Awwww, those apple trees are sad.

Is there a third option where you put everything in? That would get my vote.

I like the more than lavender look myself. You could always add a few light pink tulips. That way the pink lavender wouldn't be the only pink to show up now and then.

So my thought would be mix it up for a more varied bloom time. Do the colors you like.

Thanks floodthelast!
I hadn't thought about what it would look like when the lavender is out of bloom.
So first to bloom would be hyacinths, then iris,dames rocket,larkspur, lavender, sweet peas, and canterbury bells. (I think!)
Good, keep 'em coming!
-B

My vote would be to mix it up as well. Plant things that will bloom during the entire blooming season.

I add a bit of pink color as well and maybe a bit of white mixed in.

If you add tulips, you can plant in around the bulbs so that when the leaves are dying back, you will have continued foliage growing to cover up the unsightly look of dying back spring bulb leaves.

Fran

First, I am a huge lavender fan so both options sound great! It really depends on the "look" you are going for. I think the lavender would be really pretty and would provide a clean look. I love the idea of the hyacinths and tulips for added blooms. I have to say that I love lavender even when it isn't in bloom - the foliage is pretty and would look lovely in mass along the white picket fence. I don't know what zone you are in but in zone 7, my lavender has been pretty much evergreen. I see you have an arbor near the house. That provides a great place to break out into something new. The sweat peas would be lovely with maybe a later blooming vine to extend the bloom season. The garden near the road, after the fence ends, also provides a natural break for some other plantings (perhaps those things listed in choice two could go in that bed). I guess I haven't helped at all as I seem to have blended both choices:) Be sure to let us know what you decide and I'd love to see pics as you progress! Nikki

Thanks littleonefb-another vote for a mixed bed-and pink tulips!
nikkineel-I'm in zone 5. The soil in that bed starts out nice towards the house and gets sandy and rocky closer to the road. I worried about mixing the dry sand loving lavender with the larkspur and canterbury bells which would need more care. So breaking it up into different areas is something I have toyed around with...
I've got to gut it out this spring, it's been planted with perennial sweet pea that turned into something out of "Little Shop of Horrors"!
-B

HI, how are you doing? That baby bat is adorable. Please tell me about it.

That area will look beautiful with no. 2 - but i say mix it up with the different color lavendars and add some white as someone else stated. I think primarily blues/purples would look good, but a few scattered pinks and whites would really look great.

What happened to the apple trees?

When were these pics taken?

Hi Maureen!
The bat was a house guest for two or three weeks last summer. My husband found her in the parking lot at his work and brought her home. He knows me so well! No candy or jewelry for this girl, nope bring me a bat(or any other hurt animal)and some potting soil and I'm good! I fed her moths that I caught. She would eat two big ones in the morning and two in the evening.(not really a bat schedule but the best I could do,wanted to make sure she was well fed!) Then she started to fly again and I was sad/happy, I kinda wanted to keep her,but knew I couldn't!
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The apple trees came with the house!!LOL!! And they're still here they do look pretty in the spring when they bloom otherwise they're butt-ugly!

1st pic taken late spring and the last pic taken in the fall. I think they are in the same year.
-B

Did they have some damage from wind/ice/lightning? I have always liked the shape of apple trees, all gnarly. I love the blossoms too. Maybe you could prune them a bit. I seem to remember my grandfather chopping the heck out of his and still having enough apples for sauce.
I remember that pic, I showed it to my daughter who said it was, "cool".
If you have different types of soil along that fence you might do well to use drift style plantings. Groups of each type. That way you can put the lavender in the sand and others as needed. I noticed a lot of lavender near the road in my z5 I think the pavement gave them more heat. That's my guess anyway.

I think a combo of things would be pretty..and your bat was so cute! I'd like to think I'd be nice like you, but, alas, I'm a stray dog saver. I let the other things to God. Anyhoo...I think your apple trees are close relative of mine AND my peach trees. I'm planning to do better this year..so I believe the next few weeks are the time to really get in and prune the heck out of those things. GO FOR IT. Do you get apples? Good Luck to both of us.

Two more votes for mixed!

floodthesast-We bought the house in Feb (7yrs ago)and my first thought was "Those trees gotta go!" but then they bloomed and flocks of cedar waxwings came to eat the blossoms so I decided they can stay! Our house is a split level so the living room window looks right out into the heart of the tree. I get a birds eye view of the birds! It helps that the trees are full of bugs, an absolute bird magnet.

teequiltbarbie-they seem to produce fruit every other year (this year they should) but we've never eaten them, as soon as they hit the ground they are covered in ants, sooo the boys(I have three sons) and I try to smack them across the road with a baseball bat!!LOL!!
-B

I'd use a mix too.

If you like lavender, how about a few Russian Sage? Nice and tall, they'd make a good backbone along that fence. (you mentioned lavender, so I assume it's full sun?).Other colors in between would be awesome and spread out bloom time.

Karen

Oh my! You are growing the essential ingredient for a great natural soil conditioner!

Check out the link below...scroll down til you see the link for Bug Juice (growing microorganisms that benefit the soil) and then down to the "plant torture" post for what could happen to your apple trees with a good pruning.

This may have been one of the most interesting discussions I've seen on GW. There's another post where even more info is available about BIM (beneficial indigenous microorganisms)...scroll through the soil forum until you see a link that is titled Blutranes, bug juice, and something else....

Here is a link that might be useful: Bug juice and plant torture ;-)

I don't generally look at photos and see the potential as I do with yours. So here's the potential I see...

Apple trees. Step 1. When they break dormancy in spring, go out there and remove the dead branches then step back and look at the tree and start shaping it the way you want paying attention to areas you want to fill and let branches grow. I would bonsai the two of those. Could be done really nicely.

Step 2. The Apple trees bloom in the spring. I would pick a clematis such as Sweet Autumn Clematis which blooms later in the season and plant a couple at the base of each tree and let them climb in there. The Clematis won't be intrusive to the tree like Wisteria which would eventually kill it.

So now you get to keep the trees and enjoy them and the feathered friends and bugs that entertain you. I would keep the trees. :O)

OK, let's move on to the driveway strip. Well, can we deal with the mailbox area first? Let's do that, eh?! :O) Great place for a rock garden. So much potential there. If it's just full of rocks, take a bit out and throw in some sand and soil, then top with the rocks which were removed to build it up a little. Great plants for this area would be Lewisia, Beach Wormwood (it would trail over the wood with silver foliage), Penstemon, dwarf Scabiosa, Pulsatilla (Pasque flower), Sempervivum (hens and chicks), Platycodon (Balloon flower), etc., all of which can be winter sown. Veronicas would also do fine in there.

The driveway strip... You mentioned that the soil is great close to the house and not-so-great on the other end. Knowing that, I would work and plant according to the soil conditions and definitely create a varied garden.

When looking at the second photo, I see the need for an 'anchor' plant right at the start of the driveway - between the driveway and the mailbox. Something which would last all season with good foliage. My first thought was a hosta, a big one which can take some sun exposure. Plain leaf and dark or semi-dark. All hostas bloom in purples and whites so it would fit right in to your colour scheme.

I like Karen's idea of Russian Sage along the fence here and there. It's foliage is great too.

And yes, plant a varied garden with your colours. It will look absolutely wonderful! :O)

Another vote for the mix!:)
Have you considered yellow lavender in the mix as well? I love purples and blues with a touch of yellow here and there,I think it is very eye catching! :)

The bat is cute as a button! :) Good for you for rescuing and nurturing the poor little soul! You are a good person Brandy! :)

Thanks for that link pennymca! Absolutely fascinating!!I've got to find out more about that Russian scientist! And charcoal,and bug juice,and soil!

Tiffy-I always welcome advice from you, your gardens are FAB-U-LUSCIOUS !! I like the idea for vines in the apple trees they're the only bit of shade I have until the willow gets bigger :-)

agirlgirl-I sooo want the yellow lavender!! I would have to bring it inside in the winter though. I already have three french lavenders that I over winter in the big window so what's one more? lol!!
-B

Could we please have a video of you and the three boys socking rotten apples across the road with baseball bats?!! No helpful ideas from me but you've gotten some great suggestions from the ws gang.

I will say I am very curious to see what is on the other side of that white fence. It looks like you have some nice perennials going already. Do you have pics of things in bloom?

floodthelast- Do I have pictures?? I'm ashamed to admit I have more pictures of my gardens that of my kids! Well, they grow so fast,the flowers I mean!!LOL!!
chickenmom-I tell the boys "If you hit a car, I will claim I knew nothing of what you were doing!"
So here are some pictures!
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This year I will be redoing the driveway border and replacing all the stone pathways 'cause I used then in the rose garden!
-B

Oh wow, i am really enjoying this thread. I am amazed that you took the bat in. I don't know why, but i'm afraid of bats. I guess if i were with someone who wasn't afraid and they handed me a "baby" bat I would hold it. I'm afraid they will bite, or get stuck in my big wild head of hair:-) Was the bat afraid of people?

Now on to your garden:-) The apples trees are cool, i would definitely keep them especially if the birds like them. And the boys probably will climb them at some point...so they are keepers in my opinion:-) As for hitting the apples with the bat, you are my kind of gardening gal:-) I love to have fun with my son and probably would have done the same if our long island houses weren't "on top" of each other. At my sisters house in Pa, they built her whole developement on an old apple orchard. When me and my son would go visit her and her five (5) kids we would go out back where they did keep some apples trees on the property. So me being a big kid myself, i would go out and start an apple throwing contest with all the kids, lets see who can throw the apples the farthest.They thought it was a blast and i had a lot of fun. the apples would go rolling down a 500 ft hill and some would wind up rolling into the street below. What great memories.

I forgot to tell you that i love that white picket fence. It looks so pretty on your property. And after reading the posts above, i think yellow would look better than pink in with the blue/purple. Your gardens are so pretty, reminds me of cottage gardening which is my fave.
Have a great day,
M

Oh, I like the islands. I need to do more of that. Once I find things that will grow for me.

The bat was sooo cool! You wouldn't believe how soft she was! Softer than a cat or rabbit, I've never felt anything so soft. She was afraid at first but as soon as she caught on that I had food I was her best friend! She would take the moths and mealworms out of my hand. It's not true about them being scary and out to get us, you're more likley to die from a viagra overdose than getting rabies from a bat, I could go on and on! Instead check out my friends at batworld!
-B

Here is a link that might be useful: batworld