This is exactly the sort of ground we would consider for a wildflower meadow in the UK.

https://wildseed.co.uk/product/mixtures/wild-flower-only-mixtures/wild-flowers-for-chalk-limestone-soils/

Here is a link to a seed company I have used, to give you an idea of the sort of thing I mean. I am pretty certain this could translate to US native species or nativars...but I would wait for Jay to chime in, since he has huge knowledge of this sort of thing. Meadows usually thrive on low fertility soil so I don't really know how a lot of US grassland plants would manage but I hope someone with more local knowledge arrives on the thread.

Can we see pictures of the actual planting area? I'm not so sure anything well do will in such shallow soil, except maybe some annuals, and not sure anything with the height you want would work. I'm having some trouble visualizing, but I thought originally the area was between the patio and the wall. But are you saying it's on the other side of the wall? Between the wall and the lawn? If so, I would either just continue the grass, or perhaps make the bed deeper (maybe five to six feet total, including that shallow area) and plant in the deeper soil. But maybe I'm getting this all wrong lol....

:)

Dee

And lovely house, btw! I love all the outdoor areas! Very nice!

:)

Dee

There are a bunch of flowers that do well in poor, shallow soil, but I can't find the area where they would go in the pics of the beautiful house.

Some glade plants might be able to work there (they're adapted to shallow shelves with fairly minimal soil), but 2-3 inches is pretty darn minimal for anything that's not tiny.

Yep, probably tall, bushy plants would not survive without some topographical mucking about...that is, a mix of raised beds or something more radical such as rockery/scree gardens. My own garden has no actual topsoil apart from building rubble. Most of us, in my street, have tried a mish-mash of different schemes,,,, raging from full-on hard standing and odd pot, to partial excavation and topfill or, in my case, rendered concrete 2ft tall raised beds, with a wide coping - originally meant to sit on but now entirely filled with pots. Sometimes you have to run with the circumstances and fudge about as best you can.

It would appear that, given enough time and a modicum of support, even trees will penetrate an unpromising soil surface (I have 3 which have completely escaped the bottoms of their pots, pushed through tiny gaps in the block paving, then finally colonising the compacted rubble...and thriving. I wouldn't have believed it possible at one time, but the evidence of persistence and resilience is to be seen throughout my tiny garden. Next door has a mulberry, which was poked into a gap in the rocks, as a minuscule sapling and is now in danger of taking over my garden as well as next doors.

Most larger plants could be planted 2.5 feet from the wall if the soil is thicker there.

Back (near wall): ornamental grass
Middle: Black-eyed Susan
Front: sedum or salvia

Would mediterranean sub shrubs like lavender, sage, santolina, etc survive in your climate?

With soil only 2-3 inches deep, you'd have to go with low, groundcover sedums. Nothing else would survive unless you make the bed in front of the area with shallow soil.

The bed is said to be 2.5ft wide. Are the wall footings really that wide too? Is the soil only 2 - 3 “ deep over the whole width?

Yeah, I thought that seemed rather big for wall footings too, lol, but I know nothing about building walls! I still think the best route is to enlarge the bed and plant in front of these footings. Not only would the plants do better but it would look better in overall scale, imho. I can't think of anything that would survive in 2-3 inches of soil except, as laceyvail says, groundcover sedums. Which wouldn't achieve the look you are going for.

:)

Dee

Is there NO possibility of making the bed wider?

Very shallow beds often look a bit... low rent, especially tiny beds in square or rectangular shapes.

Your home is too lovely for that.

If you could expand it to a wider, sweeping curve that wraps around that entire patio area it would be lush and gorgeous because it would suit the scale of the home.

There's plenty of lawn there for your dogs/kids/lawn needs. There's IMO no good reason NOT to expand it and use curves to do it right the first time.

Because if you do it the way you've laid out here I can just about guarantee that you'll be doing it over again in the future.

No, we are not limited in space and want to create something that enhances and compliments our large patio area. I like the idea of a sweeping curve that wraps around, and agree that in order to fit the existing design, we should go beyond the wall footing and stretch it at least 5-6 ft out, in a curve. or not do it at all !

Our lawn area is huge, like a park with many big trees, we have no kids or dogs, are seniors. Ultimately want it to look pretty yet reasonably low maintenance bec there are other landscaped areas all around the house and two vegetable gardens as well, already demanding a lot of attention.

It will get hot there in summer, facing mostly S, a bit E.

What I already have that may need relocating soon anyways and some of it could go there: about 8 -10 domestic columbines and several wild columbines, (I think wild columbine can grow on shallow soil, or any crevice..., but then I can not plant anything taller in front, and wild columbine grows only in spring...), Annabelle hydrangeas, butterfly bush, about 3 or 4 Chinese delphinium, various echinacea, English lavender (other varieties sadly are not hardy for zone 5) and 1-2 rose of Sharon. I know I know for Southerners they are invasive, but trust me, in our climate many keep dying due to ice rains, icy winds and other heavy winter damage...

In other areas we have eonymous, spirea, evergreens and various hostas coming out of our ears, could use them here too, but really not in love with them.

This is a country type setting, a small enclave of large stately homes each on several acres of property, at the edge of a city, abutting farmland...

lets see the actual weed patch ...

that house does NOT scream out for a wildflower patch.. frankly.. that is just a weed patch that SOMETIMES has pretty flowers ..

to be in proportion to the house and the patio .. you HAVE TO COME OUT ABOUT 5 FEET.. and if you cant or dont want to.. just grow grass there ...

and if you came out 5 feet.. you could leave the 2 feet on the foundation of the wall alone.. like you should anyway..

frankly.. you have a thirty thousand dollar patio and stone wall .. and you want to fool around with its foundation and structure.. for 2.5 feet of flowers ...just NO ... lol ...

do a garden right.. or dont do it l...

i vote grass... until you decide whether you want to really garden there ...

ken

If you are talking about right against the wall on the grassy side, that seems like a mistake to me for several reasons. First, why cover up the wall? It demands to be seen and appreciated. Second, if you put stuff that is short enough to not cover up the wall, it will be disproportionate, and you won't be able to see it from the patio, or from anywhere unless you walk around to the other side of the wall. Third, if you plant taller things, your patio area will feel enclosed and the planting would inhibit your views of your much larger property.

I would come out to about where someone was standing to take the pics and put a long, thin bed of flowers and small shrubs that one can easily reach all parts, to pull any stray sprouts. The placement would allow it to be seen while sitting on the patio - and when looking out of the windows on that side of the house.

Ha, I didn't notice the little blue line and thought the whole area was being considered. Wildflower meadows are not really any sort of low maintenance project (or not for the first 4 years or so), so ignore any waffling from me.

Lots of us see any sort of space and are off on one, wondering what to plant in it. Sometimes though, it's better to keep to the simple options...and leave things alone.

Here are a few ideas:

How about a shade tree to the west? You’ll be more comfortable on your patio in the evening if you’re not baking in the sun.

I agree that shrubs and tall perennials would obscure the wall but I do think it needs something to soften the edge between wall and grass. If the mediterannean sub shrubs I mentioned above wouldn’t work, you could try things like Aubretia, Iberis sempervirens, Anthemis cupaniana, Arabis, Oreganum and other tough rock plants. They’d be fine in shallow limy soil in a sunny position.

The dominating and utilitarian gray colored wall needs to be planted in front of. The USDA(?) 5 location indicates plants chosen need to be quite cold tolerant. And if this is in eastern North America these plants will need to be able to come through hot and humid summers as well. Except for certain exceptional locations like Cape Cod where summers are less intense. If this happens to be within reasonable distance of the Chicago Botanic Garden a facsimile of an English walled garden using Illinois suitable plants was installed there awhile back, might be full of possible ideas for your own scheme.

https://www.chicagobotanic.org/gardens/englishwalled

If it was my house, I would put a brick or stone walkway over the area with a few inches of soil and make a flower bed in front of it. That way you can grow the taller plants that you like, and you can access the bed from 2 sides, making upkeep much easier. You will still be able to see the flowers from the house and patio. There is really no point in having so much manicured lawn anyway. I can't think of any plants that would be happy with just 2 or 3 inches of soil covering limestone gravel except perhaps Opuntia Prickly Pear Cactus. It would look much better than the obscene amount of lawn there now.