We are doing all around the house garden. On one side we put Dwarf Goldthread cypress and weigela alternating with other perenilas in between on the one side is a shade garden, ferns, oak leaf hydrangea, astilbe, coral bells, hostas... the back was easy, very small area... now... Trying to figure out a combo for the front... it's a friend of ours and she wants to keep the price down so... I been going back and forth on ideas of barberry, inkberry holly, boxwood, some type of juniper or pine. want to keep some evergreen in the front because it hides a foot high concrete porch foundation. The open spot is 20 foot long and right now it's about 6 foot wide. After that where the porch ends to the end of the house we put in a weeping cherry, azalea's behind it and some weigela's then perenials all around that.
I really like your ideas! For low planting and ground cover I think that Junipers are the best. One of my favorites is Blue Rug Juniper, (juniperus horizontalis wiltoni) and the other is Green Mound Juniper, (juniperus procumbens nana). These two plants can be planted about 30" apart and will completely fill an area in 3-4 years. Also, once you have a few plants you can propagate them in the fall by sticking cuttings in a flat of sand in the fall. Blue Rug Juniper has a blue color and lays very flat to the ground. A very attractive ground cover. Green Mound has a mint green color and also hugs the ground very tightly, except the center of the plant is a couple of inches higher which gives the bed a bit of a rolling effect once the bed has completely grown in. Another very attractive ground cover. If you need a little more hight from your junipers to hide existing objects you can also build up your planting bed a bit before planting them. Everybody who visits our house falls in love with the junipers. They won’t do well in the shade, but they are wonderful in full or partial sun. Two more of my favorite junipers are Skyrocket and Wichita Blue. These are both upright varieties with a blue color. Skyrocket is very tall and skinny. Wichita Blue is more blue in color, and has a little more bulk to it. I hope that this information helps you out a little. I have additonal information on planning gardens on my website at www.easygardeningsecrets.blogspot.com Happy planting and lots of success with your great garden plan!
