Hahaha. I was totally thinking about his limit. I won’t get it down to 10 but I don’t think I need as many as I listed either. It’s a small space. Even smaller once I add a shrub and clematis to add privacy from the neighbors. But some of them were just different varieties of pink phlox so I can get just one- whatever is easier to find.

I have white in the mix in the front. Most of them bloom in the spring with my red tulips and yellow daffodils and then the bed changes to pink and purple into summer. Only problem is I mostly found candytuft and phlox for white and I love them while they are blooming but not a huge fan when they aren’t. Hmmm. Maybe I should ditch the phlox but add white. This also makes me think I should put in some bulbs in the bald spots until everything grows in.

Loving the help. My husband just stares at me with a blank look and my mother says “I wouldn’t know I’m stuck in zone 3” lol.

Okay, I finally had time to pull together some pictures.

Here is my new tall raised bed just after I added the cap/seat. All of the visible wood is Douglas Fir. The lower part had been treated about ten days
earlier. I held off installing the
cap/seat until after I added the soil because I figured it would get dented up
in the process. The box is about 3ft x
15 ft.

Here is the box about 24 hours after I treated the cap/seat.

Here is a scrap piece of cedar 24 hours after treating part
of it.

You were asking about vertical elements. I don’t have good pic right now, but we like
our Arnold Sentinel which anchors one end of our front garden.

Finally, here is my albino seedling! It won’t last long without chlorophyll.

That planter looks fantastic. I’ll look up Arnold Sentinel! Thanks for the photos Jerry.

Here is today’s progress!

Saw a post on Nextdoor for taking the trees to the city so found them a home. Now just got to figure out where to take the yard waste. Feel bad throwing organics in the dump.

Gathering up more rock and then I can sheet mulch!

Your new fence looks fantastic!

Hi Rossnagl,

I've been out playing for a couple weeks so I haven't completely read this thread, but in your last post you said you were looking for somewhere to take your "yard waste." From the pics it looks like a pretty big yard! Isn't there a corner somewhere where you could start a compost pile?!! If you can find a place to do it, you'll never regret the decision. Home Grown Compost is some of the best stuff you can ever get to use in the garden! If you decide to do it tho, be sure none of the stuff you're putting on the pile has weed seeds on it! Throw anything like that in the dumpster lest your "eventual black gold" spreads weeds hither and yon! If you compost the Lazy Way, and just let it lay on a pile and rot without turning it, it might not get hot enough to kill weed seeds! (No! A compost pile that's "working" properly does not smell!)

Also, I saw a comment above about the heights of the plants. Remember that the heights given on plant tags and in plant descriptions are the height of the plant when it's blooming. Many/most perennials are quite short before and after they bloom, so consider that when you're deciding where to plant things.

Just one other comment! It's YOUR garden, so do it however YOU want it! Lots of people write books, and have "formulas," and give advice--but they're not the ones that are going to be looking at it! MANY years ago on the perennials forum (before I found RMG) somebody was posting that you should NEVER plant only one of each perennial--that doing that created a Polka Dot Garden--and it looked awful! I have a small yard--and a LOT of different perennials I want to have--and I only have room for one of each of them! I LOVE my Polka Dot Garden! I don't care if anybody or everybody else thinks it looks awful--it's MY garden, and I love it! Make your garden Your Garden--no matter what anybody else thinks you should do! If you do that I guarantee you'll LOVE Your Garden too!

Happy planning,

Skybird

P.S. Heading back to your side of the hills tomorrow! Spent this afternoon watching the smoke from the Durango fire billowing up into the sky and head eastward! It's totally dark now and the flames aren't big enough from where I am (Ignacio!) to see any "glow" in the sky! This entire area is in extreme drought! I wonder what tomorrow will bring!!!

Rossnagi,

How goes the construction? Any updates (with pics)?

Well it’s a year later mmmm12 but I have an update! We’ve graded everything and started on the hill. sequence is a little backwards because I’m planting before we put the rocks up but we got the trees treebarb and I reviewed for 50-60% off! So next is the rocks, more plants, irrigation, and mulch. Then I’ll start on the sod and waterfall.

My helper

Sooo much rock

Is that rock you removed? Or?

I recognize the little shopping carts from Echter's. I just bought a tree there a couple weeks ago. It's not looking so good already. I'm trying not to panic. Try try try, breathe breathe breathe. :-)

Yep. Tons and tons of rock. This is just the last round. Overall probably sent off 10xs this. Plus 4 30yd dumpsters. More yet behind the garage that is fine where it is for now. Getting rid of more rock gives me nightmares.

ya I’m super nervous about the trees. At least they weren’t full price. Followed Treebarb’s instructions as much as I could but planted a bit earlier then planned. I figured being in the ground was safer then remembering to water them in pot. We will see.

It looks so good, rossnagl! Sometimes you have to do a thing when you have the time. I don't worry too much about what deciduous trees look like this time of year. They'll be losing their leaves over the next month anyway. Conifers are a little trickier. They can take months to show stress/transplant damage and by then you can't remember what you may have done wrong!

Just make sure to keep the root balls well watered in the heat coming next week. I check by getting my fingers in the soil near the trunk and again near the edge of the root zone a couple of times a week. Moisture meters work well, too, I just prefer to use my hands. I'd hand water them through this fall and at least once a month through their first winter if we don't have snow cover. You'll get a feel for how much to water. You don't want to drown them, but you definitely don't want to underwater them for the next couple of months. They shouldn't need daily watering in the ground, but do check at least twice a week. Take the tags off of the plants when you can, they can twist around in the wind and damage branches.

Meanwhile, I'm watering most of my pot ghetto everyday, so good for you on getting them planted! I'm so glad you got a good deal on the plants. That picea glauca 'Pendula' is beautiful!

Barb

Looking good rossnagl.

Do you have a plan drawn up? A wish list of plants?

Thanks, Barb for the tips! My new tree is already stressing me out! :-)

Rossnagl, that is a lot of rock. My mom just got rid of a bunch of rock at her house too. She was able to give it away to some ranch via Craigslist. They actually came and picked it up from her curb, made two trips.

I gave away a bunch but this last batch was a mix of every kind of rock possible and would have taken a ton of work to clean. I did post anyway and gave away a bit to someone who used it for fill or something but it would have taken forever to give it all away.

Mmmm12. Well I had a plan to look like this. Low mounding pinks and purples. Some that fall over the rocks. Maybe a bit of different green and blue foliage.

but then I bought all tall plants at the Tagawa sale. At least i stuck with pink and purple I guess. They can go back by the trees and it should still look good. They were 50% off and I caved.

mmmm12 here is my sorta list. I’m pretty flexible vs the front. Please let me know if any of these spread like crazy! I have enough that take off on their own - trumpet vine, Virginia creepe, bindweed....

Ice plant

thyme

lavender

artemisia, silver mound

beebalm

hyssop

butterfly bush - have

phlox

stonecrop (

ameria pseudarmeria/thrift

asters

dianthus

gayfeather, kobold or other

amorphana false indigo

geranium Johnson’s blue

penstemon

echinacea

tick-borne

rockcress

wall cress deep rose

Sun sparkler or dark magic sedums

dalmation bellflower

If the aster you have is the perennial aster, Aster novae-angliae, New England aster, they're incredibly invasive! (I think all the A. novae belgii are too!) I got one, 'Purple Dome', at a swap, and after a couple years it was going EVERYWHERE--including under the landscape fabric and rock and coming up thru the whole mess! After a few years I dug a bunch of it up and gave it away at a swap--with proper warnings! But AFTER I "dug it up" it kept coming up all over the place for several years--in spite of the fact that I was spraying it with Weed-B-Gon every time I saw any! On the other hand! If you like bees, it is an absolute bee magnet late in the year! The plant was absolutely covered with bees when it was blooming!

Your dalmation bellflower, Campanula portenschlagiana, could be considered invasive--probably ok for the first couple years, and then could start to "take off." I'm pretty sure it's one of the ones that spreads near the surface tho, so "controllable" by removing what you don't want if it's going "too far!" (Some Campanulas spread underground by rhizomes and are totally uncontrollable!)

And beebalm/Monarda can definitely become invasive if it's happy where it's planted. Again, it'll probably take a couple years before you notice it starting to spread. I've never grown it because it often has a mildew "problem," so I can't speak to that one from personal experience!

If you have the tall garden phlox, that can start to spread a lot after a few years too, but I suspect you could fairly easily dig up any "outliers" to give them away. Mine is coming up thru the landscape fabric and rock so I've never (yet) tried to dig up any of it--but it IS starting to spread big-time!

Some of the geraniums are horrendously invasive, but I'm pretty sure 'Johnson's Blue' is ok!

Not familiar with some of the other common names you have--and don't have time right now to try to figure out what they are. I don't see anything that I KNOW is "Hopelessly Invasive"--except the aster if that's the one you have!

I LOVE Armeria pseudarmeria! When it blooms for you, sniff it! It's fragrant, and if you wind up with different colors on the plant, each color is slightly different--they have a sort of "spicy" scent--I think!

Skybird

I've tried to grow thrift about 6 times. It never takes for me. I agree that Johnson's Blue is a well-behaved hardy geranium. I have one that is about 15 years old and it has always remained in a nice, controlled clump. It gets kind of ratty this time of year, but you just sheer it off and move on. I also have one that is NOT well behaved. I believe it is called Bloody Cranes Bill. It has a pink flower and it is a thug.

Some of the hyssops reseed like mad and will be popping up everywhere. The one that does it the worst for me is that giant one. I think it's called Adder. It's huge, like 6 feet tall. It's a prolific seed maker and the babies are everywhere. I would consider it "hard" to control.

The agastaches I have are very well behaved. I have Sonoran Sunset and Double Bubble and about 3 others in different colors. They are well behaved and the hummingbirds are wild for them.

If you have the room, I highly recommend a Redbirds in a Tree also. The hummingbirds and bees are madly in love with it. But it does get big. Not invasive though.

False Indigo is all the rage right now. I have a blue one and it took 3 years before it finally bloomed. This year. Seems well behaved though. No spread.

We’ve been busy but you can’t tell really. Installed our irrigation system last weekend and hooked my drip to it this weekend. Sooo much work but I love that I can control it from my phone and it knows when it rains. And then it rained a bunch so I can’t test it but yet grateful for the rain. Don’t really have pictures.

But we did also get some rocks up on the hill so I can plant all these perennials I got on sale next weekend. I have a week to stare at this picture and decide how to make this look more natural. Not sure if I want to move or add. I’ll definitely get more dirt around their bases to make them look like they’ve been there awhile and then all the plants will help. (And I promise I’ll get those tags off the trees. I was going to run out and take pictures and remove them but with the rain it’s super slippery. Should have done it earlier.) I should take a picture in the morning but I’m always in a rush.

Lots of hard work! Wow! Before you get any more plants in you might want to think about how you will get around on the hill for weeding, sprinkler maintenance, cutting plants back, hauling cutoff material out etc. and put in some type of hardscape path and/or tiers. Whomever designed our beds made them much too deep without any sort of paths in between so we ended up cutting out bushes and plants to give access to the beds. Also have laid down a couple of paver paths.

It’s hard to tell but per advice from some of you I made three flat spots to make a sort of path or swale. One very narrow at the very back, wider in front of that row of rocks and another near the front. When I layout the plants next weekend I may change my mind but I’m hoping I can make them less noticeable with a few well placed rocks and plants. You have me thinking- I have some flat rocks I wasn’t sure what to do with but I could incorporate them as a place to step up or down into areas farther from the paths. Also I need to bring in a bit of soil so maybe I should make at least the center one a bit more of a swale. With all the rock moving it’s flattened out from how I graded it.

Hmmm. Read your post again. I sorta planned for it but oops. A couple of those will be harder to access once those trees and bushes grow in won’t they? Not sure how to get around that. I’ll stare at it some more ;)

Rossnagl,

My main perennial bed is too wide too, so what I did was bought a bunch of irregular shaped "stepping stone size" pieces of flagstone and put them in enough places that I can pretty much reach all the plants without stomping the soil down all over the place. With all the other small and large rocks I have all over the place--many collected on my trips--the flagstones pretty much just "blend in" with the rest of the rocks--IMO!--even tho the perennial bed is rectangular, so they're all placed pretty much the same distance "from the front to the back." And when I'm out trippin', when I see a flat piece of rock that's big enough to be a stepping stone I abscond with it and bring it home, and that's what I've been using since I ran out of the flagstone pieces. You definitely will need some way to maneuver around up there without totally compacting the soil. If you're using some sort of stepping stones they can always be moved a little--or a lot--if something starts to grow over them "too much!"

That's quite an impressive Labor of Love you have going on there!

Skybird

I think you might like it if you put a path on the left to the top and a path on the right to the top. Then in the center of the two a little paver or flagstone platform with a cement bench or a small table and chairs. It is always helpful to have a place to put your weed bucket or tools where they aren't on the ground and disappearing into the garden. Also it gives a place for the dog, kiddo, guest and you to follow a path and be in the garden with out weaving through the plants. If there is room, I can't tell from the picture, you can even weave it back and forth like they do for steep hiking trails.

I wouldn't worry about burying the rocks any more. When you put mulch and plants in they naturally become buried. In fact they may disappear too much and then you will find yourself digging them out so that they show more.

I second adding a real path and a table and chairs (or at least a bench). It will dominate the space now, but as your plants grow in the path will be much less noticeable—but it will always be useful. Hopping from one random stone to another makes garden work less enjoyable! Plus, your toddler will want to follow where you go.

We landscaped our yard 4 years ago, and once the plants started growing in, I’ve just been adding more and more hardscape: paths, shade, seating.

Oh, and regarding your plant list, just bought I’d throw in my two cents: unlike popmama I have had no trouble growing thrift, but the foliage looks very similar to grass so I’m always worried about pulling it up. For your purples, I recommend lupine for a lovely mounding plant, and allium for a fun shape. It’s also nice because it blooms in that awkward gap after the spring bulbs but before the summer flowers. And irises! They’re not really mounding, but I love them and they’re easy to grow. Here are a few purples from my garden. The allium pic won’t load for some reason; I’ll try it in a different post.

Here’s the allium, along with some dianthus and a few late tulips. It looks very nice paired with mounded plants.

That looks great. Its too early to plant bulbs eh? It would be great to get them in the ground as I go this weekend so I don’t need to go back over and amongst all of those newly planted perennials.

It’s a little bit early, but I don’t think it’s TOO early! If I were in your shoes I’d throw them in the ground as you go this weekend. I see bulbs at the grocery store so I imagine the big box stores probably have them now too. Have fun!

You can also add early spring bloomers like squill, chionodoxa, and iris reticulata later, they‘ll bloom before your perennials leaf out. They only need to be planted 3” deep so just wait for a moist day in October or November and push them into the earth with your finger. The mini irises aren’t super hardy (only about half come back the next year), but they’re cheap and give you early color.

I also like anemone blanda (soak them before planting) and muscarI for low April color; you can push them in, too. Some people complain that muscari is a little over-enthusiastic, but I love it.

Found some of the bulbs you mentioned on my morning travels Faith. Will need to order some of the others. Laid out the plants today and I’m going to get them in the ground tomorrow. There are a few bare spots where I’m going to put some bulbs, plants that will drape over the rocks or low mounders but I want to buy a few more and intermix them with the front after my husband places some more rocks so I’m holding off another week. Hopefully you can’t really see my little path near the back. Also holding of on anything to the left since we’ll be trampling around over there in the spring for the waterfall. Oh and as the trees etc grow I’ll move or pull out some of the plants closest to them.

So exciting! This is when it changes from hopes & plans, into reality!

Looking good! Going to be gorgeous.

Rossnagl,

How goes the project? Any updates and pictures?

A week or so until any big changes. We had an irrigation problem to fix last night and just got 6yds of compost delivered that needs hauled to the backyard. So hopefully sod for the little grass area for my daughter to play next week and then I just need to weed like a normal gardener! My tulips and alliums look great! I was shocked the alliums bloom so early. For some reason I was expecting later but I’m glad because it also looks messier then I thought and I’ll enjoy getting the leaves out of there. Lost my weeping redbud so that was expensive but it’s been replaced and then some lavender which I knew was a risk but I wanted that silvery color. Finally found some dark pink phlox that I’ll plant today and bought a really ridiculous amount of sempervivum for around the rocks.

Also I can’t wait for the lilacs and saskatoon to grow in and cover some of that fence. Im thinking sunflowers in that little strip of dirt between the drain pan and fence but up for other ideas. Its a foot, maybe a bit more.

It looks really great! What is the purple flower in your first picture? You mentioned tulips and in your wide picture they look like tulips but they have so many gorgeous petals.

Pretty sure it’s a dream touch tulip but not positive. I cant find the tags at the moment but I think I got them at the Botanic Gardens sale.

They are gorgeous!

A couple quick comments, rossnagl! Your Allium are very pretty, I have some myself, but you should know that they will reseed like crazy if you don't deadhead the flowers before they start to drop seed! I learned the hard way! Some varieties do it more than others, but I'm pretty sure they all do it to some extent--not positive about that!

Also, for ALL spring bulbs, when they finish blooming you must leave the foliage on them until they die down completely, naturally. After they finish blooming is when they're "storing energy" to bloom the next year, so if you cut off the foliage as soon as they're done blooming you'll get "poor," or, conceivably, no flowers the following year. I LOVE spring bulbs, they're the things that "keep me going" after a long, dark winter, but I also hate having the ratty looking foliage in the yard until it's finally "done"--but I've learned to live with it! The first few years I kept trimming off "bits" as it started to yellow, and I was getting fewer and fewer flowers, so I finally just left it laying there looking ratty until "it was done," and now my bulbs are "coming back" and looking pretty good in spring (if we don't get a hard freeze at just the wrong time). So don't start cutting foliage off--you'll know when it's "done" because you'll be able to "easily pull it out of the ground" when it is! If you "pull lightly" and it doesn't come off, the bulbs still need it! And don't "braid" it or "tie it together," which a lot of people suggest! The foliage needs to be exposed to as much direct sun as possible. I try to "flop mine over" to one side, to keep it off of other plants, and kind of keep it from "going all over the place," but I don't "cut" anything off anymore, I just wait till "it's ready" and comes out easily. It's a trade off to have the flowers in spring!

Just a heads up so you get nice flowers again next year!

Skybird

Its a big day over here! My back is so sore but I’m soooo excited. Going to put in the gate on the way into the yard, my new garden planters should ship soon, and some patio stones on the far side for drainage this year yet. Then a deck where my feet are and the waterfall next year. I’m thinking sunflowers along that 1-2’ strip by the fence.

Looks fantastic! If you do Sunflowers I have two Hardy Yellow Ice Plants rooting for you (if you want them) to mirror the yellow into your rock hillside.

These are the Coopers ice plants. I can't tell if they are rooting or not. I will cut you some fresh cuttings just in case. My husband bought some mix stuff for the soil but it appears when it is mixed with our soil the result is concrete. Everything he put in this year used it so we shall have to see if any of it survives.

Hydroponics!

Waterfall is going in here. Been waiting for yearssss and I can’t wait. I’ve watched every Youtube video there is on pondless features waiting for this.

Wowww, that's quite the growing wall! Cool!

I do some hydro on a smaller scale (sister in law got me one of those Aerogarden gadgets) and it works really well for cilantro.

My only concern with a full indoor garden is, what do you do if there's pests? I'm currently battling aphids, whitefly and scale with my (admittedly overly-massive) houseplant collection, and it's a real pain.

I would love a water feature besides just the birdbaths, but have no idea where to start. Maybe one of those whiskey barrel numbers would be nice...

I’m waiting for that moment. Haven’t come across it so far but I can take this apart (a lot of it is just pressure fit) and disinfect it. So far I feel like it would be easier then my houseplants but I don’t bring anything in or out for that reason. I’d rather not deal with it unless I have to. I had an Aerogarden for a long time and I really loved it. The simplicity is awesome. Cilantro is definitely easier. Outside it just bolts on me but inside I can get a lot of cuttings before I finally start fresh.

For outside features you can check out Aquascape for ideas. Price wise for a smaller feature…but ideas and philosophy are great. I’m paying the $$$ for the water feature because it’s such a time investment and impact to my plants, yard, etc more then anything.

I’m soooo excited for this update! Our waterfall is in. Plants are in. Yard is almost back together in time for the garden tour. Just need to finish the gate and put in the deck (next year). I’ve also started my first water garden and have my first water lily bloom. We can actually enjoy the yard. Phew.

Your waterfall is impressive! Sounds like your back yard is getting close to completion. You should post a walking tour. I would love to see it.

I’m on the Sustainable Green Mountain Tour on the 6th or you can message me about a garden party on the 9th! It won’t be done but…is it ever?