Foundation bed redo
This is how the foundation bed looked last fall. Lantana, Mexican bush sage, Lindheimer muhly grass, and skeletonleaf goldeneye combined for a great show—but only in one season. Last Sunday I tore much of it out.
Sooner than expected, I found a ‘Wonderful’ pomegranate, the sought-after focal point of my redesigned foundation bed, so I spent Wednesday afternoon planting it and arranging companion plants. What could be more fun than redesigning a bed? Not too much, by my reckoning.
One might assume, like my husband, that this bed was perfectly acceptable before (see photo above). In fact, it was perfectly acceptable—even, in fall, quite pretty. But I’d grown tired of the sprawling mass of lantana, which, like the other plants in that bed, only became attractive in late summer and fall. A redbud I’d planted in that bed to shade the front windows was also boring me, plus I had just realized that it would eventually outgrow the space and shade out my sunny front garden. To top it all off, the straight-edge line of this bed, created by previous owners, offended me.
Destruction. The old straight-line edge is still visible here, but curving the steel edging would give the bed a more graceful look.
And so it happened that one sunny, late-winter day, my husband wandered outside to find me grubbing perfectly healthy plants out of the soil and pulling up the steel edging.
“Why are you destroying the garden?” he asked in bemused wonderment.
“Honey,” I replied, “this is called creation.”
The redbud, lantana, skeletonleaf goldeneye, and a cigar plant have been removed, in this photo. The bicolor iris in the corner went next, and then I moved the big muhly to the right side of the bed, near the weeping yaupon. I decided to leave in place the trio of roly-poly dwarf yaupons along the foundation. These were the builder’s selection, I suspect, and though planted too close to the house, they do provide some winter interest.
After destruction comes creation. The new ‘Wonderful’ pomegranate anchors the left-center. On the far left, a feathery bamboo muhly replaces the ragged bicolor iris. A mere placeholder, the Mexican feathergrass in front of the downspout is a volunteer that I moved to this spot until the bamboo muhly fills in. In the front left, I’m trying African aloe, a tender South African native used to great effect in the David-Peese garden. (The apron of gravel around it is meant to prevent rot where I expect the aloe to fill in. Though I know it looks weird right now, I hope it will be invisible in a season or two.) To the right of the aloe, a replanted cigar plant will play off the pomegranate’s red-orange color come fall.
To the right of the pomegranate, a staggered line of fall performers includes a new Miscanthus sinensis ‘Yaku Jima’, an existing Salvia leucantha, a replanted Lindheimer muhly, and a couple of ivory Salvia greggiis in front of the weeping yaupon. I plan to add another low grower or two in front of these, either evergreen or with early spring interest.
Passersby—or readers of Digging, perhaps—may look at my redo and muse, “What was she thinking? That doesn’t look like much.” It does not, as yet. But in my mind, it looks quite different. You gardeners know what I’m talking about, right?
As an experiment, I played around with some photos in Microsoft Paint to create a collage that represents—in a fragmented, Picasso-esque way—what I hope to see here in a couple of years.
A Microsoft Paint-imagining of the replanted foundation bed.
I look forward to seeing if this bed comes together in the way I’m imagining. Garden design is unlike other forms of design in that you’re working with living organisms. Plants grow. Some thrive. Some fail. Some tyrannize, and others sulk. You’re never quite sure what will happen, for good or ill. For me, that unfolding mystery is half the fun of garden design.
Oh my goodness. I can’t help but laugh at your ‘future’ pastiche. That’s precious.
Very cool. You even have a pomegranite!
Yep. I was happy to have a place for one. —Pam
Hi Pam,
Lovely blog. A gardeners work is never done, is it? You keep getting new ideas and things you want to try out. I’m curious to see how this new part of your garden will develop, especially the pomegranate.
BTW your house looks very pretty too.
Thanks for visiting, Yolanda. I’ve been enjoying your Netherlands garden thanks to your blog too. —Pam
I certainly know as a gardener that the “It doesn’t look like much now” is fleeting, here it is very fleeting. I always hold my breath a bit when putting in new landscapes for clients and say, Ok I am done. Except for your winter brown it looks much the same, with all that open space. The clients want and are thinking they are going to get your Paint mockup NOW.
Those who refuse to listen to proper plant spacing often admit within two years that I was right.
Grasses are so not used in landscapes here because of sugarcane, cattle and so many tropical plant choices. The one Pennisetum I did use in my own garden for a while was declared a noxious weed by the state. I finally killed the mother plant when the garden matured. It took up too much space. I left a few in the lawn that I would mow around, back when I had a lawn. I wonder if I will ever become a real fan of grasses.
It’s interesting that Hawaiians don’t generally grow ornamental grasses. Along with seemingly everyone else, I’ve become a huge fan of them, and for years I’ve used the native grasses (pine muhly, Lindheimer muhly, Gulf muhly, Mexican feathergrass) exclusively. This will be my second try with a pennisetum. They tend to want more water than the muhlies and feathergrass, but they’re so beautiful I decided to give them a try. I’ll see how it goes.
Maybe when you’re gardening in the Blue Ridge Mountains you’ll discover some ornamental grasses that you love. —Pam
It will be interesting to see how the pomegranate balances the yaupon, since it has smaller leaves and a different shape to the branches. I love redbuds, but have a feeling this new combination will be more pleasing somehow.
The Salvia leucantha/Lantana combo always looks spectacular as a photo of flowers so it will be odd without them. On the other hand, it’s pretty cool having grasses there at the house, echoing the grasses out at the entrance to the courtyard. And your path has more definition with the sprawlers gone. It will be fun to see the photos as this area develops!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
I think the grasses, while less colorful, will have more all-season interest than the lantana. But I will miss the pumpkin-orange lantana. If only I had more room in my garden, I’d also love to grow ‘Irene’ lantana. Gorgeous! —Pam
I loved the color combination in the *old* bed, but understand your wanting something new and less sprawling. I hope it will be as pretty as you imagine it to be in your *gardener’s eye*. Must be nice to be able to work in the garden almost year round – I’m jealous!
Thanks, Laura. This is the time of year I really like to work in the garden. The fall is good too. But the summer is just too hot. I wilt when it gets into the 90s by 10 am, and 100 degrees by noon. And so do the plants. The only gardening I try to do in the summer is a perennial trimming about mid-summer. —Pam
Where did you get the pomegranate? I was going to plant one a couple of months ago and I still haven’t gotten around to it. If I’m going to do it this year I better do it soon.
Good ole’ Barton Springs Nursery. They just got a shipment of ‘Wonderful’ this week, but they also have the dwarf ‘Nana’ variety.
The Natural Gardener has tall bareroot ‘Wonderful’s, but they were getting a shipment of potted ones on Monday, I believe. —Pam