What to do with garden bed?

[samantha_rae]

I am very new to gardening. I have no knowledge or experience with anything plant related, but I enjoy working in my new backyard.
I have two long skinny planting beds. When we moved into this house they were full of white rocks but has a small sprinkler system. I decided I didn't like to look of the white rocks and began to remove them from the hard dirt. I started loosening up the dirt, and found myself spending most of my time pulling out roots from whatever was there long ago.
Before I start with the other bed I was wondering is this was even worth my trouble. I really would love to plant something in these beds other than rocks, whether it is a veggie garden or just some nice looking plants.
These beds get about a half a day of sun, the smaller bed gets a little more I believe.

Here is the smaller one.... it's 20 inches x 67 inches
[img]https://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e330/vlcmgrl97/bed001.jpg[/img]

The larger one is 20 inches x 100 inches
[img]https://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e330/vlcmgrl97/bed002.jpg[/img]

And this is what the whole set up looks like.
[img]https://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e330/vlcmgrl97/bed003.jpg[/img]

Please let me know...
1. If I'm wasting my time.
2. What should/could I plant
3. What should I do to the soil to make it plant worthy?

Any help is much appreciated...

[Jess]

Hi samantha

You are definitely not wasting your time! How about something like alpines in those beds. You wouldn't need to add much to the soil as they like growing in poor soil just a bit of fresh compost dug in would do the trick.
https://www.hamilton.edu/images/general/RootglenMay2007002.jpg
Something like this but on a smaller scale.

[Newt]

Hi Samantha Rae,

Congratulations on your new home! It would be helpful to know your cold hardiness zone as different plants grow well in different areas of the country. I'm guessing that you are in zone 9. Here's a zip code zone finder.

It might also be helpful to know your heat zone. I suspect that is 8 or 9. You can point your mouse to the numbers of the zones at the top of this map and get a description of the climate.
https://www.sunset.com/sunset/web/Sponsors/Garden/sunsetmonrovia_r1/htmlfiles/zone_map3.html

In such a narrow width space and warm climate you might want something that flowers for a long period of time and won't get too tall. You don't want the plants growing against the wood of the house. One plant that comes to mind that blooms from the beginning of June to hard frost in my daughter's zone 7 garden is the hardy Geranium 'Rozanne'. It's the longest blooming perennial I know of. You can see it here spilling oover the edging on the corner.
https://www.sandfrauchen.de/images/geranium/Rozanne_gz_13sep06.jpg

Here's a close up of the flowers.
https://www.crownsvillenursery.com/images/GeraniumRozanne.jpg

There are probably 3 plants here.
https://www.sugarcreekgardens.com/GeraniumRozanne.htm

Here's one in a pot.
https://plants.thompson-morgan.com/product/03216/1

The low growing plant next to the Geranium in the first picture is called lambs ears aka Stachys byzantina. They have fuzzy leaves that children love to touch and get tall flower spikes that you can cut down after bloom so they don't seed all over the garden. There's a larger leafed variety that is called Stachys byzantina 'Big Ears' with larger leaves and less flowers.
https://www.uky.edu/Ag/Horticulture/gardenflowers/qrs.htg/stachysbyz.jpg
https://www.hotgardens.net/Lambs_ears_sunflower_lirope.JPG
https://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=F690

There are also some very low growing plants that are used as groundcover and often called stepables as they can take light foot traffic.
https://stepables.com/
https://classygroundcovers.com/

Lots to think about, but I think that would be a wonderful place to plant. I'd finish removing the rocks, add 3" or 4" of compost and mix it into the beds and plant.

Newt

[kkersten]

There are so many ideas to plant. Regardless of what you decide to plant, I would look for a variety of flowers that continue flowering for the majority of the summer. Whether you're looking for 1 variety of plant that flowers all summer or you're looking to intertwine neat greenery with flowers that have different flowering times. Bulbs are easy keepers and will only get more beautiful with time. Composting is a way to get some nutrients to you're soil!