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Hi, new here! Looking for advice from some experts.
I just dug out a bunch of overgrown chinese privet in my back yard. It was probably 50 years old, and it was in huge trees that created a very pretty natural island that the birds and rabbits loved - but the privet itself is of course invasive, and it was popping up everywhere in my yard, and so I wanted to get it down. But I miss having a natural, wild island back there, and I want to replant.
To replant, I want stuff that can just sort of grow wild back there without invading my yard / my neighbors yards. It needs to be plants that are pretty carefree, that can survive without watering (other than rain) once established, tolerate drought - and it should be stuff that birds / butterflies / bees will like. It would be nice if it could shelter the rabbits that were living there. And I was hoping to stick with native plants. Oh, and nothing too toxic, I have a 1 year old, and this is not far from my vegetable garden and blueberry bushes.
I've been thumbing through the Southern Living Garden Book, and searching the plant files here, and I have made a list of plants that I think might work. But I'm new to this, and I only know these plants from pictures and descriptions in books and on the internet. So, I'd love to tap into your expertise. Do you guys have any thoughts on this list?
Virginia Sweetspire
Ohio Spiderwort
Bowman's Root
Beebalm (Wild Bergamot)
Tall Black Eyed Susan
Simpson Rosinweed
Oakleaf Hydrangea
Red Chokeberry
American Beautyberry
Mountain Laurel
Hop-tree
I was going to plant maybe one of each in the ~ 40' x 8' "L" shaped area, with the shorter stuff on the southern side and the taller stuff in back, and let them go wild. Can you think of other stuff that might work?
Is it okay to plant this stuff now? Do I need to wait for the fall?
And, do you know of a good way to get native plants? It seems like some of these might be things I could trade other gardeners for - just not sure how to find people. I swear I think I notice some of these plants in my neighborhood, but not sure how long it would take to regrow these from cuttings - I might just want to buy bigger plants to hurry things up.
I live in Decatur, GA. I've been into vegetable gardening for several years now - landscape plants are a new interest. I've got spring fever or something, I dream of gardening lately! I'm happy for whatever advice you can share with me.
This message was edited Feb 26, 2009 3:05 PM
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