Do a net search of Conifer Gardens to get some ideas from other' photos. Good luck with your project.

I have done searches for conifer gardens and am loving what I see. However they seem to usually consist of just conifers and rocks, beautiful but limiting for me. I will keep searching as it is so fun to look.

John, I love your paradise thread. So beautifully done!

Annette,

Look at the recent threads bamboo_nuts posted. A real guru in action for sure.

One method I've read about says to keep the larger specimens to the rear with smaller specimens to the front, there now you know everything I know about this subject. lol :-)

So here is a drone shot of the front bed before we cleared it out. Bed faces south/southeast.

Here is a sketch of the bed showing the rocks we moved around and the remaining plants.

View from front steps this morning.

View from across the road.

To me, the bed looks busy with the rocks lined up to create a graphic image image partitioning of it. I would remove all the rocks except those at the edge. I'd use all the rocks to thicken up the edge rock border. I wouldn't be adding any more tall things to the bed, but instead low plants that can contribute to a groundcover effect. Not saying it must be all one thing. Subdivide as you wish, be too many things and it will look busy.

Annette, I’m no professional but i agree with the assessment to remove all the individual rock ‘beds’. Then I’d figure out what plants I wanted to highlight from your list, decide where those few should go, and then create a small path or two taking you there. Once you figure that out you can arrange the other plants along the way. That’s my totally unprofessional take on how I would approach it.

So when we bought the cabin the center of this bed had a huge berm type raised bed in the center built up with the rocks you see. We took out the raised bed and the huge mound of dirt. Then we realized that when we have gully washer storms, the water came down the road and straight at the center of the house. This caused water to puddle in the garage below. So we spent the year watching the rain during these storms and moved the rocks to create a new path for the rain. It now goes between the two buildings into a drainage gully that goes into the river behind the cabin. I think the level of the dirt has been adjusting as the year has elapsed so I may be able to move some around, but will still end up with some around the maple beds.

Hmmm. Agree that’s an important aspect. I also have water issues (sheet flow from periodic inundation). I resolved by using half buried logs from downed trees to create a new contour, directing water where I want it to flow through the property. I suspect that’s why the big berm in your lot? You might want to take your drawing and mark where the water enters and exits that bed to help you get started.

ETA does the water no longer enter the bed?

The water enters the bed but not in a river, it is more spread out and ends up going around and down the driveway to the woods. I may take out the one line of rocks in the center area to see what happens. We have been slowly moving the level around to the point they may not be needed anymore.

ANNETT , HAVE YOU SEEN THIS ,,,MIX OF PLANTS

caps oops

garen's

ron

I can’t get the link to open :(.

Use the search function to look for a link titled Garen’s garden 2019. It’s worth the effort to find it. :)

Annette,

the second picture in Garens thread will give you a good idea on what to have for deflecting flowing water. :-)

first off.. thats probably a couple grand of rock ... i would not get rid of it.. and i would not move it very far .. it can ... AND WILL BE [being positive here..lol] ... a very cool part of the future scape ..

but i do agree.. i dont like then just lined out like soldiers surrounding the beds .. or lining future walkways ...

i would probably also think about removing all the large random trees left ... not today.. not next year.. just in the future .. if you are going to go all dwarf and min in there.. these large older trees might start looking all out of proportion ...

next.. completely antithetical to what i just said .. lol ...

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=antithetical&ia=definition

i would think about the future backbones of the bed ... trees grow in tree time .... and they have to go in first.. to get moving for the future ... i would grab a couple adult beverages.. and lawnchairs.. and head a few hundred feet up and down the main road ... and just look at your house.. and how you want to frame it with the future backbones ... perhaps blocking the main window form headlights.. etc .

then with those in mind.. i would define spaces for groupings ... and move on from there ...

back to the rocks.. here are some ideas for the future ...

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=stacked+rocks+art&t=ffcm&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images

ken

Garen’s garden Is something to behold. It makes me wish for my old place and all that space!

Keeping the rock is a definite, like you said it is costly. Plus my husband is not excited about moving much more of it. I will be taking out that one line that was holding the earth for guiding the runoff. Our other ministrations seem to have removed the need for them.

I would like nothing more than to get rid of the Japanese maples. They just make it harder for me to garner a plan. I got the evil eye from multiple people when I even mentioned it. But I think the resistance is waning. I had to fight to get rid of the camellias but once they were gone it was agreed it made everything feel less claustrophobic.

I absolutely love those rock formations. Actually one of my favorite features of my garden now is on the corners where I had to dig down and put rocks down like a path. This is for cars that can’t make the tight turn, they can just drive over the rocks and no harm, no foul. Maybe I’ll do some more of that with the rocks I’m pulling out.

Some other ways to use river rock?

For what it's worth, we moved a 30 year old Japanese maple (that was smack in front of our dining room windows and way oversized for the space) and it survived. We were lucky, though - after we moved it there was about 2 weeks of rain and then a very rainy winter. (We are in central NC) We were going to take it out anyway, figured might as well try a transplant. It is still happily in its new spot, 5 years later.

I moved the one section of rock and it already looks better. DH is concerned we will start having water issues again so we have stacked the rock in a spot where we can easily put back if needed. I raked the ledge down to a slope and added fresh mulch. I’m leaving the other rock as I think my husband would mutiny on all future gardening aid lol.

The areas of inset rock and pebbles is where big cars and trucks have to drive over as the circular drive is way too small.

So now my center bed is pretty much a blank canvas.