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07-08-2009, 07:34 PM
Re: (0...)
How do I plan (or, preferably, does Garden Gate have a plan!) a perennial cutting garden that is set against a solid wild area of conifers and evergreen shrubs? Everything I plant just "disappears" into the green background most of the year! I do not want to restrict myself to plants with yellow or purple foliage. Help?
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What's usually recommended is to plant a row of shrubs between the trees and the flower garden. This serves to fill in the disparity between the heights of the (very tall) trees and the (very low) flowers. It can also give you a more solid backdrop behind the flower garden, rather than the more open or unevenly filled-in areas beneath and around the conifers.
Since you have a cutting garden, try using shrubs that you can also take useful cuttings from. Forsythia, lilacs, red-twig dogwood and hydrangea could be good possibilities. Snowberry and viburnum both have flowers in the late spring and berries in the late summer/fall. Ask at your local nursery to see what native shrubs they can recommend that will work best in your sun/shade and acidity conditions. Good luck and have fun!
The great thing about gardening is that you always get a chance to start over!