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I want to plant some kind of green flowering plant out in the yard where our cats are buried, and I have absolutely ZERO gardening skills. 😉
Keeping in mind that I live in NJ, have sandy, acidic soil, tons of deer and woodchucks (GRRRR! 👿 ) and that spot is pretty shaded, anybody have any suggestions? (or should I just start playing the theme from Mission Impossible now? 😆 )Thanks!Would oenothera (Mexican evening primrose) do? It’s not a shrub–more of a ground cover. It likes sandy soil; not sure about the acid level though. It can also manage fine in clay soil. It reaches a height of about 10 inches and has beautiful big pink flowers. Doesn’t need much water. Partial shade is fine, and it dies off in the winter and comes back every spring.
Of course, there may still be a problem, because tortoises eat it and I think that may mean the deer would find it delicious. :/ But it’s a durable little plant.
Alternately, you could plant Greek oregano. It’s an herb, but it bears clusters of tiny pink/purple flowers. The strong flavor might turn the deer off of it. It can be invasive, though . . . I put mine in a pot so it wouldn’t get too frisky.
Wouldn’t an herb need more sun? I have some sage I could divide, but hadn’t considered it before since I thought most herbs aside from the mint families need/prefer sun.
The evening primrose sounds good, too. Would a garden center have that?I always love to suggest native species of decorative plant- not only will you know they like your climate, but it won’t cause an environmental impact either. If anything it might attract wildlife (birds, butterflies…)
Here’s a list of NJ specific plants:
http://www.npsnj.org/native_plants.htmEven if you don’t do a native plant (that’s okay, I don’t have all native plants in my gardens either!) it’s a good idea to keep away from invasive species:
http://www.npsnj.org/invasive_species_0203.htm
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My art: featherdust.comlol…I have no gardening skills either…I wish I could be more help…my only possible suggestion is that I have some bluebells that are in a shaded spot and doing really well, they only bloom in the spring though. I dont know whether they’re NJ friendly, but they are pretty. 🙂
A lot of the plants I recognize from Nam’s native list are spring ephemerals that prefer moist, loamy soil. 🙁
In case it helps, here’s a list of non-natives that might handle your location.
https://www.birdsandblooms.com/Article.aspx?ContentID=37070&r_d=y
((My mom found out the hard way how darn invasive oregano can be! We were pulling gobs of it up for years!))
Plant, as much as you can, flowers that grow naturally in YOUR OWN AREA. Don’t try to plant a tropical plant in a northern garden, or vice versa. Try to find a good-looking kind of plant you can find in the fields close to your home. Why so? Because it will be a lot easier to take care of and will be a lot more resistant than an alien plant that is made to live in another climate. See what I mean?
I would go with hostas. You just need to protect the shoots during spring with black plastic mesh, otherwise the deer and rabbits will have a feast. Once the leaves are open, then they’re safe.
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http://www.sarahjestin.com/feedbacklists.htmWow, thanks guys!
Jen, I’m all for keeping the native species–that site you sent was great; I did find a section with photos, and they had it divided up into different catagories. I really liked the Pinebarrens Gentian. We live in the Pine Barrens, so anything that doesn’t require marshy conditions should work. Of course, there was at least 1 plant I saw on that list that I know is endangered–the Swamp Pink.There is a Mountain Laurel bush and some High Bush Blueberries right next to the cats. I like azaleas, but I think that spot is too shaded.
I like Hostas, but they turn into deer candy around here. I had to give them up 😛 The deer ate them down to nubs, along with my day lilies!Lily of the valley should grow here, according to Adaneth’s website link. They are poisonous if eaten, and should be safe from the deer. They also grow in our area wild. I love the way they smell, so I think I’ll add them to the list. The horses are safe from that area, and I’m not going to plant a huge amount of anything.
Thanks for the ideas, guys. I appreciate it!Try that black plastic mesh! You just need to put it up when things are coming out. The deer can’t see it (it’s almost invisible to the eye anyway), so they hit something they can’t see and it turns them off. Do that with your lilies. I basically cover everything in the spring. As things grow out, I adjust the mesh, then remove it entirely. On the package, it says bird mesh, or something like that.
Read my books! Volume 1 and 2 of A Dragon Medley are available now.
http://www.sarahjestin.com/mybooks.htm
I host the feedback lists, which are maintained by drag0nfeathers.
http://www.sarahjestin.com/feedbacklists.htmFor keeping deer and bunnies out of the flowers, garden, etc… take 1 raw egg, scramble it up (raw) in a gallon of warm (not hot, you’ll cook it 😀 ) in a garden sprayer and spray it all over anything you don’t want the deer in. They don’t like the smell or taste and it doesn’t hurt the plants. You do have to re-apply it occasionally, but it works like a charm. And I was going to suggest lily-of-the-valley, but I got beat to the punch! 😀
tdm
tasgrs wrote:Wouldn’t an herb need more sun? I have some sage I could divide, but hadn’t considered it before since I thought most herbs aside from the mint families need/prefer sun.
The evening primrose sounds good, too. Would a garden center have that?Several places out here have evening primrose seeds, but I haven’t seen it as starts. Admittedly, it may have limitations that I don’t know about: maybe it’s fussy about latitude, or the more serious winters that NJ gets might be more than even the seeds can tolerate. Folks that have recommended going with local native plants are absolutely right, and I should have thought about that. 😳 Just because it’s an easy plant in this dry, hot, distressingly flammable state doesn’t mean it will perform well everywhere.
As far as herbs and sun: umph. I’ve gotten away with growing sage and basil without their ever seeing direct sun–just reflected light from the patio floor–but again there’s a big difference in latitude between here and NJ. I’ve fried quite a few herbs in direct sun. 😆 But most herbs are listed as “sun-loving”, so maybe that means “sun-loving except in nasty hot dry climates”. Sweet woodruff is a shade-tolerant herb, but I haven’t worked with it at all. I’m a very amateur gardener: lots of reading, but little practical application so far. 😉
Anyway, good luck! I’m sure there’ll be something perfect on those lists. Oh–and don’t plant a ground cover called Red Apple. It is evil. Invasive, mutating, evil zombie plant. 😛
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