bulbine

Building beautiful borders in the garden

Successful, well-designed and attractive landscapes include beds with layers of plants and a variety of shapes, textures and color.  Strategically placed anchor plants, evergreen foundation shrubs, medium-sized perennials, and small border plants, all work together to create a pretty palette.

But many gardeners ask, how do I know which plants to put where?  How do I select the correct size for my space?

Plants grow, and some of them grow a lot once they’re out of that tiny pot you bought and nestled in your lovely garden.  Planting too close together creates more work later as you struggle to prune all the time or are forced to remove plants to allow enough space for them all to thrive.  Believe nursery tags and nursery staff and follow the guidelines in your research.

The plants in the front of your layered beds will be ground covers or border plants.  For most gardens, these plants typically don’t get much bigger than about 18” tall.  There are, of course,  exceptions, depending on the overall scope and proportion of the landscape, whether it’s a very small space or a sizeable piece of property.  The true test is how they will look in comparison to the next line or area of plants behind them in the bed.  Border plants should provide a contrast in size between layers and should look good together, combining different colors, textures and shapes.

How do I pick border plants?  The first order of business is to determine the amount of sun or shade that your border gets.  When the sun is at different points in the sky in the winter, it’s not a true reflection of how plants will fare when heat stressed. I try to consider conditions in the worst of summer, because those days are so intense.

The terms full sun, full shade, part sun, part shade are associated with specific amounts.  Full sun means a site gets at least 6 full hours of sun most days.  But, here in Central Texas, some plants labeled full sun may still struggle if that’s all blistering afternoon sun.  Do your research to determine if there are any limits on tolerance that might apply.

Full shade doesn’t mean no sun at all.  Labels calling for full shade conditions refer to less than 3 hours of sunlight each day, and filtered light the remainder of the day.  In the Austin area, those 3 hours simply cannot fully expose plants in the heat of the day.  A little dappled morning light and good afternoon shade is a much better guide for us.

Part sun or part shade are sometimes used to mean similar conditions, with slight adjustments leaning in either direction.  Generally, these designations refer to between three to six hours of exposure most days.  Part sun  means plants will need the minimum sun requirements to set flowers and bloom.  Part shade also means protecting your plants from the intense afternoon sun, allowing them some sun at other times.  As always, discussing your situation with nursery staff can provide more detailed information.

Some beautiful border plants for Central Texas include:

Agave (some varieties)

Ajuga

Aztec grass

Batface cuphea

Blackfoot Daisy

Bluebonnet

Bulbine

Catmint

Evening primrose

Creeping germander

Dalea

Damianita

Dyckia

Four nerve daisy

Ice plant

Lamb’s ear

Liriope

Lyre leaf sage

Mexican feather grass

Mexican heather

Monkey grass

Pigeonberry

Plum yew

Purple heart

Dwarf Mexican Petunia

Lavender cotton

Sedge (some varieties)

Skullcap

Society garlic

Verbena

Winecup

Yarrow

Yuccas (some varieties)

Zexmenia

Border plants don’t have to be planted in a straight line.  You can also cluster plants in sections according to size, color or texture.  Place them in drifts in front of the next section of larger plants based on which ones look best together.

Many annuals also make excellent border plants, adding color and interest at specific times through the year and allowing you to change out your look with the seasons.

Big goings on …

Lots happening here today. I called my buddy, Juan, who sent his guys out to do a lot of heavy lifting garden work around here today.

First, they took down this huge cedar tree in our front yard. Heaven knows why, but the previous homeowner put a pretty mulch ring around it and pretended it was a real tree. Texans will understand that this particular cedar is a trash tree — one that drinks all the moisture in the soil and robs other plants of water and causes our well-known cedar fever allergies. So — off with her head!
Wish I had thought to take a picture FIRST, but you get the point and you can tell how big she was by the trailer full of tree in the background as well.
Then, on to digging and pruning. They guys dug the big holes and I stuck to the little ones! The Brug finally went into the ground — you’ll remember I dug her up from a spot that was much too hot for her and now she will live in partial shade. It’s not shady there now, but in an hour or so, the oak tree behind her will shield her from the worst of the hot Texas afternoon sun. One of her babies, rooted from chopping off her head in the greenhouse last winter, also went in beside her.Also planted today (not by me) were two volunteer palms, the Mexican Bird of Paradise, the variegated agave from Tuesday’s shopping trip, and three Blackfoot daisies. Dang — the soil is just too darn dry here for me to get much into the ground and with tendonitis arms, it’s that much harder. So, I just save up the big stuff sometimes and add those chores onto a job list when I call for help.
I planted a little Bulbine today — two plants that have been waiting in the “hold indefinitely” area! This big one came in a plantable pot last summer and I finally got around to planting it in the ground because it was getting too hot on the table.
And this baby bulbine in a 6 inch pot found a home by the driveway. Cross your fingers that no one EATS them!
A couple more hours of work to go … I’m going to go back out and supervise and prune and weed a little. Oh – and I have 5 day lilies, some caladiums, some irises and some succents to plant, too…boy…I’d better get to work!

Shopping and planting and puttering…

Today I went with a friend to two Hill Country nurseries that specialize in Cacti and Agaves and Succulents.

I had a list (in my head) and wanted some things for pots and the rock path and a few other empty spots. I came home with this very interesting Agave americana var. mediopicta f. alba.
I also came home with the really big rust/burgundy glazed pot. The lovely toile-looking distressed urn-pot was a thank you gift from my shopping companion for giving her tickets to Rent last weekend. Isn’t that a nice thank you? And it came with a soy candle and sweet-smelling almond soaps, too. So I bought this adorable Flapjack Kalanchoe to put in it — with something else I don’t have yet…I also got the tiny Echeveria, and the curly-edged Rose Kalanchoe.
When I got home, I dug into the holding area by my garage, read: Diana’s nursery of stuff waiting to find a home, and found a spot of this Kangaroo Paw – Cape Amazon – that I bought a few weeks ago. Being native to Australia, I hope it likes our hot climate here. I put it in a non-irrigated area, but in a spot where I spray frequently with the hose by hand.

This little Agave and her even smaller pup went in the same area as the Kangaroo Paw, and are passalongs from Lori, of The Gardener of Good and Evil.
These are some orange daylilies that I dug up when I organized a eighborhood entryway cleanup with some of my neighbors. They were crowding other plants and in full shade, so I rescued them to my garden. How con-VEEEEN-ient for me!
So, here’s what’s left in the holding area: Two volunteer palm trees that I dug up around our giant palm. A Bulbine, A Mexican Bird of Paradise Tree, and some irises and Sprekelia bulbs.
And here we have chocolate mint, two purple Alyssum and a pot of moss along with a volunteer Crape Myrtle tree that I dug up in the front bed.
And here are some passalong irises and the Avocado tree that will make its home in that big new pot.

Those are my “to-do” lists for the near-term. Along with WEEDING every bed except the veggie garden, which I did last week. I will be so happy when some of these newer and sparse beds fill in more so I have fewer WEEDS!

Pretty things…

Just a few pretty things in my garden today.  I thought the light was nice on this Bulbine, which I have to grow in a pot inside the badk yard to save them from the deer.

These are shots of my Duranta tree – which I’ve nurtured in a pot for about 10 years.  The white blooms and little berries are so delicate, they belie the toughness of this hearty specimen.

I’m happy to say that after some weeding and watering and cleaning of birdbaths, I actually spent the afternoon out back relaxing with my family today — swimming and reading. It was delightful, and something I don’t do enough of because weeds and errant plants holler at me when I try to sit down most of the time! I just ignored them today.

By |2016-04-14T02:45:10-05:00August 30th, 2008|Blog, bulbine, duranta, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments
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