Last weekend, the whole family (sans my bro) turned out to work on my sister's patio. The plan settled around a few choice plants and minimal pots that would require watering. We also fenced in an enormous a/c unit.
Here's how it went down. In a small 11' by 14" bed that get flooded by a downspout, we placed large flagstones interspersed with ground cover such as Creeping Jenny. The limey green fillers look great, but I'm still not sure they'll survive the amount of water that comes through there. Another alternative we may have to try would be to put more bog friendly plants in the area. In the center of that bed, we place three large pots. The largest holds a pink double bloom
Cameilla Sasanqua. My hope is that the Fall color will appear when nothing else is blooming and that the pink will go well with the blue accents used on the patio.
Our focal point planted coming out from a corner was a
Lacele
af Japanese Maple. We found it for quite a steal at
Logans in Raleigh. We surrounded it by a number of small
Gardenias. I picked Gardenias obviously for their smell in close proximity in the small space, but also because they are everygreen and look great year round and because the dark green foliage stands out nicely against the purple hues of the tree. We rounded out the area with
variegated Liropie. I like the variegated variety for the space since it gives the illusion of light in the shade.
We also put in a bird feeder for some height and interest in a corner and put in a window box in a small window above the kitchen sink. The window boxes contained some variegated Ivy and a small Spruce.
Outside the fence on a path from the car, we placed some more flagstones bordered by a dark green liropie to create an entryway. Given the time of year, we didn't do any annuals, but that's next along with some serious powerwashing! Thanks for Tall Traditions Building Company for the fence and to Tammy for a number of the plants!
