Gardening and Horticulture - Landscape Borders
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02-09-01, 04:51 PM
Hello! My husband and I are new to this homeownership thing and bought a home with NO...and I mean NO, landscaping whatsoever. I lied...there are two dead shrubs in the yard, one of which has been removed.
Anyway, I want to put in timbers or some sort of border around the patch of dirt in front of my porch. We need to know if we need anything more than just the timbers, or do we need to use something to keep the drainage from ruining it all. My poor attempt at pansy planting died when we had a little too much rain at once, and before we had gutters installed.
Any advice or web sites that address these issues? Eventually, I want to use the same technique along our (long) driveway, up the front walk and in front of the flowers and shrubs I eventually hope to have in front of the other side of our house.
Thank you in advance!
Anyway, I want to put in timbers or some sort of border around the patch of dirt in front of my porch. We need to know if we need anything more than just the timbers, or do we need to use something to keep the drainage from ruining it all. My poor attempt at pansy planting died when we had a little too much rain at once, and before we had gutters installed.
Any advice or web sites that address these issues? Eventually, I want to use the same technique along our (long) driveway, up the front walk and in front of the flowers and shrubs I eventually hope to have in front of the other side of our house.
Thank you in advance!
02-09-01, 09:11 PM
Melissa,
Can we get more information? Does the yard slope away from your house or toward it or is it just level? How tall do you want the border? 6 inches? 12 inches? 4 feet? "Drainage" will depend on these factors. Are you wanting to plant flowers in it or a ground cover or small or large shrubs?
The best tip I can give you is make your border bed about twice as large as you *think* you want it. Once you get stuff planted in it and established, it always looks smaller.
If, as I suspect, your yard is relatively flat then when you add the timbers, you can backfill with good, rich, loamy soil behind it and your drainage problem will be solved. At this point, you'll have a raised-bed and gravity will do the "draining" for you. If you live in a climate that is relatively dry, you may have to water a little bit more than you would have had you *not* raised the bed, but brining in good gardening soil will be very helpful to your success.
--Leslie, zone 6
Can we get more information? Does the yard slope away from your house or toward it or is it just level? How tall do you want the border? 6 inches? 12 inches? 4 feet? "Drainage" will depend on these factors. Are you wanting to plant flowers in it or a ground cover or small or large shrubs?
The best tip I can give you is make your border bed about twice as large as you *think* you want it. Once you get stuff planted in it and established, it always looks smaller.
If, as I suspect, your yard is relatively flat then when you add the timbers, you can backfill with good, rich, loamy soil behind it and your drainage problem will be solved. At this point, you'll have a raised-bed and gravity will do the "draining" for you. If you live in a climate that is relatively dry, you may have to water a little bit more than you would have had you *not* raised the bed, but brining in good gardening soil will be very helpful to your success.
--Leslie, zone 6