Need ideas for plants (colour/height) for tall house.

Discussion in 'Outdoor Gardening in the Pacific Northwest' started by emandeli, Jan 27, 2010.

  1. emandeli

    emandeli Member

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    We live on Vancouver Island, and I am not sure yet what zone I am in. I am a newbie gardener. We are moving to a house at the end of Feb that is quite large and barnlike. It is lacking colour, andneeds some bushes pruned and such.

    I would like to know some ideas for plants/flowers to grow that might help with adding a pop of colour around the house and help offset the height of this building. I am going to assume we need to plants some flowers that grow taller?

    What do you think?

    Any other sprucing up ideas for us? Ie/where to put some pots, hanging pots?

    Many thanks!!
     

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  2. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    It's a lovely house. I'd be tempted to grow edible vines on top of it - things like Passiflora incarnata (Maypops), Akebia quinata, and hardier Kiwis. They'd help offset the height of the house and also provide tasty crops. For winter, you'll probably want some evergreens; I'm fond of Junipers.
     
  3. joclyn

    joclyn Rising Contributor

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    need to know what zone you're in. also, what direction does each side face and how much sun does each side get throughout the day?
     
  4. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Liable to be USDA 8, unless well up into the mountains. Use evergreen shrubs to soften and frame the building, herbaceous (non-woody) plants do not have enough meat on them for this purpose. You can have both flowers and bulk in one by planting broad-leaved evergreen shrubs rather than coniferous ones.

    To see how to use different categories of garden plants in mixed planting, look for Grant/Grant, Garden Design Illustrated at a library or used book vendor.
     
  5. emandeli

    emandeli Member

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    I looked up our zone and it looks to be zone 7.

    Thanks for the ideas!
     
  6. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Depends on which zone system you are using, and if you are using an accurate way of determining which zone in that system you are in. I find, for example that zip code based zone finders on web sites put me in the wrong (USDA) zone.
     
  7. 1950Greg

    1950Greg Active Member

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    Location:
    Langley, B.C. Stones throw from old HBC farm.
    One tall perennial you could look at would be Rudbeckia laciniata (Cut leaf coneflower) It flowers later in the season but grows to 6-8 ft. high and hardy. You could also look at some roses along the lines of some ramblers or climbers which give you faster results. The Kew rambler is a hardy rose that comes to mind and can grow over a 20 Ft. span all though only blooms once but holds its flower quite long.http://www.helpmefind.com/gardening/l.php?l=2.3612&tab=36
     

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  8. emandeli

    emandeli Member

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    I like that coneflower and I think it had the height we are looking for...thanks!
     
  9. leaf kotasek

    leaf kotasek Active Member

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    what about some foxloves? they're great self-sowing biennials. what about some delphiniums and hollyhocks? evening primroses are also awesome. i'd also try some grapes on the south side; they look lovely and produce food!
     
  10. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    The only thing to look out for with grapes is that they attract wasps....
     
  11. leaf kotasek

    leaf kotasek Active Member

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    it does make sense that grapes would attract wasps, but i've never had a problem. i suppose it depends where you are and (maybe?) what kind of grapes you grow?

    anyway, emandeli, i think you'll need to add a vertical dimension to your garden to compliment the design of your house. evergreen shrubs, vines and windowboxes may be good idea. :)
     
  12. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Perhaps. I was in Edmonton growing Concordes, and they brought the yellowjackets like you would not believe.
     
  13. leaf kotasek

    leaf kotasek Active Member

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    dude, that's not cool. the yellowjackets, i mean. i may never've had a problem with wasps all over my grapes, but blackberries can be brutal! i'll always love them, though.

    emandeli, just thought i'd mention ivy cuz it's a no-brainer. it would look rad, but it's invasive and destructive, so please don't do it! :D
     
  14. Charles Richard

    Charles Richard Active Member 10 Years

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    We have a couple tall walls on our house and we attached wooden trellises (a couple inches away from siding) with screws, so that we could remove to stain siding when required.
    We have a Actinidia 'Kolomikta' (has beautiful varigated leaves with white, pink and a sivlery color on half or whole leaf). It is beautiful and easy to manage.
    We planted female varieties as they show more color. (Had the male ones first and did not show much color)
    We have a Paeony Lutea 'ludlowii' against the house which is about 6'-7'ft tall. Full of single yellow flowers in the summer and the foliage is quite attractive.
    I took two cotoneasters that where given to me 15yrs. ago and trained them onto a similar trellis and they are pruned like a big fan. I have never tried to identify them as for species. They tend to grow flat, small leaves and good fall interest with the berries.
     
  15. leaf kotasek

    leaf kotasek Active Member

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    that sounds rad, charles! and clematis might look good, too. i used to grow clematis on trellises all over the walls of my house. you can get varieties that bloom at different times and the flowers are stunning!
     
  16. 1950Greg

    1950Greg Active Member

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    When your building the trellis its a wise idea to construct it so it's at least 18-24 inches away from the house so you can still take care of minor maintenance. just a comment from someone who has to deal with plants too close to buildings.
     
  17. emandeli

    emandeli Member

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    Thanks for the tip about leaving the trellis away from the house. I thought about having some on the sides of the door or somwhere to help add some colour... I cannot stand Ivy so don't worry! I remember trying to kill it at an older place we lived at...it took forever.
    Actually there are grapes along a fence from where the photo is taken (of the front of the house)....we had grapes before up a trellis and around a porch (different house) and not too bad with the wasps...except we did break up two wasp nests so perhaps it would have been problematic ...

    Do you think we should add a couple hanging baskets off big hooks on the front entrance? It seems sooo bare...not quite sure what to do about it.
     

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