Hi Alison...I'd add some echinacea, sedum, opuntia cactus, and cosmos. They are all drought tolerant and like sun and don't need good soil. I can give you some of each in the spring. Black eyed susan is good too.

You're the one...always landscaping everything you can. I love it!!

Beverly

Alison, I'd love to have the boxwood... but I'm wondering whether you could overwinter that in a large container indoors, so you can use it in your new design? At the very least, you could use it for cuttings so you could make many small boxwoods to use in the new landscaping for cheap, no?

As far as plant considerations, I would consider ornamental grasses (that way, you would have some winter interest, too), russian sage, lavender (if the slope=good enough drainage, and you don't mind cutting them back and/or replacing them every so often), butterfly weed, vernonia, and maybe even some of those herbs.

The bricks might be nice laid in a pattern that spells out your school's name--like "AMS" for Alison's Middle School. Put it where the flowers hide it in the spring, but where you could see it after you cut down the coreopsis, for example.

Is that a pretty high-traffic area there? Just wondering if a local landscaping company or garden center (even one within a big box store) might donate some plant material come spring, in return for a little "garden created with the help of ABC Company" plaque set out there... that would save you some money.

Hi Alison!

Don't forget mums and Iris too! You can't hardly kill them here in Ohio. What about yarrow? You know that I have divisions of them to share come spring.

Ain't you just sumpin?? makin' beauty ever'where!?!?!

~~Mimi

You know I just gots to garden!

Thanks all for the suggestions of plants. Kymie, I hadn't thought about contacting a business to help us with the costs; that's a good idea.

The first challenge I'm trying to wrap my brain around is is trying to figure out how to divide the space into different areas -- both to break it up visually and also to make sure we can get in to all the plants. Not only are these beds going to be visible from every angle, but the site itself is on a slope. It's a challenge I havn't had before.

There's also the existing plants. The big peach tree is nice where it is, but if I had thought about this four years ago, I wouldn't have put the big lilac where it is. Got to figure out someway to surround it and plug it into the rest of the plants, without detracting from it.

For those of you who've jad the challenge of an awkward spot, or a spot from scratch -- how do you start planning? Do you start by dividing the space? Or do you start with a list of plants? I'm not worried about coming up with the plants; there's so much that grows well here, even in full-sun and little water, that I'm sure I can find a plant to fit a general description ("low-growing, grey-green, soft shapes" or "spiky, medium height, chartreuse" for example.)

But I keep feeling the shape and the outline are crucial. I'm not getting much help from the folks at work. Other than "I like blue" and "I don't like thorns", everyone seems pretty content to let me do what I want.

With one unfortunate exception. I really wanted to start doing some lasagna type layering now. But one of the senior staff has said she doesn't want anything "messy" -- even short term. When it comes time to planting, I'll definitely be working in as much organic material as I can, and I've got a big pile cooking in the back with coffee grounds, juice bar leavings, leaves and newspaper. Should have some nice compost to spread, however thinly, in the front.

Appreciate the help!

Feather reed grass Karl Forester, Autumn Joy sedum, some low growing sedum, Dianthus!!!, baptisa australis, echinacea purple or White Swan.

One thing was pointed out to me when I was researching our school project was that edging plants needed to be salt tolerant. Is that an issue with you?

Do you want us to grow this stuff for you when you come up with a plan? Sorry I can't help with that as I have no talent there, but I can sure root sedums like a champ and winter sow echs all day long.

I may be calling on folks for that -- especially the sedum!

My task this weekend (in between bouts of cleaning for Thanksgiving guests!) is to take inventory of all the seeds I've set aside for this project, and the plants I put in holding beds behind the office.

Then start sketching out beds! I hope to have something on paper before the solstice so I can start winter sowing and scratching out beds.

Anyone know of a good book on garden design that has been helpful to you?

What a great site, south facing 'and' with a gentle slope for drainage.

It reminds me of a library's big bed I see in another town. It looks nice year round. I have intended to stop and veiw it up close, but just haven't yet.

I do know it has numerous shrubs of various heights, colors, and textures, along with big clumps of different tall grasses. There is a big variety of things, yet doesn't look hodge-podge. Possibly sometime half way soon I will have an opportunity to stop and check it all out better.

While Black Eyed Susan's and the different yarrows are very pretty, I found them just too invasive...the BE Susan reseeding everywhere, and I've been trying to get it gone for years now.

A nice mix of spring bulbs would be nice as well, planted several to a 'hole' so as to bloom as a bouquet.

Sedums for sure...lovely, variety of different ones, well behaved, and require little moisture.

I have hard clay soil here as well, but when making a new bed, I try to till it well, amend some, and then when I plant I use 'store bought' soil in the actual planting holes.

Bird baths, feeders, and possibly a blue bird house on a post would be nice too.

Do you have any funding, or is this all out of pocket for you and a couple of others?

I can see if well done originally, it could be fairly maintenance free, but do you have a tiller at least?

Local tree trimmers could supply the mulch, and then possibly get a local mill to donate some shredded bark mulch for a top coat, as it is less course.

Best of luck...I see that as a really 'huge' project!

Sue

Alison...this project could give new meaning to the spring plant swap next May. You can be getting goodies for the garden where you work. You've always had to hold back because of your limited space. Yippee for you..more places to garden!!!

Hi! Alison, I wondered how you were coming along with your project. We met at the Columbus Exchange a few years ago. We have had the same thing happen in the Lansing - The large Armory grounds was divided and a new elementary school was built. The two gals that did a large veggie and flower garden in that area have a very small one now. It was a shame as the veggies that were grown all went to the Food Bank and the flower gardens were nice to walk through and pretty for the area.
We do a lot of volunteer work for the Garden Project in Lansing at the Demo Garden. We find that some of the nurseries in the area are very helpful in supplng plants and other material needed along with helping with design. They not only recommend plants but also donate plants to be used in the garden as long as it is for the public to enjoy. Of course when people ask where we bought items we tell them they were donated by whatever nursery gave them. This fall one of the nurseries gave us 180 plants to be dug in for the winter to be planted out in the spring as it was late in the season and they did not want to mess with wintering them. You might want to use a small section as a holding bed as we find that a lot of people will call and ask if you would like this or that at odd times of the growing season. However, we are not good at designing and we have a lot of suggestions from people. At times it looks a little unorganized but that might not be a problem for you if you are the one doing all the work and set up. There is always a lot of extra plants at the Columbus exchange that all want to go to a good home. Good Luck. Betty

Hi Alison!

I've been thinking about your project, and I'm thinking that your sticking point here is the lack of a ready-made focal point for your garden design. I know you said that you want want it to look good inside and out, and that's a start. But right now you're basically looking at a triangle of land that has a few existing trees and shrubs--all of which are nice but none of which is a year-round focal point stunner in its own right--and lots of grass.

It seems like your design work would be a little easier if you figure out a focal point for the garden, and then work around that--does that sound right?

I tried to think of a focal point that might work in that area, knowing that you don't really have the budget for a piece of garden statuary, etc. I assume that you don't really have any architectural pieces from the old base or anything, either, but that's something to think about if I'm wrong!

What you do have, though, is a bunch of bricks and some reclaimed limestone. So... what can you do with those to make a focal point? Two or three things came to mind so far, but I bet you could brainstorm a lot more. :)

First, I was thinking that you could use those 1000 or so bricks to make a set of small terraces (dry stack should work, since the slope looks gentle) or basically lines through the garden. They don't have to connect or span the full lenght of the garden, even--it may look more natural to just follow the existing contour a bit. That would give you winter interest and also give you a couple of ready-made "access paths" for plant maintenance during the growing season... and a starting point.

Second, I was thinking that if you had access to morter or could get a bricklayer (even a retiree) to help you, you could make a pattern of low brick posts through the garden--just enough of them to give you some repetition through pattern.

Third, you could use the bricks and/or the limestone to make a small little meditation-style patio in the middle of the garden. It would require more work because you would have to level out the ground and prepare the correct underlayment, yes. But it would be fitting for the place where you're already planting trees to commemorate past staff members, and it would give you something to design around. (And it doesn't have to be round... or square!)

I hope that some of my random thoughts here make sense and are helpful... I do have a couple of books that I've found helpful for getting started, so I'll post a few of those later if you'd like--most of them I've taken out of the library, so you should be able to find them in yours, I'd think!

Well, I'm getting there, bit by bit. I did an inventory of what seeds I have and what plants I can get my hands on. It's probably going to take a few years to get this really looking good, but I've got a lot of stuff to draw on. And the best gardens "grow" that way anyway, don't they?

I'd thought about a center paved patio area, large enough to ultimately put a bench on. The orginal garden had a very nice basketweave brick central area, and while that might be a lot of work to lay, it would be nice -- and it would look nice in the winter.

It had thought about the terraced look -- thanks for the suggestion that they don't have to hook up or run edge-to-edge, Kymie -- that never would have occurred to me! I had dismissed the terraces, because I thought digging them out and leveling terraces across the whole space was too herculean a task for little old me. But now I can envision several individual little walls cut into the slope. But that's why I posted this here -- the collective has so many better ideas than one person alone!

Chemocurl -- that library bed sounds exactly like what I'd like to create here; I started looking at some municipal type plantings this fall, but so many of them seem a bit wasteful -- they bring in plantings wholesale and swap them out when they start looking ragged. and not too many schools around here have much in the way of ornamental plantings. But what you've described sound perfect. And I love the idea of planting the bulbs "in bouquets" -- I'd never thought of that. Spring flowering bulbs are on sale all over the place, and I've had no problems planting bulbs thru the end of December.

You're right, Bev; pretty much everything I'll be getting at the swap is heading to work!

Thanks for all the ideas; I'll post more as the project evolves!

hi alison,
i just saw your post. I think bev's idea of doing some planning at the spring exchange might be a good idea
why dont you bringa large sketch and solicit ideas and plants. you could have bev's send us all a post to put on our thinking caps.
diggerb.

hope to see you at the exchange in may

Funny, I was just thinking about this, too... (I used to be Kymie, and then I couldn't log into that name anymore). Alison, have you started working on this yet this spring? I'd love to see your plans/progress...

Well -- no where near the progress I would have liked to have made, but May is the month!

I've got a lot of plant material, altho' a lot of it is still small. Some butterfly bushes, cannas, sunflowers, irises, decorative grass, sedum, mat daisies, rudebeckia (teeny seedlings still). I worried I wouldn't have enough material, so at the end of March I bought a packet of mixed "xeriscape extreme" seeds, and winter sowed a big cement trough (about 24"x36") around back. It's a mix of perennials and annuals, and I thought I could simply plug a hunk o' seedlings where ever I have a bare spot.

I have to work all day the next two Saturdays; unfortunately we're having a big yard sale in the front yard the follwoing Saturday and we'll have people tromping all over the lawn.

So the next two weekends I'll be laying out the limestone to form the little retaining walls in arcs down the slope. As I get them the way I like them, I plan to dig up the sod (such as it is) in each little bed, to level them out a little bit. I've got a big bucket of Preen and I'm going to scatter that as I dig up the cover to try and keep ahead of the weed seeds. (I'm hoping doing a little bit at a time with not only save my back, but possibly guilt my co-workers into doing a little bit!)

The day after the yard sale I'm going to start putting plants in. I don't expect to get very far; but I'd like to get in the bigger plants, and the seedlings that are out-growing their pots.

That Saturday after that is the garden swap in Hilliard, and I'll have a better idea of what I'm looking for. The day after I'll be back at work, putting more things in and watering, watering, watering!

I kept my eyes open this winter, and bought a 20' soaker hose on sale for $10, and picked up an old hose someone was throwing away. Once I get a plan for the "beds" I'm going to start cutting up the hoses, so I can make a Frankenstein soaker hose.

I'ts coming together, oh-so slowly, but it looks very possible. (Of course, everything looks possible in the spring, doesn't it?!)

Well... yes, everything does look possible in the spring. :) But it sounds like you have such a good action plan that you're going to turn the possibilities into realities regardless!

Sounds wonderful so far... if you're not too tired, please keep us updated.

Yep..let us know what you need! I've probably got things you can have for your project. Sounds like things are happening!

Well... we're making progress! The photos aren't very good, but I can't tell you how much nicer the area in front of our offices looks now.

Took three straight weekends of digging to get the weeds up. I dug in cow manure where I put the plants, which were all either winter-sown or from swaps. The soaker hoses I found in a dumpster and put new fittings on. Everything is still settling in, but here's the first round of "before and after" photos.

Looking up from the parking lot, 11/05 and 6/06
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Looking from the sidewalk, last month and today:
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This is the 'upper bed' in two pics:
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A close-up of the 'lower bed' -- the winter-sown plants were pretty small when they first went in, but they're starting to put on some size!
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Still tons of work to do; put in pavers, more perennials, eventually a third even lower bed, maybe a bench or someplace to sit -- but it's finally underway.

The day after a co-worker bought the mulch, the school dropped off six bags of it -- and we used it all! The same co-worker (who also helped with the initial scalping) bought the barrel and it's plants to cover up the manhole cover. (God love her; I know she looked at my tiny home-grown plants and groaned inside!) All told, we've probably spent about $60 -- and 4-5 days of straight work.

And I'm making more plans. I still have cannas and lilies and butterfly bushes to put in, and I have a $50 gift certificate for Baker's Acres to play with. But I wanted to show you all that we are making progress!

wow it's beginning to take shape!!

Looking good so far! I love the curved terracing that you did with the stones. $60 is nothing, but all of the work that you've put in is what's really making a difference there. :)

Well, getting top the end of this little garden's first year, and I have to say it has been really fabulous. We didn't spend a lot of money -- and thanks to judicious use of Preen and mulch, haven't spent a lot of time! -- but it has been such a lovely site. Everytime we walk up to the door, we all; gardeners and non-gardeners, get a big lift. For most of the summer, the garden has been smothered with yellow, red and orange flowers, from a packet of mixed xeriscape seeds I sowed this winter. No "big picture" pictures, because I really need to pull out the dead cosmos, and clear out some of the leaves that have blown in -- but there are some real charmers here!

Amaranthus "Fath Spike" and coreopsis -- and unexpectedly nice color combination:
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I've never had marigolds go strong this long; in bloom from early June thru the end of October (taken today!)
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Two sedums; the glory of the fall garden. The first is a division of Autumn Joy from my mothers garden. The second is Mimi's "Settimo" sedum, a pass-along plant from her grandfather. Really pretty color!
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And the cannas I got 3 bulbs for a buck this spring continue to surprise me -- still blooming the day before Halloween!
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Oh, I love Fat Spike...now gotta see if I can locate any seeds...wink wink.

Oh, and the sedums...so pretty. Never met any sedum I didn't like, until I met Autumn Fire. There just doesn't seem to be a time when the blooms are pretty b4 turning plain ole brown.

The canna is really pretty too, especially considering how late it is.

What are your seed starting plans for 2007?

Maybe you need some Morning Glory Mini Bar Rose (may actually be Cameo Elegance)...a nice small variegated leaf MG. (I can send if interested)

Sue