Gardening and such

[MeatyPortion]

I've got a few things going in my yard as well as a small herb garden. Today, while drinking Capital Amber in the can I was mulching the front yard and working on the back. In the back there are some areas near the back fence where the lawn barely grows at all due to the shade; I've adjusted to that by carving some mulch areas and made plans for a walkway.

Any advice from any landscapers on what could be improved upon?

Backyard patio area:

Fountain and Caesar:

Buddha:

Mulch, bird fountain, tree carve out:

Herb garden:

 

[Evets]

How about a brick oven for pizza? I'm hoping to start mine soon.
http://www.fornobravo.com/pompeii_oven/pompeii_oven.html

 

[arch1tect]

What's your budget like?

 

[MeatyPortion]

How about a brick oven for pizza? I'm hoping to start mine soon.
http://www.fornobravo.com/pompeii_oven/pompeii_oven.html

Sounds awesome but that's a bit out of my price range.

What's your budget like?

I've got $2,000 worth going in the front through a company so in the back I'm doing it myself to keep costs down. I'd say no more than $1000 total in the backyard.

 

[jgln]

Pretty yellow flowers next to the Buddha.

 

[arch1tect]

Well since you can buy some stuff, you could get some ground cover or Hostas to cover up big areas that grass isn't growing properly. In spots where partial sun is available you can get some flowers like bleeding heart and columbines.

 

[TxBrew]

We have a nice garden this year.

Various tomatoes, beans, onions, lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, cale.

Plus a herb garden.

 

[gartj]

Well since you can buy some stuff, you could get some ground cover or Hostas to cover up big areas that grass isn't growing properly. In spots where partial sun is available you can get some flowers like bleeding heart and columbines.

Agreed I'd go with different varieties/colors of hostas then maybe 1 or 2 bleeding hearts or coral belles to put a variety into it. This in speaking of the area with the birdbath in it.

 

[MeatyPortion]

Well since you can buy some stuff, you could get some ground cover or Hostas to cover up big areas that grass isn't growing properly. In spots where partial sun is available you can get some flowers like bleeding heart and columbines.

That sounds good. My parents have some bleeding hearts and jacks in the pulpit which come back every year despite complete lack of watering. They seem resilient. Thanks for the advice.

 

[arch1tect]

That sounds good. My parents have some bleeding hearts and jacks in the pulpit which come back every year despite complete lack of watering. They seem resilient. Thanks for the advice.

Just remember that bleeding hearts can really take over if they get too much sun. I have one on my property(I'll take a picture if I remember) that is just plain huge. It fills up a 6 sq ft space.

 

[Randar]

How about a brick oven for pizza? I'm hoping to start mine soon.
http://www.fornobravo.com/pompeii_oven/pompeii_oven.html

Awesome. I have been trying to figure out how to build a pizza oven like that and to also be able to use it as the fire box for a smoker. Haven't figured it all out yet, but that looks sweet.

 

[abois]

There are a whole range of shade tolerant perennials out there... don't limit yourself to hostas (the most boring, in my opinion) and bleeding heart, which grows gangly as soon as it's done flowering. There are some beautiful, full-shade gingers that can be grown as ground covers, and plants like mountain laurel and oak-leaf hydrangea grow beautifull in part or full shade. The latter is nothing like its grannies' panties-looking relatives, by the way.

Here's a list of ground covers, at least: http://www.thegardenhelper.com/shadecovers.html

Dig a little more for more options. Start with a search like "woodland garden plants" or something. Good luck!

 

[jgln]

Not exactly on topic but we started all out tomato,peppers and eggplants from seeds indoors as we always do. Didn't even come close to planting all the seed but we have about 80 tomato plants, 160 pepper (mostly hot) and about 50 eggplants ready to go in the garden soon.

 

[Austin_]

There are a whole range of shade tolerant perennials out there... don't limit yourself to hostas (the most boring, in my opinion) and bleeding heart, which grows gangly as soon as it's done flowering. There are some beautiful, full-shade gingers that can be grown as ground covers, and plants like mountain laurel and oak-leaf hydrangea grow beautifull in part or full shade. The latter is nothing like its grannies' panties-looking relatives, by the way.

Here's a list of ground covers, at least: http://www.thegardenhelper.com/shadecovers.html

Dig a little more for more options. Start with a search like "woodland garden plants" or something. Good luck!

Good call on the Oak Leaf Hydrangea. That's one of my go-to shade plants on projects. I also agree with you about the hostas. I can't stand them. Luckily they don't like the heat of south Louisiana.

Here's a link to some plants that might be good in that location. I'd offer to help more on plant selection, but my knowledge of Zone 4b-5a plants is not extensive. If you lived further south I could help ya out more. My advice to people with limited plant knowledge and experience is to go native. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center has an excellent resource. I did a search for partial to full shade plants for Wisconsin.

http://wildflower.org/plants/combo.php?start=0&distribution=WI&light_partshade=1&light_shade=1&1&pagecount=10&pagecount=100

 

[MeatyPortion]

I just went ahead and put in some bleeding hearts and some colorful ground cover. We'll see how it does. Thanks to all for the advice and I'll post some pictures in the coming weeks.

 

[Randar]

Solomon's seal is a nice planting if you put a few nice clumps of it under and around trees in heavily shaded areas. Ferns are a good stand-by too. Full shade options are definitely a lot more limited for us Zone 4/5 guys.

 

[MeatyPortion]

Solomon's seal is a nice planting if you put a few nice clumps of it under and around trees in heavily shaded areas. Ferns are a good stand-by too. Full shade options are definitely a lot more limited for us Zone 4/5 guys.

Those would be good but a lot of the area I need to plant in has some thick tree roots so I need mostly ground cover. The bleeding hearts and a couple other things were able to go a little farther away but mostly I can't place a lot of medium to large plants in the area.

Thanks for the input though.

 

[Mike M]

... The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center has an excellent resource. I did a search for partial to full shade plants for Wisconsin.

Nice site and database. Thanks for sharing

 

[Randar]

Solomon's Seal is a rhizome. I wouldn't be overly concerned with the tree root density. It is a native woodland shade species and is nicely adaptable to the situation you mention. I have mine under a huge white pine. The variegated version is much more appealing, IMO.

 

[MeatyPortion]

Solomon's Seal is a rhizome. I wouldn't be overly concerned with the tree root density. It is a native woodland shade species and is nicely adaptable to the situation you mention. I have mine under a huge white pine. The variegated version is much more appealing, IMO.

Interesting. I'll see if the gardening store has some of those next time I'm there. Thanks.

 

[Austin_]

Nice site and database. Thanks for sharing

No problem. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is one of the best resources for native plants.