I need some ideas on some plants to go beside my steps, I have a deck that is about 3 ft off the ground. On one side I only have room for 1 plant, on the other side is where my mulch bed and other plants are. (I bought the house and all the plants are pre-existing). Currently there are a bush type plant on each side of the step, but I read they grow up to 6ft tall and I've been here a year and they are already starting to take over the steps. Any suggestions are welcome.
You probably need to prune that bush, pehaps annually. Identifying it would help to figure out how best and when best to do that. As for other selections, you are probably best to go to a garden centre or nursery and look around at what they have. Determine in advance what kind of plant you want - what approximate shape, evergreen or not, and flowering or not. Determine what light exposure the plants will have. The nursery staff will likely be able to steer you to the best plants for your needs, depending on your taste.
Is it shady? sunny? 6 hours of direct sun or less? Is the soil poor and gravelly or moist and fertile? Does it drain quickly or pool up in winter? Do you want something that flowers? Evergreen in winter? How high? Will you prune or leave it be? Answer me these questions first and then I can make some suggestions.
The area does receive about 6 hr or more of direct sunlight. The soil is a clay like soil and moist, is part of the mulch bed. The area does drain quickly. I was thinking something evergreen. If it needs pruning then I will prune. Thanks!
Okayy- Tiny rhodos or evergreen azaleas will give you some flowers and stay short. (like, under 2 feet.) 'Ramapo' has light purple flowers and stays really wee and round-a personal favourite of mine. Arctostaphylos uva ursi (kinnikinnick, bearberry) is a native, very short, evergreen with eensy white flowers and red berries. Seriously low maintenance, more like a ground cover. (The leaves are medicinally useful, too.) Easy to find. Gaultheria shallon (Salal) is another evergreen native that really needs no fussing. It will give you edible, though bland, blackish berries. Pieris (many varieties.) gives good spring colours. Many varieties of juniper and cedar are available in many heights in colours from quite blue to very yellow. You could try interspersing some bulbs with more static evergreens to give you some seasonal colour. Just add some sand to the soil when planting bulbs (you say the soil is clay-ey). Bulbs need drainage more than anything else to succeed in the long term, so I always add a good layer of sand around my bulbs when planting. And bonemeal, of course. Take a look at the eventual height of the bulbs when planting to match the height of the steps as they go and you'll get a nice perennial border. As for bulbs.. too many to list but here's some..narcissi, frittilarias, tulips (buy species tulips if you want them to come back reliably,) crocuses (there's spring and autumn blooming varieties), snowdrops, lilies of all kinds, Irises, Crocosmia, Perhaps a few asters or short dahlias in there for fall bloom? Blueberries are another undervalued shrubby ornamental. They give you lots of berries, lovely fall colour and don't grow much above 4 feet. Oh, yeah, and hellebores. They're just ending their bloom now but gee it's great to have an evergreen that blooms in February. Tolerant of just about anything but having their roots disturbed. Just a few ideas to start you off...Hope it's useful. Happy planting.
