Tag: front garden

The new addition built onto my house three years ago added a feature that my house had never had before – gutters and downspouts. At one corner of the house, near the entrance, I installed a 50-gallon rain barrel under the downspout and attached a small length  of hose which allows me to channel rain water into nearby plantings. By the other downspout, at the west corner of the house, I decided to create a small rain garden.

A rain garden is a strategically placed depression in the ground designed to collect and slowly drain rain water and planted with water-tolerant plants. I don’t actually need a rain garden; my excessively well drained sandy soil slopes away from the house in all directions. Even in the heaviest downpours, water never pools for more than a few minutes. But my hope was that, by creating a depression that can collect and concentrate rain water, I might be able to grow the kind of moisture-loving plant that I normally can’t provide the right conditions for. I had my heart set on a hydrangea.

Last year I did some research on rain gardens, reading both a book on the technical details and the University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s advice. The technical book helped me figure out the appropriate size for my rain garden, which turned out to be very small – a mini rain garden, big enough for one hydrangea.

This year, I set out to execute my rain garden plan. My first step was to install a 4’ long flexible extension on my downspout to channel water from the roof in the proper direction. Next, I created a shallow swale to carry the rain water to the lip of the rain garden. I planted some divisions of Geranium x cantabrigiense ‘Biokovo’ in the swale and also along both sides of the downspout extension. This is a groundcover that spreads quickly and grows about one foot high. It should provide an attractive lining for the swale, and my hope is that it will help to camouflage the ugly downspout extension.

With that done, it was time to actually dig out the depression for the rain garden. Because the bottom of the rain garden should be flat, the standard advice is not to build it on a slope, but I didn’t have a choice. This meant that, in order to have the downslope side be at least six inches deep, the upslope side needed to be about two feet deep.  I used some of the soil I was removing to create a six inch high berm around the downslope edges of the rain garden.

Once I amended the soil in the bottom of the rain garden with aged cow manure and compost, I was ready to plant. The hydrangea went in first, planted in the center of the rain garden. I had originally hoped to install Hydrangea paniculata ‘Quickfire,’ a plant that I fell in love with the first time I saw it growing in a garden-tour garden several years ago. Alas, when I studied the patterns of sun and shadow in my rain garden area, I realized that it only got five hours of sun in August, probably not enough for a plant that needs full sun. Instead, I opted to plant Hydrangea paniculata ‘Pinky Winky,’ which is similar in size to ‘Quickfire,’ has beautiful two-tone cream and mauve flowers, and can thrive in a part-sun location. (As the catalog from my local nursery says, “Once you get past the name, this is a very worthwhile addition to a crowded group of plants.”)

I dug the hole for the hydrangea, filled it with water, and let it drain before putting in the plant and backfilling. Then I watered it thoroughly again. The hydrangea will eventually grow to largely fill this rain garden space, but I don’t want weeds covering the ground around it. Once the hydrangea was in place, I planted more of my groundcover geranium ‘Biokovo’ (a plant of which I have an almost infinite supply), putting in divisions around the circumference of the rain garden floor, and adding a few more in the side near the top lip on the upslope edges. These plants will grow toward each other and toward the hydrangea, probably forming a solid ring around it within 2-3 years. I also hope it will grow upward along the sides of the rain garden, stabilizing the soil and maybe even spilling out a bit over the top. As an added bonus, this attractive groundcover sports lovely pink and white flowers in June that will anticipate the colors of the hydrangea blooms.

We have rain forecast for later today, which will provide a chance to see how well my mini rain garden does in collecting rain from the roof.

Filed under: front garden, garden design, garden projects, plants Tagged: garden design, hardy geranium, hydrangea, rain garden

I’ve been in a bit of a slump this year with my new front garden project, without the clear goals and timetables for reaching them that are typical for me. I thought the gratification of getting the Side Slope (below) and Fragrant Garden plantings created in year 2 would give me momentum, but this year’s projects just don’t excite me in the same way.

My 5-year schedule called for completing the Clover Path and the Shrubbery this year. The Clover Path may not engage me in the way that creating perennial borders does, but it is a critical structural element in the front garden design. The Clover Path provides an entry point into the lower garden from the driveway; it connects the lower and upper parts of the new front garden, and it frames the Front Slope, the Shrubbery and the front and side perennial borders. The widening of the path at the curve by the Shrubbery also creates room for a small seating area, a destination in the lower garden.

So I have been slogging my way through the Clover Path project and expect to get it done this month. In late spring, I laid out the borders of the path using a garden hose and some pieces of rope. I have been removing existing vegetation (unless it is clover!) and tilling in some compost. I had hoped to get the top half of the path prepared and seeded before the end of June, but other garden chores captured my attention and energy. Thinking I had until fall to get this done, I was working at a leisurely pace – until some research on planting clover revealed that, unlike grass seed, clover must be sown in spring or summer, no later than mid-August. This unexpected deadline lit a fire under me, and I hope to get the soil preparation and seeding finished in the coming week. Nevertheless, because my late timing is pushing the envelope, I have bought extra seed so that I can re-seed next spring if necessary.

My other planned project for this year, a planting of shrubs at the west front corner of my property has been delayed. I am scheduled to take a course on “Selecting Native Woody Plants for the Maine Garden” at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in mid-October, and I realized that it made no sense to design and plant this shrub border before taking the class. My goal now is to prepare the soil for planting this fall, design over the winter, and plant next spring. I have made some progress on this, getting trees limbed up to let more light into the planting area and beginning to pull up some of the existing vegetation.

Another project has been added to my agenda for this year. I’ve decided to create a small rain garden to collect runoff from the roof at the corner of the house by the Fragrant Garden. I don’t really need a rain garden, since my very sandy soil drains quickly; but I am hoping that by creating a depression where rain water will collect, however briefly, I will be able to grow some plants that require more moisture than my conditions generally provide. (I am dreaming of a ‘Quickfire’ hydrangea.) Because this is a small area (about 25 square feet), I should be able to get it done quickly, preferably within the next 4-6 weeks. I have already added a flexible extension to the downspout to channel the water in the right direction. Next is to dig the depression, amend the soil, and put in plants.

I must admit that I am pushing myself to complete these projects in order to stay on track and get to the year 4 project that I find much more interesting – creating the Front Slope planting. (Indeed, I have already begun some preparatory work on this big garden area.)

Filed under: front garden, garden design Tagged: clover lawn, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, flower beds, garden design, hydrangea, native plants, rain garden, shrub plantings