Cass.76
Newly Registered
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Nov 27, 2017 6:11 am

Looking for design advice

Hey, have just started my first garden and needing some ideas on the next plants to add :)
Attachments
Screenshot_20171127-211512.png

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Oooh a (nearly) blank canvas! So you are only interested in flowers since you posted in flower gardening forum? No edibles?

Tell us a bit more — is that the garage to the right? Is this your front entry? The bed doesn’t look quite rectangular... what are the dimensions and which way does this face — South? East? How did you prep this bed?

Also, REALLY need your location to know what plants to suggest. Put it in your profile so it shows up under your name for best results. Otherwise, you’ll need to mention in most posts.

Cass.76
Newly Registered
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Nov 27, 2017 6:11 am

Thank you for your reply :) I'm in springfield (qld)
Thats the front of the house yes so wanting flowers/plants as my herb garden is in backyard.
I dug out all the builders rubble and filled in with good soil and compost on the top. Also mixed something in as I went that the nursery recomended.
Not sure which direction it faces but measurements are 145 long at front 120 long st back and 75 :)

User avatar
rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

qld is Queensland, Australia? You have to remember most of us are ignorant Americans.

A couple more pictures would help and we really need to know the direction the door is facing. Does it face the morning sun? the sun set? in the shade much of the day (which would be north for us, but I think south for you)? etc.

So you are in spring headed for summer?


Can't give any garden advice without knowing stuff like that.

Are you open to the possibility of re-doing what you have already done? In general for nice landscaping, we would say no straight lines, no straight rows of plants.

Are there no steps down from the door? Are you planning to put some?

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=67149

Cass.76
Newly Registered
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Nov 27, 2017 6:11 am

Yes in australia sorry, we are towards end of spring about to be summer.
The garden get mostly sun but in shade in the morning and sun through the day into evening.
I have only just planted these so I could still move them if you had another arragement idea :)
Not looking at putting steps in at this stage.
Attachments
Screenshot_20171128-071310.png
Screenshot_20171128-071300.png

User avatar
rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

I'm sorry, I'm really not trying to be difficult; I appreciate you hanging in there with us. So is that a door you use? In other words, will you be walking through your little patch frequently?

"measurements are 145 long at front 120 long st back and 75" 145 whats? it doesn't look big enough to be 145 meters or 145 feet. 145 centimeters would be about five feet. That seems a little small, but maybe. 145 inches would be twelve feet. That's possible, but I've never seen anyone give the measurements of their flower bed in inches....

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13961
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Some good drought and heat resistant plants would be coreopsis, pelargoniums, lantana, or verbena. These plants are usually available as starts in nurseries. In my climate they are perennial. I also like to use alyssum and annuals like cosmos and zinnias for summer color. Plant in groups of three. Since it is near the door, it would be better not to have anything too tall that might make it hard to find the entrance. Try to limit the color pallette to three colors or less.
It is better to select only one or two different types of plants for such a small area.

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Quick search showed you don’t really have freezing temperatures in winter, so the situation might be different, but for my doorstep flowerbed, flowering bulbs that herald arrival of Spring are essential. I have snowdrops, jonquils, daffodils, grape hyacinth in my NW-facing front porch-side bed (and tulips, crocus, and hyacinth in the sunnier island bed a few steps into the front yard). The door step bed also contains saffron crocus which bloom in the Fall.

During the summer season when they are dormant, I plant flowering annuals or edible plants either grown from seeds or purchased.

Maybe there are equivalent seasonal bloomers in your area. It’s fun to accent the seasons this way with succession of flowers. There’s nothing like the feeling when seeing the first Snow Drops blooming after a long winter, or seeing the Saffron crocuses blooming in the crisp Fall air, not long before the first frost, and plucking the precious spice for making a mixed fall bounty rice.

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

If you decide to plant bulbs that will be dormant during some seasons, the way to do it is to plan ahead (sketch out a planting map) and mark well —
  • plant short ones few inches in along the front edge of the bed, leaving enough room for them to grow and flop — these should not be too ugly when finished blooming since they are in the front. This part will be mulched later to allow the annuals to grow/flop and spill over without trailing outside of the bed and get stepped on or mowed
  • leave a block or row unplanted — this part should be plenty of room to dig and plant started plants. These plants should grow tall enough to hide the dying foliage of the bulbs in the middle
  • plant medium or taller flowering bulbs in non-geometric/freestyle groups and clumps in the middle. If you plant in groups/clumps and leave enough space between them to plant the annuals, they will help to hide the foliage as they die down after blooming.

thanrose
Greener Thumb
Posts: 716
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:01 am
Location: Jacksonville, FLZone 9A

Queensland is the huge state in Australia's north east. Brisbane is the city we'd most likely know in the USA. Climate is a lot like peninsular Florida and south east Texas. Comparable to USDA Zone 9-10 with high humidity near the coast. I'd suspect Springfield is around there.

So if you decide you want bulb flowers, you may have better luck with amaryllis, a winter flowering large bulb, or perhaps a small crinum. I'd suggest croton and acalypha as prunable shrubs at the base of each column, which faces west as near as I can tell. After noon, it's sunny all day. Australia has some lovely native shrubs like banksia and grevillea and callistemon, but I have no experience with them. Other than an allergy to callistemon in bloom.

I love Dennis Hundscheidt's tropical garden for fabulous eye candy, but am more of a Bill Mollison permaculture type personally. Just a wannabe, though. They are my two favorite Australian gardeners. Search on either one for tons of info if you aren't already familiar with them. I'm sure there are Pinterest lists dedicated to both.

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13961
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Amaryllis can be winter and Spring flowering. Bulbs like amaryllis, agapanthus and crinum offer structural leaves all year but only a few weeks of bloom. I would rather go with daylilies. They bloom for 9 months of the year in zone 12. Gladiolus will also naturalize if you don't get frost. Amaryllis and glads do not have to be lifted in frost free zones.

For the longest color I would go with some short flowering shrubs like plumbago, penta, even roses. Roses will bloom almost all year in frost free zones.



Return to “Flower Gardening & Garden Design”