'm also more familiar with plants that work in a far colder climate than you live in. I have to admit, though, that I'd love the opportunity to have a garden in a semi tropical climate.

I do have a few tips for you though. The first thing you should do is take several walks through your neighborhood/town. Take a good hard look at the garden plants. You'll see a pattern .... what grows well in your climate and what doesn't. You'll also get a general idea of the size of a fully mature plant/bush. You'll need that information because despite the nursery's best advice, the plants don't listen and grow exactly the way they want to. So don't always believe those little information sticks that come with your plants. Also, you'll get an idea of color combinations and textures that work well in garden landscaping. Many avid gardeners are happy to answer questions so if you see someone outside working, stop and ask a question or two. You may also get the gardener's ultimate gift of love....a digging of a favorite plant.

Go to your area nurseries and observe. Not all nurseries keep their stock healthy. Find a few reliable places and use them. Nurseries that have healthy stock usually have knowledgeable help. Ask questions. For some reason, gardeners are a chatty bunch.

Also, you need to determine how much time and effort you want to put into your garden AFTER you have planted it. Weeding, watering and general maintenance can be very time consuming depending on the type of plants you choose. If you are a low maintenance type of gardener, don't bite off more than you can chew. You'll regret it.

If this is your first attempt at gardening, go slowly. You're going to kill things as well as make mistakes. I still do. Constantly. Don't buy hundreds of dollars worth of plants. A good adage is.... "A five dollar plant in a fifty dollar hole." Make sure your soil is well prepared. It DOES make a difference.

And good luck. You'll have plants that amaze you. You'll also have duds. Keep going, though. A well loved garden is a thing of beauty.

 

[Rajah]

Thanks for the advice, Gina! Though I'll have to walk around my parents' neighborhood for gardening info instead of ours, because all the houses in our neighborhood are new and have only the gardens/landscaping that came with the house.

I am a low-maintenance gardner because of the fire ants and weather once we reach about May. I *LOVED* gardening on the back porch of our apartment last year during the spring, but once it got hot, I pretty much killed everything.

I know the Vital tree and wildflowers would be fairly low maintenance -- after all, if they grow alongside the street during the spring, they probably will grow without much help from me. And if they don't, I'll replace them with something that does grow easily. My morning glories and moonflowers started out well last year, but never got beyond the 3" high seedlings.

I've also heard the Azaleas are fairly easy, though I don't know if that's true or not.

I think of the things I want to get, the Azaleas are the most expensive (not counting soil of course), but that's also what DH and I both want the most. It's also the plant/bush that will start blooming the earliest.

I'm considering trying to plant a mandevilla (never can spell that right ) somewhere in the yard because that just took over the pot I had it in last year with next to no maintenance and it was beautiful. Of course, we also know we have rabbits not far away, and my mom said they never could get mandevilla to grow because the critters always ate them. So I don't know on that. Maybe get a trellis for near the back fence and plant a single small mandevilla against the trellis?

Ooh! Or maybe this would look neat -- get one trellis at one point near the back fence, put another about 10 feet away, tie a string between the two, and make that the "path" the mandevilla can climb? Then plant a small mandevilla at the base of each trellis?

Okay, I'm going to have to do some sketching and planning and nursery visiting!

 

[WebmasterAlex]

You might want to go to the library and look at some gardening books, especially ones for your area!

 

[Snowwark]

Rajah, I've got some links with info on some of your questions, but I see (from your other post), that you've changed the game plan a bit.

You've already been given lots of good advice, so I'll just post these links and you can take a look if you'd like.

Planning The Home Landscape

Making A Raised Bed

Azaleas In Houston & Southeast Texas

This sounds like a very cool garden tour that you could go to if you're interested. The Azalea Trail

Now I'll go read about the Japanese Garden.

 

[Tulirose]

Yep. Lots of great advice here. It definitely sounds like a plan to me!!! I wish you luck and fun in your endeavor and regarding your other post where your mom (or MIL, forgot which) said that it is too early to start. I would beg to differ. It is just the right time to start and you are doing it exactly right -- by thinking and planning and plotting and dreaming. Best wishes in your new home and the new garden-to-be. And give those precious little kitties of yours a gentle stroking pat from me.

 

[Rajah]

Snowwark -- we've been to the Azalea Trail 3 or 4 times now, and that's part of why I want Azaleas so much. I don't honestly remember if DH has ever gone with us, but my parents and I go every few years. I thought I'd posted a link with pictures of the Azalea Trail, but I see that I haven't (since the pics aren't on my server). It's *beautiful* during years when the freeze doesn't get the blooms (which is what happened last year)

Tuli -- what my mom meant is too early to start planting. She's tried planting things (including azaleas) this early before, and they usually end up dying because of an unexpected late freeze. She fully agrees with starting to plan now, maybe starting to build the beds up (though I'm concerned with what will happen to those if it rains like it usually does and there's nothing planted -- I don't want everything to just wash away), and planting the bulbs.

Come later this spring (say Feb/March), we're (currently) planning to go to the Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham (it's a full day-trip to get there and back) to pick out our antique rose. Regular roses don't do well here without a *lot* of care, but antique roses work fine as long as you remember to deadhead them. Theoretically, anyway. I've *never* had my own rose that I haven't killed within a month. But, I said that last year and y'all saw what my back porch turned into before the weather got so hot that I couldn't stand going out on the porch any more.

The problem with most of the stuff we want to plant is that it won't do well in a freeze, since it's conditioned to grow well in a tropical (semi-tropical? Whatever we are... hot and humid) climate. So, my mom was recommending waiting until February to actually *plant* anything except bulbs.

Of course, if we try the stone path (not sure what kind of stones we want to use yet) and the Japanese garden, those may be something we could start right away. And DH would *really* like the Japanese garden (and if it is low maint, I'd *really* like one, too )

 

[Rajah]

Snowwark -- thanks for the links! I just finished reading them, and it's getting me even more excited.