The landscape design principle involved here is that plants alone do not constitute landscaping. In particular, deciduous and herbaceous plants do not serve the purpose. And finally, the wrong plants for your objectives definitely won't do the job - small mounding shrubs have no hope of providing you with the privacy you want. The whole situation is compounded by the fact that plants grow, and you have to have a plan for the appearance of the set for both before and after the plants are the ideal size for the purpose.

I think you need to start by determining exactly what you want from this patch of ground, aesthetically and functionally. How much privacy do you need, at what height? Is this a public roadway or laneway? Does it have traffic? Does it need to be shovelled/salted/plowed in winter? And, just how wide is that strip of ground?

KarinL

Well, you COULD mulch it with pine needles...and that would take care of your mulch issues. That alone would probably make you happier!

I am not a pro designer--more of an avid amatuer--but what strikes my eye is that things are planted "all in a row." I think, particularly with the smaller stuff, you'd be happier if you planted in clumps. (Groups of three or five.) Is the brownish grassy plant some form of carex? Is the blue stuff fescue 'Elijah Blue'? If so--I'm concerned that it won't get enough sun there. I think you WILL be happier once the annuals fill in. Six pack plants always look meager and scrawny when first planted. They should look more robust in a few weeks. (One of the reasons I usually DON'T buy sixpacks--I'm impatient.)

I am unfamiliar with the pieris cultivar you have planted...how large is it supposed to get? You've planted it awfully close to the house. I think it needs to be pulled out a couple of feet...or three. That alone will make a difference in how the bed looks.

Honestly--that is an awfully narrow bed for all that you have in there. I'm concerned that, once things get some growth on them, you are going to be unhappy with trying to maiantain the house. One should always leave a MINIMUM of 18" between full growth of a shrub and one's house ...so one can paint. (And gaps need to be left for ladders.) SO--if a shrub is expected to grow to four feet in diameter, the root ball should be planted four feet from the house. Plants grow in all directions!

Mixed beds can be difficult to get a handle on--but very rewarding when one does. It takes time to develop an "eye"--or a lot of training. Honestly, the money one spends on a garden designer can be the best money one spends in the garden.

melanie

According to information gleaned from two previous posts to this forum, the area in question is about 5 x 25 feet, with a northern exposure and further shaded by a tree to the east.

If you want the shrubs to screen your windows, you need something that gets taller and grows faster than Pieris. As far as the mulch, why not ask your neighbor if you can rake up some of the pine needles and use them to mulch the whole bed? Problem solved.

The grasses, which look like festuca, will not do well in the shade, they prefer full sun.

Annuals add a nice splash of color and a long season of bloom, but IMO they are best used in containers, or dotted around in a perennial border where they have the "support" of more substantial plants. That said, your annuals will eventually get bigger if they receive adequate care.

Don't condos provide outdoor maintenance, ie. mowing? An evergreen groundcover and some window boxes may indeed be the best way to go, but they won't give you the privacy you want. Is it your aim to block the windows completely? I'm guessing the room behind them is already pretty dark with the northern exposure.

Good catch, Saypoint, I missed those threads. The photos there tell a more complete story, so does the text.

To me, the sore point in this bed is still the hardscaping issue. My eye needs that bed levelled out with a nice stone wall along the sidewalk. That partial concrete wall is just an irritant because it doesn't do the job completely.

Then you need to look at better plant placement. The pieris look bad because they are placed badly. They need to be grouped at one end of the bed with a fluid variety of shrubbery (rhodos etc) meandering along the rest of the bed. If you get pine debris there you might as well give up and let it cover the bed; it will look nice once it is uniform and you won't get any weeds.

Get taller rhodos so your privacy is addressed, but keep in mind that shrubbery-privacy over 1st floor bedroom windows is a double-edged sword; true no one can see in, but neither can anyone see if someone is trying to break in.

From your previous posts and your repeat posting now it sounds as though you want the bed to look good without moving those pieris. Not gonna happen! No one is forcing you to move the pieris if you don't want to. But if you prioritize not moving the plants over having a nice bed, then it should come as no surprise when the bed doesn't look nice.

KarinL

Truegrey,
Give your plants a chance to grow. You have planters remorse (like buyers remorse)... did I make the right commitment... is this right for me... etc.

Also the neat uniform appearance of the grass will be replaced in a few years with some great shrubbery.

In the meantime, adding a layer of mulch will reduce weeding and provide a more uniform and neater appearance.

Isabella

I missed the whole privacy bit--I need to read more carefully. (Truth be told...I think I skipped right to the pictures.)

I took the sidewalk to be an alley.

I don't like using shrubbery to give me privacy...I'm too light starved. I like Jo's (Saypoint's) suggestion of evergreen groundcover and windowboxes.

Those pieris are gonna need moving one way or another. They are too close to the building. (IMHO)

melanie

hi all thanks for the feedback.

im feeling much better about this today.

first, i switched out the purple geme rhodys for a lighter colored shrub and it helped 100%. i think those rhos were just too dark for the area.

second, i understand what has been said about the pieris...but going around my neighborhood, and around my parents neighborhood (where people drop 20k on their gardens easy) i really dont see a difference in terms of the distance away from the foundation. i have even measured and its just the same for shrubs of the same size!

3) now that i have lived in the condo for a while, i realize that i dont really need privacy in terms of blocking the windows...its more that i just didnt want that lawn that was so easy to walk on (plus people let their dogs go on it and never picked up). if someone wants to peer in your windows, there isnt much you can do. but at least some bushes/plants is a bit more of a deterrent than nothing.

4) all the plants i have planted have been labeled as either shade or partial shade. including the blue fescue. its been there for a month and a half and seems to be doing ok. what will happen if it doesnt get enough sun? the area gets sun in the morning for a few hours, then dappled sun in the late afternoon as well. id stick to only pure shade plants, but in the winter they get a whole bunch of sun, and in the summer they get the sun as mentioned above. the longer i live here the more i see what the light is like.

5) i have been trying to stagger the plants, and will be adding more in groupings that are staggered too. i understand what peopel say about the lining up thing and i am trying to take care of that. most of it may be that it is in progress and i am kind of startign with planting annuals in the middle and then will be moving out towards the edges as i plant more.

any more advice is much appreciated.

6) i totally agree about the hardscaping, but i just dont have the money to redo that now.

7) id love to have windowboxes, however one of those front windows will have an air conditioner in it for part of the summer, which will look terrible i know anyway, but not much i can do about it. i am goign to try this summer to not have AC there, but it is where the guest room is and i dont know if my guest will appreciate the idea of fashion over funchion.

8) if i did do groundcover in the bed, what should i do? vinca? pach? i like vinca more but it can looks so stringy... i like creeping jenny, but know too many people who say it ends up being like a plague that cant be controlled. would shrubs and groundcover work ok do you think?

also, say i had no plants there at all, what evergreen shade shrubs would you plant in a 5x25 ft space?

First step - accept the fact that you will have a forever pine needle problem. Only solution is to find a neighbor or local park with pine trees, rake up the needles every fall and use them as a mulch. Practically unknown in the north as a mulch while we here in the south use pine straw mulch exclusively. It has the added benefit of reducing weed seed sprouting. This is your only option and it is attractive.

Yes, the Pieris japonica's should be moved away from the building. Then I would pull out all the 'little stuff', bite the bullet financially and fill in the bed with some of the low growing, evergreen azaleas hardy in your area which grow about 3' high and become ground covers. A good nursery can help you with selections such as "Red-Red". While the azaleas are filling in keep all well mulched with pine straw, work some large-leafed hostas throughout and call the project landscaped.

When moving the Pieris it would be possible to group them together at one end of the house and use Mt. Laurel (Kalmia latifolia) at each window which will give a bit of privacy.

I think you still may have the problem of people letting their dogs go on your lawn. Don't know if in the long run a raised border/low wall might solve that problem?

I agree with Isabella. For some of us, getting it right takes a while. Luckily, (or unfortunately depending on your perspective), plants are not static, they grow and change and can be ripped out. Take a deep breath, give yourself some time, wait out this summer and see how it goes. It looks fine for now and you can make some edits this fall or next spring as you learn more about your new neighborhood and what you like or don't like. When I moved into a new neighborhood I got a lot of great ideas on my morning walks.

Just because some folks dropped 20k on their landscaping and have pieris planted that close to their houses doesn't make it RIGHT. Many landscapers overplant...it gives things a more finished "look." It's still not good for the plants OR the buildings. Even more of an issue if you are going to have an ac unit in one window.

Just sayin'.

melanie