A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 Planting Plans

I have been getting books from the library and searching the net but haven't had a lot of luck deciding what I want to do along the front of my house. The flower bed area is 6'x40' with my pond at the end. Does anyone know where there might be plans at. I would like to find some that incorporate ornamental grasses. I basically have a blank canvas and would like to get something that looks good on it Everything is in full sun with clay ground. I am in zone 6.

Good luck on that one Crystal! We built our house and when we moved in, I had 5 1/2 acres of dirt to work with! I ran MANY searches under everything I could think to call it and all I kept coming up with was landscaping businesses. I finally just winged it and made my own design. You might do better asking others for their input on this. Then again, maybe there's a book out there somewhere that I'm not aware of The only good bit of advice I can give you is to be sure whatever you put in will be able to live in clay. That's what I have and believe me, if a plant can't tolerate clay, it will keel over in a hurry! I know from hard-won experience

What plants have you found do good in your soil? The grasses do great out here. Around the pound has been completely dug out and I am replacing every ounce of soil with good garden soil and probably am going to mix in compost and manurer. I have found plans that I like in flower catalogs but I just don't know if they would look good or not.

Crystal,
My successes (won't list failures ) for flowers, grasses and shrubs are:

Daylilies (real tough and VERY successful)
Ferns (Ostrich and Southern Wood fern)
Yarrow
Pincushion flower
Shasta daisies
Coreopsis
Periwinkle
Butterfly weed
Yellow African iris
Elephant ears
Coneflowers (several types & colors)
Lantana
Catchfly
Rudbeckia
Jasmine
Joe Pye weed
Clematis
Sage
Phlox
Liatris
Ruellia Brittoniana--Katie's Blue
Dianthus
Salvia--May Night
Blanket flowers--Goblin
Indian Summer daisy

Grasses:
Dwarf Fountain grass
Pampas grass

Shrubs:
Chinese Fringeflower--Plumb Delight
Indian hawthorn--Yedda
Abelia--rose Creek
Butterfly bush
Helleri Japanese holly
Spirea--Vanhoutte
Pittosporim--Wheelers dwarf
Crape myrtles--various types & colors
Azaleas
Pink variegated Dapne
Lady Banks rose
Floribunda roses--various types & colors
Nandinas--Moon Bay
Sweet Bay magnolia
Camellias
Saucer magnolia
Soft Touch Compacta hollies
Sweet olives
Cleyera

This is not a complete list but should give you a few choices. Don't know if you need tree types too. I have planted lots of shade, flowering, evergreen and fruit trees. Let me know. I started out with 5 1/2 acres of dirt so had to plant EVERYTHING! Hope this helps.

I get a lot of my ideas from BHG - Better Homes and Gardens website!