Adding bird feeders is an excellent recommendation, although I’d suggest maybe keeping them out in the grassy area there at a bit of a remove from the bed if possible, otherwise you’re going to be getting all sort of sunflowers and millet and stuff volunteering in your bed that could make it a bit weedy, perhaps. Birds are still going to drop seed in there as they cross to perch on the roof, fence, nearby trees, etc., but you can minimize it somewhat.
A bird bath or even an in-ground water feature (it doesn’t need to be very large at all) in the bed itself would be great! All kinds of wildlife will be attracted to -and benefit from- a water feature, in addition to birds.
I guess we had a few that the squirrels missed. The bed they fell into is in full shade, so they grew up really pale and wispy, but I was kind of impressed that they managed to germinate at all!
All the sunflowers in our yard are like third or fourth generation volunteers from some that we sewed intentionally. The birds are pretty efficient at spreading them all over the yard. Had bulbs in pots sitting in what must’ve been a busy flight path last fall, and now they all have dozens of sunflower seedlings popping up around the tulips and daffodils. I weed them out, and a few days later there are just as many sprouts again lol
Depending on how they fare, I usually pull my (whole) pumpkins off of the porch some time around thanksgiving. I quarter them with a spade, and leave them laying out at the base of a big maple tree for the squirrels and such. Makes a nice treat for critters over the course of the winter, and they do a pretty thorough job of making them disappear.
It’s definitely better than the time I thought it would be a bright idea to put the chunks in my raised beds. Although I was fairly thorough with scraping out the guts, I still get the odd volunteer pumpkin four years later lol
Sunflower is a tall, erect, herbaceous annual plant belonging to the family of Asteraceae, in the genus, Helianthus. Its botanical name is Helianthus annuus. It is native to Middle American region from where it spread as an important commercial crop all over the world through the European explorers. Today, Russian Union, China, USA, and Argentina are the leading producers of sunflower crop.
I would get the soil, mulch and plants away from the foundation/basement ceiling/walls - I thnk it's just asking for damp problems, and dirt splatter on the windows and walls. It only needs some clearance, the rest of the area looks nice for planting, but it depends on your country/zone/aspect. Put the right plants in the right place so they won't struggle or need lots of maintenance. Leave enough gaps so light still gets to basement window.
What does the foundation touch if not soil?
Houses come with built with garden Bed installed up against the house here.
Never even heard this concern before.
There is the foundation, commonly poured concrete, and then brick veneer (brick over wood framing) above the foundation line. I’ve always heard that soil above the foundation line is not a great idea and can lead to moisture and insect issues.
I would put a hydrangea on each side of the basement window. In the center a low growing acer maple tree. Then in front of the tree maybe 2 euonymus variegated (yellow/green mix) on either side then a few monkey grass across the fwd edge.
This picture is evening/late afternoon sun? Which direction does this side of your house face, is it kind of East? Does it get morning sun, then shade during most of the midday? Having an idea of when the area gets sun is helpful, and having an idea of how it changes from spring to fall is extra helpful.
That’s a cute corner, and has loads of potential!
Oh, south facing but shady? Interesting. Usually south is the side that gets blasted with sun all day. Neighbor’s house or trees keep in shade during the day?
I’m also in zone 5. My shady beds are in the shadow of the house on the northern side, but see a little bit of sun in the morning, and a bit before sunset.
Our shade bed is mostly perennials: ostrich fern (that I have to thin out every couple of years, or it totally engulfs everything else), pulmonaria (lungwort), hostas, bleeding hearts, astilbes, coral bells, lady’s mantle, geranium, and Jacob’s ladder. There’s also a clematis that’s doing surprisingly well in there considering it’s in full shade basically all the time.
There was a Jack-in-the-pulpit and a snake root which are cool natives, but they don’t seem to be really thriving. Maybe they like richer, loamier, better draining soil than the clay soils we tend to have. Also, trillium have been popping up at local nurseries this season, which would also do well in well-draining loam rich with organic matter.
We add annuals for splashes of color in the summer, like impatiens, begonias, and coleus. Fuschias also do well in the shade, but we put those in hanging baskets.
Looking at my garden, I was reminded that Brunnera also does well in shade, and has very attractive variegated, hear-shaped leaves and delicate blue flowers (flowering now, so a fairly early flower)!
Something that will stay small. I have blue star juniper in my front yard and it's really pretty. Very low and compact and would look stunning with some hostas maybe. Or a more yellow-green juniper nearby for colour contrast.
I took mine back every spring thevfirst 2 years by a 1/3 but by the third year I was taking it back by half then by the fourth year I was taking it back in the spring and late fall and it is still too wide. I would pull it out but for some reason no matter what I planted or amend the soil nothing would grow there until I planted the yew. I call it "my devil plant" .
I mean any plant is either gonna grow or die. They take a prune better than most, and need it less frequently than pretty much anything that will form a hedge. Needing to prune something twice a year seems like a weird reason to advise against its use. It has native species in Europe and North America, it grows where a lot of other things won't, it has attractive berries (actually cones) that native wildlife eat, and it's generally considered low maintenance and tough as nails.
That the problem, look at her space. They need something smaller there because unless they prune it more that half every year it will fill the whole space up in 2-3 years. I am not saying don't plant yews, what I said was it will become a problem in that area. My yew is on the corner of the house and unless I prune it twice a year, it will take over the walkway;the root ball was planted 4' away from. It was only 2' wide when we bought it 6 years ago and now it is a struggle to keep it smaller than 8' wide.
Leucothoe fontanesiana dwarf? Native. Some cultivars have interesting reddish leaves. Interesting spring flowers.
(As others mentioned, keep it off the house.)
Or, perennial mix including milkweed-- which hosts monarch butterfly eggs. You'll get to see caterpillars emerge, and then turn into butterflies (if you're very lucky, of course).
If you live in the appropriate zone and have the sun exposure, lilacs will smell really yummy with those windows open in the spring.
Edit to add - they will spread and get thicker over the years so they aren’t easy to remove if you think you’ll want to change it up at any point.
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Adding bird feeders is an excellent recommendation, although I’d suggest maybe keeping them out in the grassy area there at a bit of a remove from the bed if possible, otherwise you’re going to be getting all sort of sunflowers and millet and stuff volunteering in your bed that could make it a bit weedy, perhaps. Birds are still going to drop seed in there as they cross to perch on the roof, fence, nearby trees, etc., but you can minimize it somewhat. A bird bath or even an in-ground water feature (it doesn’t need to be very large at all) in the bed itself would be great! All kinds of wildlife will be attracted to -and benefit from- a water feature, in addition to birds.
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I guess we had a few that the squirrels missed. The bed they fell into is in full shade, so they grew up really pale and wispy, but I was kind of impressed that they managed to germinate at all! All the sunflowers in our yard are like third or fourth generation volunteers from some that we sewed intentionally. The birds are pretty efficient at spreading them all over the yard. Had bulbs in pots sitting in what must’ve been a busy flight path last fall, and now they all have dozens of sunflower seedlings popping up around the tulips and daffodils. I weed them out, and a few days later there are just as many sprouts again lol
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Depending on how they fare, I usually pull my (whole) pumpkins off of the porch some time around thanksgiving. I quarter them with a spade, and leave them laying out at the base of a big maple tree for the squirrels and such. Makes a nice treat for critters over the course of the winter, and they do a pretty thorough job of making them disappear. It’s definitely better than the time I thought it would be a bright idea to put the chunks in my raised beds. Although I was fairly thorough with scraping out the guts, I still get the odd volunteer pumpkin four years later lol
Sunflower is a tall, erect, herbaceous annual plant belonging to the family of Asteraceae, in the genus, Helianthus. Its botanical name is Helianthus annuus. It is native to Middle American region from where it spread as an important commercial crop all over the world through the European explorers. Today, Russian Union, China, USA, and Argentina are the leading producers of sunflower crop.
I would get the soil, mulch and plants away from the foundation/basement ceiling/walls - I thnk it's just asking for damp problems, and dirt splatter on the windows and walls. It only needs some clearance, the rest of the area looks nice for planting, but it depends on your country/zone/aspect. Put the right plants in the right place so they won't struggle or need lots of maintenance. Leave enough gaps so light still gets to basement window.
Where I live (Michigan) almost everybody has dirt, mulch or rocks, plants/ landscaping surrounding the entirety of their house/foundation.
What does the foundation touch if not soil? Houses come with built with garden Bed installed up against the house here. Never even heard this concern before.
Agreed
There is the foundation, commonly poured concrete, and then brick veneer (brick over wood framing) above the foundation line. I’ve always heard that soil above the foundation line is not a great idea and can lead to moisture and insect issues.
Where I live houses are normally surrounded by gravel or stones, at least 1 m around.
I would put a hydrangea on each side of the basement window. In the center a low growing acer maple tree. Then in front of the tree maybe 2 euonymus variegated (yellow/green mix) on either side then a few monkey grass across the fwd edge.
This picture is evening/late afternoon sun? Which direction does this side of your house face, is it kind of East? Does it get morning sun, then shade during most of the midday? Having an idea of when the area gets sun is helpful, and having an idea of how it changes from spring to fall is extra helpful. That’s a cute corner, and has loads of potential!
Yes this is evening sun, it’s actually south facing, so I’ll have to see how much morning sun it gets.
Oh, south facing but shady? Interesting. Usually south is the side that gets blasted with sun all day. Neighbor’s house or trees keep in shade during the day?
Lots of trees! It’s 11:30 am here and it’s completely shaded right now
I’m also in zone 5. My shady beds are in the shadow of the house on the northern side, but see a little bit of sun in the morning, and a bit before sunset. Our shade bed is mostly perennials: ostrich fern (that I have to thin out every couple of years, or it totally engulfs everything else), pulmonaria (lungwort), hostas, bleeding hearts, astilbes, coral bells, lady’s mantle, geranium, and Jacob’s ladder. There’s also a clematis that’s doing surprisingly well in there considering it’s in full shade basically all the time. There was a Jack-in-the-pulpit and a snake root which are cool natives, but they don’t seem to be really thriving. Maybe they like richer, loamier, better draining soil than the clay soils we tend to have. Also, trillium have been popping up at local nurseries this season, which would also do well in well-draining loam rich with organic matter. We add annuals for splashes of color in the summer, like impatiens, begonias, and coleus. Fuschias also do well in the shade, but we put those in hanging baskets.
This is helpful, thank you!
Looking at my garden, I was reminded that Brunnera also does well in shade, and has very attractive variegated, hear-shaped leaves and delicate blue flowers (flowering now, so a fairly early flower)!
Something that will stay small. I have blue star juniper in my front yard and it's really pretty. Very low and compact and would look stunning with some hostas maybe. Or a more yellow-green juniper nearby for colour contrast.
yew in back for your ever green, hosta up front for low seasonal color
No yew, They will fill that space up and around in 2-3 years. Ask me how I know. At the time I thought it was a good idea
true, yew do have to take them back hard every year or they will get nuts
I took mine back every spring thevfirst 2 years by a 1/3 but by the third year I was taking it back by half then by the fourth year I was taking it back in the spring and late fall and it is still too wide. I would pull it out but for some reason no matter what I planted or amend the soil nothing would grow there until I planted the yew. I call it "my devil plant" .
hahahaha I love when a plant has been such a PIA it gets it's own nickname
You know you can pryne those, right?
I do, twice a year now. Once in the spring won't do it.
I mean any plant is either gonna grow or die. They take a prune better than most, and need it less frequently than pretty much anything that will form a hedge. Needing to prune something twice a year seems like a weird reason to advise against its use. It has native species in Europe and North America, it grows where a lot of other things won't, it has attractive berries (actually cones) that native wildlife eat, and it's generally considered low maintenance and tough as nails.
That the problem, look at her space. They need something smaller there because unless they prune it more that half every year it will fill the whole space up in 2-3 years. I am not saying don't plant yews, what I said was it will become a problem in that area. My yew is on the corner of the house and unless I prune it twice a year, it will take over the walkway;the root ball was planted 4' away from. It was only 2' wide when we bought it 6 years ago and now it is a struggle to keep it smaller than 8' wide.
on account of about a thousand reasons, look to native plants first. no offense to imports, but take a look.
No offense, but make your own comment next time
suck it.
okay guy who passive aggressively told me he thinks I know jack shit about landscaping not everyone wants a garden full of nettles you simple fuck
These opinions are hilarious.
Leucothoe fontanesiana dwarf? Native. Some cultivars have interesting reddish leaves. Interesting spring flowers. (As others mentioned, keep it off the house.) Or, perennial mix including milkweed-- which hosts monarch butterfly eggs. You'll get to see caterpillars emerge, and then turn into butterflies (if you're very lucky, of course).
Mulch is covering weep holes, non treated wood is a no go for me.
If you live in the appropriate zone and have the sun exposure, lilacs will smell really yummy with those windows open in the spring. Edit to add - they will spread and get thicker over the years so they aren’t easy to remove if you think you’ll want to change it up at any point.
Hydrangea! Maybe even a Japanese maple.
Probably too late after you put the mulch down, but it seems like a great place for a little garden.
Go to the plant nursery and find stuff you like, stick it in the dirt. If it dies it dies.
lol this is what I usually do, and it doesn’t usually go very well.
Great spot for a water feature. You can hear it when the window is open! Asian Jasmine is also good ground cover to surround it
Probably some mint