Thursday, May 22, 2008

Stone in the Garden

Stone in the Garden
Part I
A Continuing Saga!
:-)

I've recently posted about this...
...it's finished and it will be soon planted.
This is where it all began... chunks of concrete (April 14, 2008)!

This photo was taken last Spring (2007) of the shady Southern corner
of our front yard. (Limestone rocks)
This untidy area has oak "drippings" and an uncleaned mini-pond (sorry).
(limestone rocks and a few other rocks)
This little limestone rock path takes off from the right side of the little pond and heads down between the two parts of the bed in front of the house.This is a little detail of the front of the bed... not far from the mini-pond.
This is the front of this same bed. A mix of limestone rock and rocks picked up in a friend's field.
This is the south end of the front bed. Plants and rocks.
On the Southeast side of the house... east of the raised bed gardens, is this meandering pathway I began with a little help from a son of a neighbor 4 years ago. We were allowed to peruse the local "County maintenance area" for some concrete sidewalk chunks for the pathway. The front border edging is limestone. Other areas are "a mix." These photos were taken at the end of May, 2007.The plants have spread since then... and increased in number. ;-) You might also catch sight of a couple of those concrete Windsor Blocks available "most everywhere."

The photos below were taken a couple of days ago, of the lower (easterly) section of the largest
backyard bed. I'm widening it slightly and extending the north end
a few feet further. It used to be all limestone and field stones... now it starts with limestone and ends with concrete chunks and field stones.
I was standing on the right (east side) of this bed as I took
the following photos.










You might notice several items waiting to be planted,
most of which will not be planted where they are sitting,
but they're all filling the space where I'm widening this bed.











This shows the new area, beginning just after the City Lights hosta, frizzalae fern, and the little variegated hosta.

The photo below shows the west part of the largest backyard bed. It's edged in mostly stone, but a couple of concrete chunks here and there.

The right side of this photo is a little grassy.
That's because it isn't part of this bed...
yet! :-)
My plans are to enlarge this bed very soon.

There are other beds with rock... but, I think this is a long-enough post, don't you????

Join Nan Ondra at Gardening Gone Wild and create your own post about Stone in Your Garden. :-)

16 comments:

  1. SG, Your stone rocks....someone had to say that so I went ahead and got it out of the way. But it is wonderful! It's all my favorite but I must admit, I do like what you've done with the concrete rocks. Recycled Concrete rocks!

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  2. Shady... you're going to have good 'bones" for your garden... good work!
    Don

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  3. Don, Thanks! I really enjoy this work! :-)

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  4. GREAT JOB! That makes me tired, but it looks so good. :) Can't wait to see those extras planted... and the grass to be gone, too. Tee hee.

    Seriously, I'm SO glad that I just read this... I've been planning to use some recycled concrete from my own yard, and now I can see how pretty it really is--and how well it combines, even, with natural stone.

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  5. Kim, I'm glad I could help you picture the results! Often times I turn the sidewalk pieces upside down, as they sometimes look too "flat and sidewalky." :-) Have fun with your project. Let me know wnen you finish and post it!!

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  6. Shady, this is looking fantastic! I'm envious of those fresh terraces just waiting to be planted up! We got a lot more plants today, including 2 new Pulmonarias and a Ligularia dentata ('Desdemona') for our Woodland garden. Can't wait to get them in ... Do you have any sunny enough spots to grow a perennial hibiscus? They're one of my obsessions, and come to think of it, they don't mind a bit of clay in the soil. Ok,I'm gonna break your bank suggesting plants, so I'll cease and desist, lol.

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  7. IVG, Just keep those comments rolling! :-) Actually, I've tried a couple of different spots with perennial hibiscus. The first spot was WAY too shady... I'm waiting to see how this second spot fares. (In my former garden, I had a couple of quite different varieties.)

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  8. It looks great. Thanks for the tour.
    Aiyana

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  9. Your rocks look great. (I'm glad I'm not the only one with plants still in pots.) Like Kim, I also reuse the concrete from my own property. Unfortunately, mine is buried & I find it when I'm trying to plant something.

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  10. You've done a great job of blending in the stone and concrete, Shady Gardener - it's very natural looking. More stone is on my wish list, too, and these posts are quite inspiring!

    I've used perennial hibiscus in part shade with varying success, but they usually make leaves even if they don't bloom.

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

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  11. I LOVE broken concrete in the garden. It will also be featured in my "Stone" post. Another way I use it is to bury it in the ground like a flagstone to stablilize the soil and identify paths. Your two tiered garden is a nice use.

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  12. Aiyana, Thanks for visiting!

    MMG, I understand! I often find my stepping stones after they've ended up under mulch, etc. ;-)

    Annie, Thanks! Oftentimes it seems the sidewalk chunks are better turned upside down... depending on the appearance of the concrete mix and what you want to do with it.

    The hibiscus I planted last Spring has yet to peek out of the ground. I know they're usually one of the last things to appear, so I'll wait a bit longer. I'm hoping this site is somewhat better suited to a hibiscus' needs. :-)

    Tina, I'll be glad to see what you're doing with the broken concrete. I bury it in some places, for your same reasons. My little woodland area SE of the house is the prime example of this. Thanks for stopping by. :-)

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  13. I'm a little late to the party, so I can only echo what the others have said: You did a nice job mixing the various materials, Shady, and your use of the recycled concrete is great. Plus, it seems you've inspired some others to try it as well, which is even better!

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  14. Hi Shady,

    I love what you've done with your chunks! You're an excellent recycler. I'm looking forward to seeing that new bed planted!

    Cathy

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Thank you for visiting today. I don't mean to make it hard for you to leave a message, but temporarily I am going to enable word verification. Too many spam messages to deal with lately. Thanks for your patience! SG