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I am wanting to redo the flower bed on the side of the house. Its a mixture of gardenia and hawthrowns. but they just arent doing nothing. not growing, the other side of the house bed are huge! It gets evening sun... but surely thought enough for the shrubs. On the front of the house wrapping to the side. I have a purple bush i forget the name of it. starts with a (l) leopterpluem or something like that I do believe and a boxwood. I planted them way to close in the beginning and now regretting it. As well on the front side I have a knockout rose in the corner of the proch, which is smoothered my the surrounding plants on each side. so the bottom doesnt bloom due to no sunlight, Wondering in all these areas how I can do it, I kinda want it eye appealing in the front around the corner.. I am willing to widen or move flower bed stones and widing.. I just dont know how to do it how to stack/layer the plants and what to plant.. I live in Ga.. Madison any suggestions would be great!!! pics are attached!

another picture

What direction does that side of the house face? If it's north, you should put some shade lovers on that side.
Also, since you are in Ga. & so am I, you might want to get a soil test. You can do that thru your local county extension office....ours has a soil probe you can borrow to take the samples & paper bags to put the soil in, then they send it to UofGa. for the tests...takes about a week & costs $6 per sample...you should only need one for that area.
My soil is naturally acidic...PH of about 5.1-5.2 which doesn't help a lot of plants grow. I have to put lime in all my beds for them to grow well. That's why you might need the soil test. "IF" you do need the lime, add it before you spend money on other things that you may not need. And be sure to ask at the extension office what kind of lime you need...there are different ones.

On the north side of my house I have hostas & columbines. They are doing great there. Hydrangeas might do well there too close to the corner. All my gardenias are in full sun or dapple shade but still get sun part of the day. Mine grow well, I have to trim them back every year.
Your purple bush, could it be a fringe flower?...google fringe flower & see (I can't ever remember the latin name). I have 2 one on either side of my front steps...their roots do spread quite a ways! They have interferred with some of my other plants a bit.

Thanks so much for the reply. I was beginning to wonder, what I was going to do, I am blank. A friend of mine just told me about the whole lime sistuation will definately check into that. I do have a hydrangea down at the bottom on the bed on the side. Closest to oak tree. I just dont know what else to plant. I want all shrubs where they will hide foundation over time. But always want to kinda have something layer, tall in back and smaller/short in front. I would say it gets prob five or six hrs or afternoon sun. The purple bushes do have fringe like flowers. pinkish purple when bloomed. Any suggestions on the front side where the rose is? to fill that gap? and the corner wrapping the corner. I dont know if I should widen it down to the light pole or just leave it as it is. Just wanna draw attraction there.?

Ok, you want shrubs...how about azaleas? While they are growing you could put some hostas in between them to fill in till the azaleas grow. My hostas just about cover my foundation but they die back during the winter & I don't have quite as much exposed as you do. Once the azaleas start filling in you could move the hostas to a nice shady area.
You could also plant some coneflowers or tall grasses behind them too for your layer look.
Your hole next to the rose...what about another rose...a YELLOW knock out. Lowes had some fairly reasonably priced and they smell wonderful! The only care they need is trimmed back to keep them in bounds.
When I had my knockouts up by the house, I cut them back to about 12-18" every spring and still had to trim them a couple of times during the summer to keep them from crowding out other things. So I moved mine next to the road!
Before you widen anything...think about mowing...how will that effect it? I try not to have too many lines that are hard to mow corners. That keeps DH happy!

Yes wanting shrubs. I have one azeala there now, but I am going to check the soil and add lime if need too, They may do better after I do that. question, do the azealas stay green all yr round? Cause I would like to hide that foundation all the time! The rose I have in the corner now is a red one, but I am worried cause when its fully bloomed the bottom gets no suns cause of the other bushes overcrowing it, should i move it up toward the front of the bed not so much in the corner no more? You have a great point as far as the mowing. The issue I have now, the corner where the rose is, we have to weed it cause mower doesnt get in the curve good enough, around the corner going into side and infront of the light pole only my push mower will go thru there. so i was thinking about widening it to around the pole but once again, didnt know what to plant if i were to do that. I was thinking of putting a crepe myrtle (well there is a small one there ) in the corner of the house going into the back, then some daylillies in front, making like a half horse shoe, but didnt know what to put bedhind or infront of crepe to hide foundation. (does that make sense) Hostas do great on that side of the house. I do have two hydrageas I could move as well. the other issue is I need to see it drawn out, I have seen on some sites landscaping sofeware and people helped designing that way with a picture they posted. or a rough draft just little circles and squares drew out on paper.. I just cant invision anything without a layout. Or should I say Im scared to do anything! ;o)since everything else I planted over crowded, really wanting to move and rearrange them, but they are huge and I know they would die!!! ;o(

I'm just the opposite...I can't work from a drawing. Nothing looks the same as drawings do any way because all plants mature & grow at different rates in different soils and with different weather conditions.
I don't have a landscaping program. I just visualize in my head and if it doesn't turn out how I like...I either move it or change the look another way by adding other things.
This is just my opinion but I think you are getting too many different things. Stick with more of one thing for each area. That draws the eye away from what you want to hide.
Azaleas are green year round down here, not sure up there...look at some neighborhood yards.
Also, be aware that azaleas come in different sizes. The older varities got bigger than a lot of the newer ones....just a general rule (not always right), the bigger the leaf the bigger the plant will be at maturity.

Don't get hung up on having a plan for planting before you start a new bed or a new area. Add things as you find different plants that you like. Remember, you will look at it more than anyone else so plant things that please you!

I forgot...azaleas like acidic soil...so don't add lime if you are going to plant only azaleas in an area. That's why you need a soil test.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ga.karen,

Thanks so much! I know, I get so much going on at once and just get overwhelmed, but i get it in my head and i wanna or have to do it.. Another question, whats the likelyhood of moving boxwoods that are about 4-5 ft tall? would they survive?

quote:

Originally posted by taralasha20:
whats the likelyhood of moving boxwoods that are about 4-5 ft tall? would they survive?

Slim that they would survive the attempt. Given their size, you'd have to remove them with a very large root ball, which is too heavy and bulky to handle without machinery.