the first hing i would do.. is define the use of the backyard.. and then contemplate beds ... within which i would plant things ... wait.. is this the side or the back????

e.g. ... will the yard be used for picnics ... lounging.. etc ... where would you put the picnic table.. chairs.. etc ...

and once that space is defined ... i would start thinking about plants ...

take a look at this link .. and contemplate.. planting such.. AT LEAST.. 8 to 10 feet out from the house .... is that an option??

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Continus+Coggygria+Royal+Purple&FORM=HDRSC2

so search out your other names ... and see how they might fit into the space you are contemplating ...

its too bad those AC units are right there in the middle of it all ... cant even do a deck ...

ken

Ken, my side yard is basically my back yard. We are on close to an acre, but most of this is on the sides of my house. We just completed our paver patio last year, which is to the left of the area I want to plant. Please excuse the mess in the pictures. This yard is our "spring break" task. You can see some bare shrubs in the middle of the picture - this is 1 of 2 rain gardens on our property, which I have native perennials in. You can also see in this picture that our "back" yard is not very deep and we have a 8 foot fence to block the street behind us.

This is our side yard that we have fenced in for the kids/dog.

Those wood chips are patiently waiting for us to plant our privacy trees on the other side of the house. Our grass needs a lot of work as well. This side of the house just gets scorched by the sun so the grass takes a hit.

I would prefer to not have to plant anything 8-10 feet away from the house (minus the tree on the end on the right, that I can plant that far away), so I guess I should start looking at smaller shrubs.

The a/c units are partly why I want to plant something here. I am going to be hiding them with the vinyl fencing, but I want it to look pretty when I am relaxing on my patio.

Thanks!

Berberis is invasive in the mid Atlantic. I find it odd that you would choose native perennials and invasive shrubs. Obviously, it's your choice but kinda odd.

No need to be rude. I, obviously, was not aware of that

I'd start with Wax Myrtle maybe more as a backdrop for your planting since it is only 32'. My own preference is for something nice year 'round. I'm not into "fluff" maybe something like sassafras which does well on the coast, maybe Red Bay Persea palustris. Cerrtainly Inkberry or Ile glabra is native there and does well on the coast. Panic grass, Panicum virgatum is a good one. Drive around Assateague Island and Adkins Arboretum and see what catches your eye. As for barberry, I associate them with filling stations & fast food places. Check out my thread on Bearberry on this forum, give that one a try.

Oxalis triangularis won't survive outdoors in your zone. I thoroughly recommend hardy bulbs but any bulbs, including lilies, will be very temporary colour since most have a short bloom season and a long dormant season when there don't even be any foliage to look at. There are thousands of perennials you could choose from. The Perennials Forum here on GW could offer suggestions suitable for your area.

Thanks for being willing to reconsider the barberry due to its invasiveness in your area. One flowering shrubs you might consider is Hydrangea paniculata. It isn't native, but it is a long-blooming shrub that in my experience will be happy in a lot of sun as long as it isn't parched. Flowers start lime, cream, or white and shade towards pink after a month or so. In my garden the flowers last for three to four months.

Along with shrubs and bulbs, you will want to mulch with wood chips or bark mulch and if you plant an evergreen ground cover it will add winter interest and perhaps some spring or summer flowers. My favorite is Veronica Georgia Blue.

Chris, research your shrub choices before nixing the barberry and nandina cultivars that you mentioned. All three are cited as being sterile/fruitless cultivars. Most of the literature recommends fruitless cultivars as responsible substitutions for the invasive species.

Bear in mind that Berberis are very thorny. If you plant them near a patio where people might be wandering about scantily clad you might want to think about that painful feature.

sam_md, thanks for the suggestion on the wax myrtle. It's definitely making it to the short list. I'm not too worried about having native plants. I already have 2 beds full of native perennials.

floral_uk, thanks for the information on the oxalis. I thought I had read it would do good, but now that I double checked I can't find where I read that. The lilies would mainly be for bursts of color since they won't last long. I already have a lot of the native perennials in my 2 rain gardens. I have been thinking about the different types of echinacea, which surprisingly I do not have in the other 2.

NHBabs, that hydrangea sounds lovely, is it easy to keep relatively small or is it best to let it get big? I will look into ground cover. I'm not too worried about winter interest since this is the back/side yard. We aren't out there much after fall.

rhizo_1, that makes sense since the local "big" nursery was selling them. It was hard for me to understand why they would have such a HUGE native section, but then offer these.

Thanks, everyone!

Chris Tina, choose a panicled hydrangea that suits your size needs since they vary in height from 3 1/2' to about 15'. Some are wider than tall while others are similar height and width. I don't know of any narrow ones.

I have finally put together my short list:

Cryptomeria Japonica Globoso Nana
Spirea Ogon
Spirea Japonica
Continus Cog Royal Purple - definite
Continus Cog Golden Spirit - definite
Taxus Cuspidata Helen Corbet
Weigela Midnight Wine - definite
Nandina Lemon Lime
Cornus Alba Ivory Halo
Wax Myrtle
Ophiopogon Planiscapus Nigrescens
Various Echinacea and Lily

Does anyone see any issues with anything from my list? My vision is green, chartruese, and purple with pink flowers for a pop of color in the spring summer, changing to fall colors. I don't really need winter interest as we aren't really in the back yard during this time.

I plan on cutting the two smoke bushes back every season so they stay relatively small. What kind of size can I expect if I do this?

If you have deer, Taxus AKa yew are a much loved deer snack, so I wouldn't plant with deer. Be sure that you have enough green amongst the chartreuse and purple to give your eye a place to rest. I would do a sketch of blobs about the right size and color to get a feel for how it would look once you have settled on a general placement.

NHBabs, ahhh - Taxus is out then! Thanks for the heads up.

I am currently sketching it up as we speak and realizing I need much more green, but I don't want to double up on shrubs. Is there something similar to hostas that loves sun? I tried to find an ornamental grass that didn't flower or end up with brown wispy things.

I think the golden spirit smoke bush may be out...just a little too much chartreuse. I can put a wax myrtle there instead. Should I choose a dwarf myrtle or just a regular myrtle - not sure how hard they are to keep small? I could do Inkberry too.

I understand that 32'is incredibly limiting. Could you manage a Panicum virgatum? See my thread in ornamental grasses forum.

sam_md, I think that one would be too tall. I'd like one that is shorter. I saw Prairie Dropseed, which is about half the size from what I can tell.

NHBabs, I think I am going to go with the Limelight Hydrangea. This one says 6-8' tall, but do you think I can prune it to be shorter without hurting it? It says it blooms on new wood, so I would think yes, but I am new to all this :)

Chris, I hope that you send us pictures! I think that your choices are so interesting.

Chris Tina, IME H. paniculata regrows from pruning to the size it wants to be in a year or so, and so would need annual pruning. Easier to my mind to choose one the right height, though you can prune in late winter annually if you want the work. What height are you looking for? What is the height under the highest set window? Little Lime and Little Quickfire are 4'-6' and Bobo is more like 3 1/2'-4'.

NHBabs, I didn't know they had the Little Lime! That would be perfect. I plan to plant this one closest to the patio, so I can enjoy the blooms. Thanks!

Okay, so I have my "final" layout (I think...). Please let me know if you see any issues.

The "E"'s are for Echinacea, the "D"'s are for Dianthus, and the "L"'s are for Lily. List of plants:
Hydrangea Strawberry Sundae
Weigela Midnight Wine
Nandina Lemon Lime
Robusta Green Juniper (this is hiding the gap in the privacy screen surrounding the heat pumps)
Hydrangea Little Lime
Black Mondo Grass
Inkberry Compacta
Globoso Nana
Thuja Anna's Magic Ball
Royal Purple Smoke Bush

Thanks!

I should say that the Robusta, Inkberry, Thuja, and the Globoso are not definite. I wanted different textures, but I'm just not sure I want all those different textures. I love the Ivory Halo Dogwood, but I just can't figure out a way to get it to work with the others.

You asked, "I am currently sketching it up as we speak and realizing I need much more green, but I don't want to double up on shrubs. Is there something similar to hostas that loves sun? I tried to find an ornamental grass that didn't flower or end up with brown wispy things." Dwarf spirea might meet your need. Or, if you don't have to have perennials, the modern coleus come in a vast array of hues, many sizes, and most thrive in the sun.

Just thought you might want to see a Cryptomeria j. 'Globoso Nana' at about 35 years old. Planted in poor soil with no irrigation. I didn't think it got this big either.

Just a couple of comments re: the barberry. 'Concorde' is a uniformly compact variety that seldom requires pruning, so much less of a thorny threat than larger growing forms that can easily become outsized. It also tends not to produce viable seed and is considered rust free so also far less of an invasive or problem issue than with many other barberries.

For gardeners that desire that dark wine/maroon coloring in the garden, there are not that many options that perform as well as Japanese barberries and come in such a large range of sizes. Personally I haven't met many barberries I do not like but they are not an invasive threat in my area in any form. While I respect and acknowledge the need to keep invasive plants out of the landscape as much as possible, not all of the same species will be equally as invasive. We see this with nandinas that seldom bloom or set fruit as well with some barberries and buddleias. If these are plants that one favors for the garden, it is worth doing some research to search out those that are known not to cause problems.

manyhosta, Thank you for the recommendation - I'll take a look.

laceyvail, Wow, that's quick growth! Thanks for the information.

Mike, goodness, that is quite large! I may have to rethink that one!

gardengal48, thank you for the information. I will do some more research before I make a final decision.

I was going to post a picture of a nice barberry that I saw the other day, but every time I try to upload it my computer crashes and I lose all of my open tabs. I'll have to get a link to it later.

A bit late to suggest planting butterfly and hummingbird plants. You'd definitely enjoy watching both when sitting on the patio. I dedicated my yard to planting for them and haven't regretted it one bit. Your Echinacea gets you off to a good start. Much success to you.