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Flower Bed Location

Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 6:22 pm
by Slipoftheknife
I have planted a flower bed in my front yard, zone 6a (South Eastern Massachusetts). There are two trees the bed is built around, a Maple and a Birch. It seemed the top 3 inches of the bed were composed of mulch and MANY roots from the trees, moreso on the Maple side than the Birch. There are three Hostas around each tree and Artist Blue Violet Ageratums on the outside corners of the Hostas. One the inside of the trees are two Jackie Verbascum plants. On the back half is an alternating row of Texas Bluebell Mix Lisianthus Russellianus mix and Red New Guinea Impatients with an Orange Symphony Oseterospermum hybrid in the middle of the row. On the front half of the bed is another row of the Impatients and Texas Bluebells and this time with two Orange Symphonies on the ends of that row. Just wondering what people think of the arangement and selection of plants. With the bed being so overrun by a root system will the plants survive? Also are there any plants in there that will die due to the winter season around here? Thank you for all your help



~N00b Gardener


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[img]https://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f373/lilhvenqt/BedBackHalf.jpg[/img]

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Posted: Sat Jul 29, 2006 1:56 am
by Newt
Hi Slip,
Just wondering what people think of the arangement and selection of plants.
Please don't feel that I'm being critical, just to be critical, with my suggestions. Everyone sees their garden differently and has their own taste. With that said I would do a few things differently. My first concern is for the trees. Soil and/or mulch should never be added so the rootflare becomes buried. No more then 2" of soil should be put over existing tree roots. That will stress a tree and can lead to shortening the life of the tree. I would expose the rootflare of the trees. Take a look here.
https://www.tlcfortrees.info/planting%20depth.htm
https://www.treesaregood.com/treecare/mulching.aspx

I would move the hostas forward towards the outer edge of the crown or close to the large boulder and maybe add some ferns so the boulder looks more settled into the soil. That way the boulder will look like it was always there and the trees grew up around it.

With the bed being so overrun by a root system will the plants survive?
I'm more concerned about the trees surviving. If you care for the plants where they are planted the trees will suffer. If you care for the trees then the plants could suffer. They have different watering requirements. By watering the plants as they need it with the placement they have now, you will be overwatering the trees, especially with the annuals you have that need more water. Once the perennials are established in a year they will require less water.
https://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/Garden/02926.html
Also are there any plants in there that will die due to the winter season around here?
This is the only perennial besides the hostas.
Verbascum 'Jackie' requires full sun and should be moved to a site with 6 hours or more of sun.
https://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?Code=Z360


The annuals that won't return are:

Ageratum 'Artist Blue Violet'
https://www.greenbeam.com/features/plant042803.stm
https://www.fernlea.com/annual/variety/agera.htm

New Guinea Impatients
https://www.fernlea.com/annual/variety/ngimp.htm

Texas Bluebell - Eustoma grandiflorum, Lisianthus is a half hardy annual that might reseed in the right spot. It needs alot of water and full sun of 6 hours or more and should be moved.
https://www.dulley.com/plant/a048.shtml
https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/herbaceous/eustomagrand.html

Lisianthus Russellianus aka Eustoma grandiflorum also an annual but is a very difficult plant to grow from seed so it probably won't reseed itself. It needs full sun to part shade so it could possibly bloom with 4 hours or more of direct sun. It would do much better in full sun.
https://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?Code=A576

Osteospermum needs full sun and should be moved.
https://www.fernlea.com/annual/variety/osteo.htm

Newt