Readers Respond: What Would You Plant in the Back Corner Garden?

Lauren lost some trees and took the opportunity to put in a garden bed. She's been experimenting with grasses, flowers and vegetables, but she's open to any ideas for how to make this garden space spectacular. Share Your Design Ideas

Butterflies & birds sun

Good for you, having a compost pile & planting veggies in your landscaping. Maybe try a butterfly/hummingbird garden with the new found sun. This will attract pollinators for your veggies. Keep the bike & let the hedge grow. Decide if you want a more dense screen from the neighbors (fence, tall evergreen hedge) or informal less dense one. Some taller shrubs I like are smokebush, lilac, forsythia, magnolia, burning bush. Check what grows in your zone and with your soil conditions. If you want to add a little more shade, you could add a 15'-20' (when mature)flowering weeping tree. I like the tall grasses but would add some tall color, maybe sunflower, hollyhock, dahlia,tree peony,etc. I like to look at how I work in my landscape, then make paths or stepping spots for better access. Making a sitting area is a great idea. It all depends on your budget, how grand you plan. You have a great start & the compost pile will thaw. Spring is here!

—Guest NE OH gardener

bridging the gap

It looks like you've got a great start. You do need to bridge the gap between the tall evergreen and the much shorter perennials, I would use some small trees or large shrubs. It doesn't say where you are but it looks like the northeast, some plants I would suggest are; flowering dogwood, pagoda dogwood, fringe tree, also red and yellow twig dogwood would provide a lot of winter interest and bridge the gap between tree and peren., a couple of great small maples that provide spectacular fall color; amur maple, and winter interest; paperbark maple, shrubby dogwoods and native viburnums also have great fall color and provide berries for the birds. I would also consider what someone else suggested; letting that hedge grow into a more natural form. I think you're going in just the right direction for perennials, you want to choose plants that have good form and can be seen from a distance unless you're going to put in a seating area. For peren. I like baptisia, helenium, phlox, heliopsis.

—Guest andrea

mellow out

Its a little difficult to get a perspective of this garden and yard but I would say to start by planting a row of bamboo in back to shield out the background house etc. I have some at the back of my yard. It gets very tall, and is a relaxed, mellow looking plant, and a nice soft green, and you don't have to do anything to it if you have the space for it. With that as your backdrop you can add any of a variety of focal points: You can put in a birdbath with assorted bright red, blue and white flowers around it to accent it, such as small azaleas, rhodys, purple phlox, or daisies. You can make a small seating area in front of the bamboo, using either a bench or chairs and a small table, and make a pathway with stones, and have barrels full of flowers around. You could make it a water feature area, using a fountain, and have a small bridge near there going over a path of white rocks that looks like a river, and accent the whole area with bright colorful flowers.

—Guest bamboo lover

separation and all year interest

First of all, I feel the space needs to be more privacy defined from the neighboring homes, and I would do that by stopping the eye as you look out towards the garden. I might place a nice large deciduous tree on the right side, and some fairly large to medium evergreen shrubs to balance out the tree placing them near the back and middle of the garden. Add in smaller shrubs as you move to the left and front areas, mixed with ornamental grasses of varying heights,and perenniel flowers. The bicycle could stay to blend in and use as you have, and still have space for more vegitables or fill -in flowers and bulbs....the use of larger rocks to help anchor the space can create interesting planting areas. I feel its important to incorporate all season interest, so choosing which plants would be a big consideration to keep the garden interesting all year long.

—Guest Sunny

Adding Features

My opinion would be minimizing the pine tree and power pole, which are across the road. The power lines crossing the bed dictate the height of anything planted beneath them, so that rules out trees. I would probably go with a gazebo or a large arbor with seating. Maybe a yard swing with a canopy? A stepping stone pathway with "steppable" plants between them. Your plant selection is good. Keep the bike! Paint it and make it a focal point. I wouldn't go too far with more plants for at least 2 years, it takes that much time to get comfortable with a new situation. The only other suggestion might be to "relax" the rest of the yard to go with the new bed. You might want to trim the squared-off bushes closer to the ground and allow them to grow into a more natural form. And if it wouldn't be too much expense and work, you might consider replacing the "formal" hedge with a more informal fence, ie: split rail, open weave, varying height pickets.

—Guest Elaine Long

sun loving plants

I would plant a screen of mixed scrubs first. for a screen then a mixture of roses. daylilies.coneflowers.etc anything that you like.You would want to make a edge around the bed and make sure it is in a oval shape I would make sure to put in bulbs for spring bloom. Maybe a bench,bird feeder, something to accent the area.Just try to have fun a try a plant you have always wanted.

—luvtogarden

Crape Myrtle

Crape Myrtle would make a pretty background to hide the neighboring houses and provide color in the summer. They are fast growing and some varieties are quite tall.

—jswalker

Focal Points

Since the homes in the background are white, the eye is naturally drawn to them first as the light color brings them forward in the view very distinctly. I would first add two more large scale evergreens to bring balance and harmony to the scene so that you will have anchors for the garden grouping. Without being anchored it is similar to having VERY small furniture in a very large and even vast scale of a room. I am not sure what zone this photo is from, but I would imagine that there are some fast growing evergreens that would be appropriate and hardy to the area. Even a couple of large scale shrubs situated close at least visually to the tree would lead the eye to see a trio that balances the garden.

—Guest Arcadia1