Posts Tagged ‘deer proof perennials’

“Good things come for those who wait….”

My admiration for Baptisia took a couple of years to develop.  It certainly wasn’t love at first sight since  first year plants were spindly and I thought it was never going to amount to much. The second year  this sun perennial started to take off and I began to see its merits both as a drought proof flowering perennial and its shrub-like habit.

Garden Design with Baptisia

Baptisia is worth a place in any garden.  Here’s why:

1)  Baptisia helps anchor the back of the border.  It is an excellent choice as a small shrub alternative due to its size, shape and some pretty spectacular foliage that stay attractive all season.
2) No serious insect or disease problems.
3) Seldom bothered by deer.
4) Drought proof once established.
5) Maintenance –  Easy – Just cut back in fall or spring

Stunning lupine-like violet-blue flowers in spring are loved by butterflies

More on Baptisia

• Baptisia grows 3-4 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide
• Hardy perennial – Zone 4-9
• Thrives in full sun to part shade
• Stunning, violet-blue lupine-like flowers in late spring
• Plump seeds pods turn charcoal black when ripe and can be used in dried arrangements
• Prefers a moist, humus soil
• Needs good drainage
• Develops deep taproots – not for the serial plant mover – best to leave alone.
  

  The dried seed pods of Baptisia lend themselves to craft projects & dried flower arrangements

I like the fact it won the prestigious 2010 Perennial Plant of the Year award.  There’s a lot of new flower colors that are rocking the garden world. I personally love an old fashioned variety called  B. australis because there is so little true blue perennial flower color.  This is a true beauty of a garden plant in or out of flower  providing interest, color, and structure  from spring-fall in the perennial garden.

Find out more about Baptisia

Galium or Sweet Woodruff is a low growing shade groundcover with supersonic coverage. I personally love this groundcover because it does all the work for me (great for the lazy gardener in me).  Galium keeps the weeds down, looks pretty all season and sometimes give me more than what I bargain for.

This hardy, herbaceous shade loving perennial grows 8-12” tall and produces a thick green mat of handsome foliage from spring-fall.  Hundreds of small, dainty white flower clusters infuse light in dark areas of the shade garden in early summer.

Easy Control

You might want to consider providing a sturdy barrier such as lawn edging to keep this shade loving traveler from getting out of control.

If Sweet Woodruff starts to get to a destination I don’t want, I simply reach for my shovel and start spading out chunks  or I just start to grab handfuls (the roots are very shallow)  and start ripping away .  Sound ruthless?  You bet, since the remaining plants are never the worse for wear and it takes barely no time at all.

Tough shade groundcover for tough areas

Sweet Woodruff will be much more restrained in poorer soil and

difficult to grow areas such as beneath Oak or black walnut trees.  They are also deer & drought proof.

Pleasing Fragrance

Sweet Woodruff is an herb and makes a very quick, inexpensive vanilla-scented car freshener.  Just put a couple of sprigs in the dashboard and enjoy!

Look for fast coverage in a shade garden?  Maybe Galium is just the right groundcover for you!

Astilbe Visions is one of the most FRAGRANT groundcovers that thrive in shade and moist soils.  Graceful, colorful raspberry flowers create a bold statement in midsummer growing 15″ tall.

Delightful when planted in groupings near a walkway where you can really enjoy their fragrance.  I love to combine spiky Astilbe with bold leaf Hostas here in my former Michigan garden where they make a wonderful contrast.  When not in bloom Astilbe makes a superb carpet of elegant green foliage which nicely bridges my larger Hosta plants keeping the weeds at bay while filling in the garden.

After flowering you can trim down the flower stalks or leave them for winter interest.  I’ve grown a wide number of Astilbes over my gardening years, and Visions remains one of my favorite for ease of growing, fragrance, colorful flowers and attractive foliage.

If you want to prevent people from walking through your landscape and/or keep them on a defined pathway  you want a low growing hedge plant like Buddleia Blue Chip.

Blue Chip Buddleia is a hedge plant with a non-hedge look with its long flowering blooms that start in mid-summer and last well into fall with no need to deadhead or prune.

Buddleia Blue Chip is a compact deciduous shrub that grows about 30” tall by 24” wide with fragrant re blooming blue flowers that beckon butterflies & hummingbirds. This cold hardy flowering shrub is a new miniature butterfly bush that works well in a narrow spot.

This planting is near the office  entry at Spring Meadow Nursery.  How nice it must be walking to and from work and being greeted by hordes of butterflies!

Benefits of  Blue Chip (Lo & Behold) Buddleia:

• Create a  hedge plant barrier that prevents people from walking through your landscape
• Highly versatile flowering shrub
• Tolerant of road salts
• Highly deer proof
• Drought tolerant once established
• Easy Care
• Cold hardy to Zone 5

Whether your are defining a pathway, screening out undesirable views, it is hard to beat the overall beauty and  one time investment of easy to grow Buddleia Blue Chip

What a great way to great summer guests and keep them on a defined pathway to your office or your home.

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Hakonechloa produces a gorgeous mound of narrow, arching leaves  that is useful for bringing bright color to the shade garden. It has a graceful, almost tropical like habit and is considered by some to be one of the most stunning groundcovers for the shade garden. Two of the more popular varieties include  bright gold leaf All Gold and Aureola which has gold leaves with stripes of bright green.

I’ve known gardeners that have been  successful with growing Hakonechloa and others who struggle growing this shade loving groundcover.  Essentially, this is a slow growing shade perennial that takes more than a couple of years to become mature.

Design Tips

Hakonechloa works well in so many shade settings as a foliage plant. Use it singly, in containers, or mass as a ground cover in front of a shady border.  For inspiring design ideas & photography check out  Design Ideas with Hakonechloa –Elegant Shade Ground Cover. Since you get 3 seasons of foliage color it combines terrific with various colors of Heuchera.

1o Tips on Growing the most beautiful Hakonechloa ever!

1)     Soil. It thrives in a rich, somewhat acidic soil in well drained site. If you give them average soil, they will be small to average in size.

2)     Planting. Dig a hole 3 times the height & width of your container and fill in with good organic matter.  Take the time to do this because it will make a difference

3)    Exposure. Full sun to part shade.  Hakonechloa grows well in full sun (in the north anyway) Protect from the hot afternoon sun.

4)    Water. Hakonechloa require lots of moisture. Water frequently the first year. If you have an irrigation system – terrific.

5)    Keep away from tree roots. Best to plant near but not directly under trees or large shrubs. Depending on the type, tree & shrub roots are moisture & nutrient robbers.  Plants often will stay small and often struggle if competing with neighboring roots.

6)    Keep roots cool. Plant in a location where they will receive shade during the hottest part of the day.   Use 3” of mulch after planting to keep roots cool until plants become established.

7)   Feeding. Use a slow release fertilizer such as Osmocote according to package directions.

8)    Don’t cut back in the fall. If you are in a northern climate, wait until spring to either cut back or rake away previous year’s growth.

9)    Winter protection. My friend, Barb is a landscape designer in Minnesota (Zone 4) and use LOTS of Hakonechloa is in her garden design.  She uses pine boughs as a winter mulch. She has always been successful overwintering these plants.

10)   Planting & Spacing. I’ll often space Hakonechloa closer than other groundcovers (8-10” apart).  That way they fill in faster.  Plant in the spring so roots can establish themselves and be patient.

Container Growing

My friend Jayne, grows Hakonechloa in containers in her Zone 4 garden.  Here are her tips for container growing:

• Use drip irrigation  (keeps the plants  evenly moist)
• Slow Release liquid feed
• Replace soil every 2 years
• Bury the pots & cover with pine boughs for the winter

Growing Hakonechloa is a bit like reading Tolstoy’s War & Peace.  It is a bit of an undertaking, but don’t  let these proven  growing tips intimidate you from growing this magnificent shade loving groundcover in your perennial garden.

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