fence line planting

[rainbowgardener]

My fence line plantings are ornamental, but also a native plants, pollinator, attract beneficial insects garden. So far it has elderberry, gayfeather, bee balm, lemon balm, annual salvia, hawthorn, dogwood, purple coneflower, black eyed susan, penstemon, poke berry, helianthus, day lily, azalea, milkweed, coreopsis, iron weed, yarrow, serviceberry, tansy. (Whew!).

So all you native plant folks, anything that's missing that I really should add? I do want a couple more small flowering shrubs. That fence faces south and it's the best sun for all my veggie gardens, so I don't want anything more than about five feet tall. Thanks!

The border, which is just a little ditch with the dirt thrown on top of the flower bed, is just roughed in right now, I will fix curves better later. This is all new plantings begun last summer....

[pinksand]

What about milkweed? I'm sure I'll have swamp or butterfly weed seeds to share in the fall if you wanted some! Maybe baptista or shrubby st john's wort?

For shrubs... what about one of the dwarf varieties of ninebark like 'Little Devil' to add some dark leaves for contrast? Fothergilla is probably one of my absolute favorite shrubs for a compact space like that! The color is just unbeatable in the fall and I think their unique blooms are really fun in the spring. Maybe one of the smaller varieties of sweetspire like 'Little Henry'?

[applestar]

Oooh great suggestions. Let's see.... what about summer sweet? There are dwarf varieties. I want the red/pink flowered one since I already have the white species.

[ElizabethB]

RBG - my unsolicited 2 cents. I would not plant against a fence line. 18" - 24' buffer zone between the plants and the fence. Maybe more depending on the mature size of your plants. Figure mature width plus 12" to 18". The fence will impede the growth of your plants and your plants will spill over into your neighbor's yard. A buffer zone will also provide a run for your dogs.

Digging by hand is arduous work. Consider renting a tiller for the back breaking work.

I am not suggesting re-working what you have done but consider pulling the rest of your beds away from the fence.

[pinksand]

Oooh great suggestions. Let's see.... what about summer sweet? There are dwarf varieties. I want the red/pink flowered one since I already have the white species.

I just planted a 'Ruby Spice' this spring! It's in full sun and has done really well so far. The white one I have is in a much shadier spot and has always done well too, they seem very tolerant! I always see their yellow leaves advertised as pretty in the fall, but mine hasn't been particularly showy... maybe it will be in more sun?

[rainbowgardener]

Way too small an area to bother with a tiller and I don't mind physical labor.

It all will be reworked, because eventually I want it twice as deep. But I didn't have the plants to fill that in and I can't afford to just go buy tons of plants. So it will gradually get bigger (and plants will get moved around) as I acquire more stuff to fill it in.

Great shrub suggestions everyone. I like them all -- summersweet, sweet spire, fothergilla, and purple ninebark. In fact, I had all of those planted in my Cincinnati garden that I left behind! (As well as spice bush, another possibility). The fothergilla didn't do very well for me, but it was in way too shady a spot.

I want to plant some little bluestem and and maybe a couple more grasses.

[pinksand]

I just have to say that EVERYONE needs some Ruby Spice summersweet in their life! Mine is finally blooming and it really puts my white one to shame... Even the pollinators seem more drawn to the pink flowers. It's definitely a new favorite in my garden, so if you have the option and pink works with your color scheme I'd definitely spring for Ruby, she's gorgeous!

[imafan26]

I would take the tansy out. Tansy is toxic to animals and you said that there are horses next door.
https://www.ars.usda.gov/pacific-west-a ... -jacobaea/

It is a nice bed but I would move some of the larger shrubs further away from the fence. It really depends on how your neighbor feels about the shrubs going through the fence.

[rainbowgardener]

Yeah in the fall I am going to re-do the fence line plantings and expand it.

There is a horse ranch behind us, but the horses can't get in our yard. (and it is ONE tansy plant)

[imafan26]

That's good as long as it is not allowed to go to seed. There was a state owned water ditch on the other side of the fence at the farm that tansy grew on. When the goats were really hungry they would eat whatever they could reach and it probably caused the death of one of the goats.

[Ksk]

My native picks and a few others that do well once established
I find the hard part is getting some height as many have a low habit.

Russian sage - bee magnet - might get invasive
Cherry sage - hummers love it
Gaura - delicate and gorgeous - cage until woody else rabbit food
Hollyhocks - bees - some heirlooms are gorgeous and have more smell - they are also tall along your fence
Lavender for bees.
Have you thought of sage from the vegitable garden. Big and beautiful.
Good luck

[rainbowgardener]

cherry sage is a US native plant, but it is native to the dry southwest. I don't think it counts as native for me and I'm not sure it would survive our 3+ inches of rain a month, year around. There are a bunch of different gauras, but I think mostly also dry country natives. But they are in the same genus Oenothera as evening primrose, which I do have growing there. None of the rest is native.

I do have annual scarlet sage (Salvia coccinea) growing there. I have culinary sage in containers elsewhere.

I haven't updated this for awhile. I do keep adding stuff. I planted a penstemon and an anise hyssop. Granted the hyssop is also a US native that is not native in my area, but I love it for my herbal tea blends, so I am being flexible

The fence line where these are planted faces south and it's where my best sun comes from, so I don't want anything that will get much taller than the fence.

[Ksk]

Interesting. I am in 7b as well but we get less rain than that.
Sounds great.