This is what I have to work with, and thank you all for your advice in the last post! Here's the front of the house, and everythings going away but the azaleas in the back and the 3 dwarf holly bushes in the left rear. The other hollies haven't looked healthy in a long time anyway, and I'll just be moving the agapanthus (looking wimpy from the frosts) according to the other plantings. The stumpy crape myrtle on the right is being replaced with a loquat, and I'll bring the bed out more, especially on the right so that it encloses the entrance better. To the right, and just out of the frame is the neighbors house, so I don't have much room to work with.
The second picture is the left side of the entrance, and to the back is a small paved courtyard, which I will extend to wrap around to the sidewalk using pavers. The area behind the sidewalk will be planted with the lily of the nile in all likelyhood. The small bottlebrush will eventually form a canopy and protect the bromeliads and philodendrons in the courtyard, making it fell like a nook in the forest. To the left of this picture is the driveway.
Here is a rather blurry view of the courtyard (stupid camera phone!) with its latin american themed plants such as bromeliads, heliconia, philodendron and chamaedorea palms. I'm not worried about this clashing with the Balinese theme, since it will be recessed and bounded by the Balinese looking plants and design. I am going to extend the paving here as well, but I just wish I could keep it from getting all discolored like it is now! The heliconia on the left was almost a freebie at home depot since they left it out in the cold, but when I pruned out the dead stems I realized that two of them are getting ready to flower soon! I'll just have to mulch it well and hope for the best. Since the Philodendron Burle Marx to the right of it was okay, maybe this spot will do just fine. I'm also considering mulching with white/light gray rocks for the Balinese Courtyard look, and it will also probably help reduce the mold/moss on the walls and pavers.
Your help is appreciated as always!
You've got two great sized areas (not too big nor too small) for creating your theme garden. I like the "nook in the forest" idea. It evokes a real rainforesty feel. Can't wait to see the end result.
ReplyDeleteI hope you would find that urn. Fyi, I have seen Bird's nest fern look very nice when placed on top of a big/tall urn. Use separate pot for the fern and hiding/resting in/on the rim of the urn ;-). Otherwise your fern will grow very large as the root grows deep. Happy gardening!
ReplyDeleteVery large is fine with me! I saw this one picture on the Daves Garden site of a 25 year old one that was gigantic!
ReplyDeleteWow. This is going to be fun to watch evolve. You sound like you have a good plan and feel for the project.
ReplyDeletethe loquate tree tends to have lots of low hanging branches so it needs alot of space, i would definitely move it farther from the house where the current tree is, that will be waaaay to close!
ReplyDelete