SUNNY PERENNIALS:
- lavender
- purple salvia (preferred, Aunt Mary got blue black salvia)
- yellow alyssum (deer resistant) - full sun, ground cover/mat
- peonies
- dahlia
- knock out roses (maybe on corner)
- asclepius/butterfly weed
- daisies (get bushy but don’t spread necessarily)
- rudbeckia (black-eyed susans)
- celosia spicata (cockscomb)
SHADY PERENNIALS:
- astilbe (2-5ft feathery plumes on fern-like bush, suggested varieties)
- Japanese skimmia (4ft evergreen flowering bush)
SHRUBS & EVERGREENS:
- compact inkberry holly (4-6 ft spread/height)
- yellow evergreen ‘lemony lace’ wispy 3-6’ shrub
- sunshine ligustrum (bright yellow)
- dwarf Norway spruce (2-3’ round)
- Kelsey’s Dwarf Red-Osier Dogwood (24-30” tall and wide, green bush in summer & red stems in winter)
- Low-growing shrubs, like yew, juniper, boxwood, and holly, are good choices for foundation plantings. Shorter shrubs should have at least a 3-foot (. 91 m.) clearance between them and the house for optimum air circulation.
- 10 great low maintenance shrubs
[DWARF] TREES:
- katsura Japanese maple (yellow red-tinged leaves - Acer palmatum ‘Katsura’ 7’ x 5’ - does best in morning or filtered sun - will get 10-15ft tall and need 8-12ft diameter, more info here)
- dwarf alberta spruce
GROUNDCOVER:
- Dianthus? (Have to clip buds off to get it to flower again according to Mary) maybe look for a lower maintenance groundcover
- Phlox
- Sedum (Amy suggestion)
GRASS:
- fountain grass (NOT purple - little bunny dwarf version only grows 1-2’ in height and width)
INFRASTRUCTURE:
- do NOT want landscape edging metal
- victorian trench edging possible low-maintenance, cheap option to start?
- long-term solution probably concrete custom edging
- “uplighting” is what we’re looking for, might have to hire out - need something that will put out good amount of light, maybe stake style lights
- need to get stones that can stack because will be flush (single stack?) in front of house but taller on edge of house (double stack?) since ground is uneven
- This Old House: All about landscape lighting
- Amazon - 2 pack solar garden lights, $27
- Amazon - 6 pack solar garden lights, $70
- Frontgate Pro Series VI Solar Spotlight, Set of Two, $89
- “Michigan-based landscape designer Jeremy Christianson offers this rule of thumb: About 50 percent of the foundation bed’s space should be evergreens, 25 percent deciduous and flowering shrubs, and 25 percent perennials.” (link)
- Best Perennials for Zone 6
- 10 plants that glitter with golden foliage