in planning my garden layout.
i'm thinking my gardens need an overhaul from the raging heat spells we had this year, a weird short period of drought, my neglect, weeds taller than a building, 71 pound dog running rampant, etc etc etc.
i have garden beds that, despite some amending of the soil in the spring, are mostly clay based and in full sun. right now the only things that are growing well there are hostas, typical orange day lillies, and weeds. so i need some help in getting some garden flowers and plants that will tolerate those conditions fairly well. i will have a 1 year old running around next summer, so i also want plants that will be kid safe (although every year i get some weird plants that just show up from a neighbor's garden blowing in the wind) and if they can stand up to a dog that will run over some things even better (but not a requirement).
i'm also thinking about putting up a garden fence that is hopefully not that obtrusive around the garden beds to that, at least for the time being, my little bugger won't be able to easily get in my garden beds. any ideas?
i also really really really like the look of russian sage, but i don't know if that is a plant that grows well in my garden beds, or if it is kid friendly or not. i read somewhere that it might create an allergic reaction if handled? anyone?
i'm thinking my gardens need an overhaul from the raging heat spells we had this year, a weird short period of drought, my neglect, weeds taller than a building, 71 pound dog running rampant, etc etc etc.
i have garden beds that, despite some amending of the soil in the spring, are mostly clay based and in full sun. right now the only things that are growing well there are hostas, typical orange day lillies, and weeds. so i need some help in getting some garden flowers and plants that will tolerate those conditions fairly well. i will have a 1 year old running around next summer, so i also want plants that will be kid safe (although every year i get some weird plants that just show up from a neighbor's garden blowing in the wind) and if they can stand up to a dog that will run over some things even better (but not a requirement).
i'm also thinking about putting up a garden fence that is hopefully not that obtrusive around the garden beds to that, at least for the time being, my little bugger won't be able to easily get in my garden beds. any ideas?
i also really really really like the look of russian sage, but i don't know if that is a plant that grows well in my garden beds, or if it is kid friendly or not. i read somewhere that it might create an allergic reaction if handled? anyone?
3 comments:
Rachelle,
I have been vegetable/herb/flower gardening in boring 4 foot wide by 20-25 feet long. I did it to be practical and was thinking I should come up with a more interesting plan. This year, I did lay down soaker hoses and have been very glad to have the beds this way. A 50 foot hose goes down and back each bed. I just attached the regular hose to the bed I want to water on any particular evening. I posted about snakes today, but I'm glad they weren't 4 feet long. Too bad if yours did see his last day. Maybe it was approaching anyway and that lead him to vary his normal routine and end up at your house.
Try some Cannas or Canna Lillies. They ain't really a lilly but a banana relative that likes cool climates. They survive anything & make a good border plant. They come in a lot of different colours & being popular - particularly amongst Italians - they are easy to get for nothing. The trick is to keep them thinned-out - by splitting rhizomes - & pruned of ratty leaves. Try swapping the rhizomes with other gardeners so you can mix up colours.
Btw about sage, there is a psychoactive member of the Salvia family, Salvia divinorum, also known as Diviner's Sage. It comes from Mexico though. The family in general has been used medicinally for centuries. I think the active agent is salvinorin A. Maybe you could look that up in relation to kids or something.
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