Need help! *Pictures added

[marydmjj]

I'm going to need all my garden buds knowledge on this. My dh has asked me to fill in and add color to all the beds around the school he works at. This is a historic building in Seattle and they spent alot of $$ the last couple of years putting in the landscape. Now that things have filled in, there are some obvious holes and not as much summer season color as they want. I'm not too worried about the color part. My problem is there are a couple of really big cedars that they want plants under. Any ideas on shrubs, perennials, ground cover that will survive in the shadow of evergreens with deep shade? They will be watered regularly with a sprinkler system. Snowwark: any great links?

Thanks in advance and I'll post pics as I get going.

 

[DebºoºS]

Wow what a great opportunity. I'd go the library first looking for pics of historic gardens of that time period for style and color. There might be a low cover that is best suited for the area such as vinca or lambs ear. Ivy is horrible, I made that mistake. It climbs and chokes everything in it's path.
Good luck I'd love to see pics of your new project. Sounds awesome!!!

 

[Snowwark]

Mary, this is great, a fascinating project!

Deb, that's a wonderful idea, and the following is a link to gardens (some historic) in Washington State. It's a start.....lol....

Washington State Gardens

I think Mamu originally posted this great link last year. Perennials For Specific Sites and Uses

Mary, I'd love to hear more this, the size, timeline you have, people to help you out...etc., and like Deb said....PICTURES!!

 

[marydmjj]

Thanks for the links Snowwark. I tried searching past posts but didn't come up with anything. I have as much time as I need on this project. My dh is the facilities & network admin at the school so he's basically hiring me. He'll help me with the planting but basically it's all me. I did take some pics during the walk around so I could remember what is in the beds. If you want to see the school in general go to www.holynames-sea.org

 

[marydmjj]

Here are some pictures of a couple of the beds I'm talking about.

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This is the first problem, a large western red cedar I need to plant under and around.

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This is the second problem, a large blue atlas cedar.

The landscape architect used a lot of vinca and azalea. I'm planning on adding more of those but need to bring in some color.

 

[Snowwark]

Oh Mary, what a beautiful building!

Gorgeous old trees! I can see you have your work cut out for you.

I'll do some searching and see what I can find.

Any other suggestions for Mary, Buds?

 

[Tulirose]

Wow! Look at the size of those trunks on the trees! What great old trees.

Ya know, I was just reading somewhere recently about some plant and it said that it is on of the few flowering plants that will grow under a conifer. I will try to find that again and will get back to you on it.

What a project you have there! I wish you the best with it.

 

[marydmjj]

Thanks buds. I printed out all the pics I took, went over the landscape architect plans, read up on shade-loving woodland plants and came up with a list! Here it is:

8 white bleeding heart, 13 autumn joy sedum, 20 lavender, 36 begonia, 24 white impatiens, 7 evergreen azalea, 50 vinca, 6 salal, 9 fern, 3 giant liriope, 18 sweet woodruff, 54 lavender (I think) impatiens, 3 dwarf juniper, 1 hydrangea and 1 star magnolia.

This is just for the west side of the building. Eventually DH wants me to fill in around the north and east sides but that will be next years budget!

 

[Snowwark]

Mary, this is huge job! You've chosen some nice, oldfashioned plants. They should go very well with the school.

Do you have to amend the soil? Are you going to have people help you with the labour?

Did you consider some Tiarella (Foam Flowers)? I've been looking at these myself, they're very pretty.

Please keep us posted on how things progress, okay?

Tiarella (Foamflower)

I think this one is pretty (Pink Skyrocket)! I hope the image works!

 

[marydmjj]

I like those! I'm going to add some to the front. It's funny how you picked the Foam Flower and it goes with everything on my list!

I don't have to ammend the soil. It was done when the landscape was put in last year. The school also has the beds fertilized by a company a couple of times throughout the year. DH said he's having mulch brought in too. I'm not going to have any labor help, only me & my dh. It shouldn't be too bad. I have it all diagrammed and it's just a matter of placing and digging holes. Am I seeing this project through rose-colored glasses???

 

[Snowwark]

" Am I seeing this project through rose-colored glasses??? "

LOL...I guess you'll have to tell us that...afterwards!

You sound very well organized Mary, the beds are ready, and you have your DH as a willing (I hope! ) helper. I think it sounds like a wonderful project to work on together.

When do you start?

253 plants....and counting...lol.

 

[Tulirose]

Mary - What a great list of plants you have there. It is going to be fantastic.

I did find that flower I was reading about but I don't know if it would be appropriate.

Cypripedium (Lady's-slipper) Family: Orchidaceae

Thirty to 50 species of orchids native to North America, Europe and Asia. They are deciduous plants with finely hairy, pleated leaves and curiously beautiful flowers with two lower sepals often fused to form a pouch or slipper. Many species have become rare in the wild due to the depradations caused by zealous plant-hunters. They are notoriously difficult to grow, requiring highly specific climates and soils.

Cultivations: Grow in a cool climate in neutral to acid, well-drained but moist soil in full to partial shade.

Landscape Use: Wonderful specimens for the shade garden, border or woodland garden. The pink ladys slipper (C. acaule) is one of the few flowering plants able to grow under conifers.

In another thread, Deb mentioned living on LI (where I am) when she was younger and finding wild Mountain Laurel. While I never found that bush in the wild, I do remember being very young and playing in the woods with a bunch of kids and coming across one of these Lady's slippers. It was my one and only encounter with this plant and it has to be at least 40 years ago!

 

[marydmjj]

Thanks Tulirose. Lady's Slipper sounds really prettyand like it would fit in with everything. I'll have to look it up. I wonder if would be hard to grow? I'm not going to be up there much after it is all put it. I tried to pick plants that can be left alone once they are in. Hmmm, maybe I'll stick a few in somewhere in honor of my F&G Bud!

 

[Tulirose]

Why thank you very much Mary but I think it would be very hard to grow. It does say that at the end of the first paragraph and plus the fact that after 40-some-odd years on LI where it is suppose to grow naturally, I have never seen it neither in the wild or in a garden.

 

[Snowwark]

How is the project going, Mary? Has it begun?

 

[marydmjj]

Funny you should ask. I just finished Phase 1 today! I spent 2 days at the nursery buying & delivering the plants and spent 3 days planting them. I'm so tired though. My lower back is killing me. It's very satisfying to finish and it looks great. I took pictures and am going to post before & after tonight (if I can stay awake).

 

[Snowwark]

It sounds like fun (well, except for the back pain, be careful!!), and I'm really looking forward to your pics!

BTW - Congrats to you on your Wish clippie!!

 

[Tulirose]

We'll be looking for those pictures. Will you post them on this thread or a new post? Don't wanna miss them.

How's the back today, better? Yes, be careful. Building up bone density can do a real number on our backs...and arms... and legs....and shoulders....

 

[marydmjj]

I'm feeling fine now, thanks for asking. It was just the usual aches and pains after bending over all day.

The pics I took STINK! You can't tell what I did and what was there before. I'll be up there again this weekend dropping off more plants and will try to get better pics.

 

[Snowwark]

Awww Mary, I'm sorry, I do know the frustration of stinko pictures, I've got millions (ok, hundreds ), of them.

I'm sure you'll be successful on your next outing.

I'm glad you're feeling better, I was going to suggest that a soak in the BUDTUB would help.