new garden bed

[cgcw]

We are almost finished adding a raised bed along our deck and it's time to start thinking about what I'm going to put there. I'm leaning towards planting lots of different types of perennials, but here's where I'm uncertain. If I go with plants, do I want to group just 1 type of plant (in groups of 3 or 5) in a section or do I want to repeat the same plant every so often. Does that make sense? I guess what I'm looking for help with is whether I should use a plant only 1 time along the bed or would it flow better if I repeated it here and there. The area I'm planting is from 3-6' wide and abour 40' long. Thanks for any suggestions!
Cindy

 

[Tulirose]

I would think it would be best to plant a lot of one plant together and then move on and plant alot of another plant together and then move on .....

I think this has to be the most difficult part of gardening. Figuring out what to plant where and how and in what quantity.

Then perhaps in the middle of the long bed, you can have one special large specimen plant that can stand alone and perhaps on the other side you can repeat what you did leading up to that highlighted plant.

Does this make sense???

 

[DixieDreamer]

I think it depends on the effect you are after. I like to plant groups of plants - creating swaths of color and texture. I may actually create a sweep of one planting that curves around another group of plantings.

However, I did a bed recently that had a checkerboard pattern of intermixed plantings... red verbena, with a spire of blue salvia. Planted them intermixed to create an underlayment of bright red with a spire of deep blue to contrast.... behind it all - as large swath of bright yellow daisys to add a lighter contrast and some height to the back of the border.

Think about the overall effect you are after - then it is just a matter of choosing plants that are suitable for the site, the right color, and the right heights.

 

[Snowwark]

Good morning Cindy!

You have a lot of fun planning ahead of you!

What kind of garden style do you prefer? Do you like a casual cottage garden type look, or something more formal, with a repeated pattern?

How high is the deck off the ground? Will you be able to see the garden while sitting on the deck?

I try to go for symmetry in my garden, although I haven't completely succeeded because it drives my DH crazy..LOL! I do tend to plant 3 of the same plants together, move on to another, and so on, repeating the pattern. If your garden was mine, you could stand back and look at it, pretend you're slicing it in half, and both halves would be a mirror image. I like the look, but I am trying to loosen up a bit....

With such a long garden, I do think that anchoring at least one end of it with a small/medium flowering tree might be a good ideal.

I'm curious, what kind of sun will the new raised bed get, morning, afternoon, or all day?

Kim

 

[cgcw]

Thanks for all of the help. I guess I'm struggling because it is such a long area and I'd like to do it right the 1st time (if there is such a thing with a garden)!

I think I'm leaning towards doing a grouping of a specific type of plant and then moving on. Our deck is low to the ground, 1 step up so the new bed is right along side of the deck. We will have to look at whatever I plant there all the time. We also have a big kitchen window which looks out onto the deck and therefore the bed as well. I'd like to stay away from bushes but I like the idea of an small accent tree. Maybe I'll do that at the far end of the bed, just around the corner from the side yard. It just might make it flow better into the area along the neighbors fence where we have planted several bushes (not a hedge).

Kim, the area is a southern exposure which has all day sunlight. I love the full sun affect but I then have to be a little bit more careful with what I plant there. I have huge flower pots on both sides of my front door and always plant them using a mirror image (when I turn them, no one knows the difference!!) but I don't think this is what I'm looking for. I'm sure once I get started I'll be on a roll, it's just the initial thought process I'm stuggling with! Sorry if I'm rambling on...just really having a tough time with this one.

 

[Snowwark]

You're not rambling on at all cgcw, and besides, even if you were, we love that here!!

It sounds like you have already put quite a bit of thought into this. How about making a plan/sketch of your bed, with the different mature heights/spreads/colours and #'s, of the plants you're thinking of using? I've done this before and find that it really helps, expecially if you have a big box of very cool crayons!

Do you have any particular types of plants that you know you want?

Any other ideas for cgcw, Buds?

 

[Glinda]

Your new flower bed sounds wonderful. When I have a new bed I start by looking at pictures lots and lots of pictures to get general ideas. Planting in groups of 3 or 5 is my MO, big in the back foundation or anchor plants in the middle and low in the front.
That's how I start off but then I shuffle them around until I like the looks of them or they die and I replace them all. It can take me years to get the look I want. That's the fun of it for me

 

[cgcw]

Glinda,
I guess I'm trying to "get it right the first time" instead of taking years to create the perfect look....LOL is this such a thing?

 

[Glinda]

I'm never finished with my flowering plants. I buy lawn furniture and never sit in it either There's always something to do. Trees, large foundation plants or rose bushes pretty much stay put. I rather work around them.
I have friends whose homes & gardens have been in magazines and they stilll continue to try for the "perfect look". I'll never get close but I have fun trying