Hi, I just moved into my new house in Coquitlam, BC and am wanting to beautify my front yard and backyard. I work really long hrs and don't have a ton of time for gardening. So I'm looking for low maintenance plants to put in that will brighten up the place.... I LOVE color, so maybe some type of wild flowers or bushes or...I don't know.... I'm VERY new to the gardening thing as I have never had a place where I can plant anything, but Im excited to learn! Thanks in advance for any info! I've also included a link to some pictures of the house front yard and back... http://joshawesomes.blogspot.com/2009/08/my-house.html
Not everything listed at the end is fully hardy here or drought-tolerant, but otherwise this piece is pretty good. http://www.colvoscreeknursery.com/plantnotes.html The author has been practicing landscape architecture here for decades and for many years had a delightful garden made out of a non-irrigated field that displayed hundreds of kinds of plants. Basic planting procedure was to plant in fall and let the winter rains water them in. Water was available but seldom used.
Ron B, what a great link. I have bookmarked it for future reference as next year I'm going to revitalize my back garden. Thank you
Congratulations on the new home! I took a peek at your blog and you seem a creative type so I'm sure you'll love gardening and building the layers of form, texture and colour . May I suggest that you live in your place for a while to learn about the garden - light and water etc, before planting a lot of stuff? That said, it's only August and if you can find them you could plant some vegetables. Look into ornamental grasses - they fill in quickly and many are drought tolerant.
Ron B - thanks for the link. I've started to read thru the site and can't wait to read more. Mike lee of colvos Creek Nursery hasn't put out a book or anything has he? Growing4it - Thanks for the ornamental grass suggestion.. do you happen to know any good ones that are drought resistant? I'm super stoked about gardening after seeing what some people do with their gardens... It's like a living canvas!
I find bulb plants are great for low maintenance and you can plant them under other plants like grasses and low shrubs to come up through. There is an endless varity of form, colour and size to choose from. I find the pacific bulb society is a good place to look for ideas of what might look good. http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/HomePage Goo luck with the garden
Growing4it - Thanks for the ornamental grass suggestion.. do you happen to know any good ones that are drought resistant? I'm super stoked about gardening after seeing what some people do with their gardens... It's like a living canvas![/QUOTE] See what's available at Your local garden centre. Plants typically come with very descriptive labels. I would look at a maiden grass Miscanthus spp for one side of the front stairs. There are many varieties that differ in height and some come with stripes. If you are ready to commit, a tree might also look nice at the corner of the house and set away from the building and roof - think about how much sun the front yard gets and how moist the soil and think about framing the view looking out of the window. One of my favourite grasses is Northern Sea Oats Chasmanthium latifolia with its beautiful seed heads and it's shade tolerant. You probably don't want to block the lower windows but will want some privacy - so I would expect that some low plants set back from the windows will give you privacy and something to look at. Golden Hakone Grass is a low growing, graceful grass that might look very nice along the low windows Hakonechloa macra 'Aurea. A broadleaf evergreen like salal Gaultheria shallon would make a nice contrast to the golden grass. How's the front lawn - it looks really dry in the photos. Would watering help it recover?
I really like Sems False Spirea Grows to about 4 feet Height and spread. leaves start out red turn to yellow and green with white flowers before yellow autumn colour. Easy to grow and although it is officially listed as a sucker, I have had not had a single sucker yet.
http://www.northscaping.com/Tools/LPS-Engine.asp?CCID=10000000&page=pdp&PID=4066 A link to more information
This is wicked! I never thought I'd get the amount of information I've been given by posting here, so Thank you all very much. Greerish - Thanks for the bulb suggestion and the website I'll definitely look into it.... Gorwing4it - Wow thats great.. some REALLY beautiful grasses and lots of color in them as well.. I absolutely love the look of the golden hakone grass, the color, the shape... gorgeous! as for watering the front lawn.. yea it is very dry... It's pretty much all weeds(dandelions) so i haven't bothered watering it much.... is it worth it to try and keep the lawn watered so that when I tear it all up and replace with new plants the soil is better? or will it even make a difference? I should probably look into getting a basic gardening book for all the small things that I have no idea about... anyone have any good suggestions? Kevindunbar - The colors in that plant are really nice... and the fact that it changes so much throughout the seasons is great! Thanks for the link, is that site all mostly northwest plants? Either way, i will definitely be doing a read through, looks good!
