A Variety of Garden Paths

What's the best material to use for a garden path? A lot depends upon your preferences and the style of your house and gardens. Brick, stone, gravel, mulch, grass and other materials are used for garden paths.

There are pros and cons to all materials, and we use three different styles within our gardens (photo taken from second story window to show examples):

• Flagstone with polymeric joints (main walkway)
• Flagstone stepping stones over mulch (outer garden paths and in cottage garden)
• Gravel (cottage garden along roses)

Since our house is a cottage style, we didn't want a formal walkway.

Our main walk consists of flagstones with polymeric sand in the joints. We didn't want cement in the joints on the walk as we felt it would appear too formal for the style of our house and meadow setting. We considered growing thyme between the stones, but decided to try the sand.

The polymeric sand is used for dry-laid projects. It's a sand product with polymers that make it harden so that you don't have to keep sweeping loose sand or screenings between the stones.

In a nutshell, here's an overview of the steps to use polymeric sand:

• dig and level the ground
• layer of permeable landscape fabric
• layer of screenings
• lay the flagstone
• sweep polymeric sand in the joints in a thin layer
• mist with water
• wait 10 minutes and repeat with layers/misting until sand is level with stones

Since the house was finished in fall 2005, we've had to re-apply the sand once, but it was an easy project. Some weed seeds, like spurge, will find the way into the sand, but that is minimal. I've had petunias reseed into the sand!

The stepping stones are the same Pennsylvania bluestone (lilac heather) as used for our main walkway, front porch floor and patios. These are laid on the ground and dressed with triple-ground hardwood mulch. The stepping stones are almost carefree, with the occasional weeding of the mulch. The mulch is thick enough that weeds aren't too much of a problem.

The gravel used along the roses inside the cottage garden requires the most maintenance in terms of weeding. Weed seeds sprout quite easily in the gravel. I wait until after a rain, then use a trowel or flat shovel to dig and scrape out the weeds, then rake the gravel back into place. Vinegar sprayed directly on the weeds is also useful. There is no weed mat/landscape fabric beneath the gravel. The gravel is locally known as "Chapel Hill grit" or "Chapel Hill gravel" as it comes from a local quarry.

We've not yet had to replenish the gravel, but we are considering using pea gravel. We have a small test section by the guest parking to decided whether or not we will want an entire path made of pea gravel.

An added benefit of all of our paths is that we can maintain these ourselves. In fact, we built a large dining patio ourselves using flagstones and polymeric sand. I like that we have a variety of path materials in different sections of the gardens, rather than using all one material everywhere.

Photos and story by Freda Cameron

In the Beginning: The Deer Resistant Garden

What does it take for a fast-growing flower garden? Good soil, sufficient rainfall and the right plants for the right spot.

When I work with, rather than against, Mother Nature, the garden grows pretty well. In other words, I don't grow anything exotic in my garden!

My garden is in full sun with lots and lots of deer. In 2007, we had a prolonged drought here in zone 7 of North Carolina. That happened to be the same year that I planted 99% of my outer gardens. My "outer" gardens are really just outside the cottage garden fence. I just haven't come up with anything clever to name the whole garden.

There are named sections within the outer gardens... butterfly, rain, fragrance, waterfall, guest parking and driveway island. Not very glamorous, I know. There's a bit of chaos, as I've just plunked some plants in spots within the garden because I don't have a holding bed.

For those who are just getting started with gardening, take heart!

As you can see, the first photo, taken in July 2008, is quite different from the second photo which shows the same garden in May 2007. To understand the vantage point, I have drawn an arrow on the photo to show the same crape myrtle tree. This is a view from east to west, with our driveway and parking areas at the far end of the photos.

Not everything planted in May 2007 survived the drought. I lost coreopsis, deutzia, penstemon and asters and probably a few more perennials that I've since forgotten.

The plants didn't have a chance to get established since it was difficult to keep the garden watered during the drought as there is no irrigation on the slope. There is drip irrigation along the bottom for the rain garden plants. Even though we have our own private well, we didn't feel inclined to risk watering the large area after months and months of prolonged drought.

In spring 2008, I filled in those gaps with salvia, agastache, perennial ageratum, echinops, spirea, monarda, perennial heliotrope, herbs and buddleia.

This area was bare ground on a slope. We first tried sowing grass, but with every rain, the seeds washed down to the bottom of the slope. This is full sun, on the south side, front of the house.

To turn this into a garden, we brought in several double dump truck loads of really great gardening soil. I spent September of 2006 spreading the soil by hand, with a depth of 6-8 inches, over the entire area. It was quite a workout! I planted a few Japanese and Siberian iris that fall along the bottom of the slope to begin creating a rain garden.

As you can see in comparing the two photos, the driveway and parking area are no longer visible. I used buddleia, illicium, amsonia, ginger, and itea beside the large crape myrtle to help define the far end of this garden section.

All of the plants selected are full sun, zone 7, deer resistant plants. No deer repellants have ever been used, but I may resort to rabbit repellants! For just a few months, I did surround the garden with a 32" high wire edging fence to just keep the deer from trampling and sampling the newly planted perennials.

The reason that I think this garden has been so successful is that I started with good soil and selected plants that are drought-tolerant for the top of the slope. At the bottom of the slope, I use plants that like the occasional wet soil. The plants in the middle of the slope like average moisture and rich soil.

There's still a lot of tweaking to be done as I improve the design by increasing the number of hardy plants and removing the ones that aren't good performers.

Photos and story by Freda Cameron

Pretty Perennial Foliage (After the Flowers)

We all want flowers. We want lots and lots of flowers in our gardens. I often struggle with decisions on bloom time. Should I go for "one big show" in spring and another in summer? What happens with the perennials when the blooms are gone?

The problem with trying to achieve colorful bloom with large mass plantings of the same plant is that when the blooms are gone the foliage may look pretty bad. Since my gardens are in front of the house, I'm trying to avoid large spaces of dying or wilted foliage that even annuals interspersed cannot hide. My garden is in full sun in zone 7b.

Winter is a great time to review photos of the garden to see which perennials provided good foliage after the bloom times. This summer, I intentionally went around my garden to photograph the ugly spots where the flowers had played out and detracted from the late blooming flowers.

There's still improvement to be done, so I have a strategy of expanding the perennials with beautiful flowers that continue to provide beautiful foliage. I'm also incorporating more annuals next spring and have already sown larkspur and poppies. I will sow cleome, nicotiana, zinnias, cosmos and other annuals to fill in the gaps.

My favorite perennials with beautiful foliage after the blooms include Japanese or Siberian irises, monarda, and salvia. I'll use the irises and monarda as the main players in my examples.

Even though it is December, the monarda foliage is still showing green to burgundy colors close to the ground like a ground cover. The iris leaves have finally turned brown and are ready to be cut back with the ornamental grasses in January.

This is how the combination looked back in early June 2008 with the irises in bloom and the monarda (right) not yet in bloom:


When the Japanese Irises are not in bloom, the foliage continues to look great. The foliage of some irises doesn't impress after the blooms, but the foliage of these provides a beautiful, tall, lush spike form.

The monarda blooms for several weeks, then I deadhead it for repeat blooms. Once the second flush of blooms is finished, I deadhead again back to leaf joints to keep the foliage looking good. Another thing to note about monarda is to continue to provide watering if there isn't sufficient rainfall. Monarda will get powdery mildew if it gets too dry.

The next view is from the top of a slope looking down into a different grouping of irises, monarda and amsonia hubrichtii. There is a nandina 'alba' providing additional foliage interest in the upper left of the photo. The monarda is barely in bloom, and the Japanese and Siberian irises are providing foliage after the blooms are gone.



In another grouping, there is also white ginger on the left (will bloom in September) and a buddleia at the back. The yellow blooms of the buddleia don't show up in this view, but the monarda blooms are apparent among all the other foliage.



A few more of my favorite blooming perennials that work double-time to provide beautiful foliage include:

1. baptisia
2. crocosmia
3. dianthus
4. hypericum
5. perennial geranium
6. lavender (multiple varieties)
7. nepeta
8. salvia guaranitica and greggii
9. scabiosa
10. sedum (multiple varieties)
11. stacys hummelo

For variety, my perennial garden also includes a mix of flowering shrubs such as buddleia, itea, and spirea as well as ornamental grasses, sedges and ground covers.

Photos and story by Freda Cameron

Foliage Combinations in the Perennial Garden

When the flowers aren't in bloom, there are several foliage plants that I use to help carry color and texture in the perennial garden. I use a combination of perennials, shrubs and ornamental grasses to divide the dry stream garden from the front garden. Since this area is right beside our front path, I selected plants that would provide nice foliage from spring through fall and included a few for winter interest.

Amsonia hubrichtii is a southern native perennial that produces tiny blue flowers in the spring. While the flowers are nice, the threadlike, lacy foliage provides a nice texture when mixed with other foliage shapes. This perennial also provides a pretty background for flowering perennials since it quickly reaches a nice 3 x 3 foot size in the garden. The foliage turns a brilliant gold in the fall and is rated for zones 5-9, planted in full sun.

Miscanthus sinensis 'Little Zebra' PP 13,008 is a dwarf ornamental grass that fits in well with a perennial border. The fountain-shaped blades have horizontal gold bands. In the fall, the plumes shoot up straight in my full sun garden, making this grass easy to use when it is planted closely with perennials and shrubs. This grass is also rated for full sun in zones 5-9, making it a nice texture combination with the amsonia.


Illicium is an evergreen shrub that is also a southern native. I can't tell you exactly which one I have as this was originally planted next to our foundation by our landscaper. I moved it to this area because it enjoys moist soil in full sun and provides foliage year round. That is, until the deer are hungry enough to strip the leaves off of this shrub. The shrub does recover fully by summer and is left alone. For this reason, I put a little 32" high wire edging fence around this shrub in the winter months to prevent deer damage. This shrub can grow quite tall and wide and does have fragrant blooms, but mine has been pruned back a few times by the deer. If I were to substitute another shrub for this one, it would be osmanthus fragrans.

Itea virginica 'Little Henry' is a deciduous shrub that likes full sun to shade and moist soil. This shrub is an adaptation of the native itea virginica. This little fellow has blooms of white spirals in the early summer. The fall foliage is a brilliant red, a great contrasting companion, with the amsonia foliage in the fall. The small scale of 'Little Henry' makes it easy to tuck this 3 x 3 foot plant into the perennial border in zones 5-9.

Each of these four plants adds a different leaf shape and texture to use in a grouping as companion plants. Since they like the same growing conditions, there's no stress on any of these plants in the same setting. Only the illicium grows large, so the smaller companions are easy to fit into a mixed border.

While all are planted in my rain garden, these plants can be grown in less wet conditions. The rain garden is the lowest point along the path in my front garden.

With the exception of winter browsing of the illicium, all of these plants are deer resistant and rabbit resistant.

Photo and story by Freda Cameron

Merry Christmas

Happy Gardening!Garden Gnome©2006-2008

Have you been Naughty Or Nice?

Well Santa is just about here boys and girls, I've been watching the Santa Tracker all day. So he has little bit longer to check that naughty or nice list and I have one question to all of you.....Have you been....NAUGHTY or NICE?Remember folks, Santa's watching!Okay for those of you that know me, we've already opened all our presents and now the children are eagerly waiting for morning because

Where's Santa?

With only hours to go before Santa arrives at your house I bet you are hearing all types of things from your kids.Mom, was I good this year? How does Santa know if I'm still behaving? Where's Santa now mom?Well for most of those you can have Santa email your kids a letter telling them they've behaved. Mine did and even told him what they wanted for Christmas and he's already sent back two letters