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Hi all,
I am hoping you all can help me pick out some plants for some troublesome areas. I live in a brick house on a slope in Columbia, SC. I've dug out flower beds in the front of the house and on the side yard. It's taken some time, but I've eliminated the tree root problems and have put in a lot of peat moss and mushroom compost. Now I'd like to plant some things, but figuring out what is not easy and so I'm turning to you.
So, here is a list of my problems (er, challenges... yeah, challenges. :-)
Problem 1: I don't know much about gardening and what reading and research I've done only seem to make things worse. For example, I am having trouble determining what level of sun I have. (I know, right?, but it's not as easy as you might think, well, not for me, anyway). Also, I need plants that will survive my bumbling attempts to grow them - take the rose stick thing in the front yard. It got some kind of black spots on the leaf, which I took to be fungus. So I got this spray for it, but on the back of the bottle it said to cut off the parts with black spots. So now I have a rose stick thing that is close to the ground - someone told me I shouldn't have done that and now it'll probably die as it wasn't the right time to cut back.
Problem 2: I need a ground cover for my side yard. I am putting in a stone pathway. It will dip just a bit in the middle to follow the natural drainage pattern. On one side, which is all shade, I'm putting in hostas. On the other side, and between the stones, which is part shade, part sun and seems to change from day to day, I would like to put in a ground cover, but I can't figure out which one. I've looked and looked - I really like creeping jenny and periwinkle, because they are soft and pretty, but both are marked invasive. I've got enough troubles with the wisteria and ivy way in the back without creating new troubles so close to the house.
Further, I'm not sure how sturdy they are. For example, last week some time, my neighbor's kid left the hose on and of course it drained though my yard. By the time I figured it out and alerted the neighbor, the whole area was/is waterlogged. Things like this happen - I think the kid is just a kid and not a menace and my neighbor fixed it right away; I just want to make sure I plan for things.
So, a ground cover that lives wherever you put it, that is sturdy, that won't kill animals, kids, birds or me, that won't harbor rats (I read something about that and... eww), that is not prickly or poisonous, and that won't take up the foundation of the house and that will control erosion. Is that too much to ask of a ground cover?
Problem 3: In the front of the house, I would like a flower bed. This is a ranch house and looks like a shoe box, so I've come out 4 feet with the flower bed and curved around the porch to give some depth. I've dug up and amended the soil with peat moss and mushroom compost. Now I need flowers. I spent all winter researching, but couldn't figure out what to do, so I downloaded a preplanned garden http://www.bhg.com/gardening/plans/easy/foolproof-foundation... I took the plant list to the garden shop and they said it was nice, but would be sticks and twigs in winter. Their recommendation was shrubs, but I would like flowers. I like this plan because it all matches and is lush and full, so I have been trying to figure out substitutes for each plant. So far, I've gotten Confederate Jasmine instead of Clematis. I liked the daylillies, so I got them anyway, but different colors. Now what?, though, is my problem.
I am sorry this seems so whiny - I truly don't mean for it to be. Who knew it would be so hard to decide? I do like digging around a lot, surprisingly, although the tree roots are a real bear; I am hoping they grow slowly and that I don't kill any trees... I am making progress with the wisteria and ivy, although it's taking longer than I hoped. As an aside, I was in Pennsylvania last year visiting and did you know they sell a flat of ivy for $40? I figure I've got about $10K in the back...
Anyway, thanks for any advice,
shawnc
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