Hello fellow plant enthusiasts, my name is Rachael and I'm a little obsessed with turning nothing into something. I live in Northern New York, zone 5. I am also coutning off the minutes until my last frost date because I am itching to plant things ! ( long post incoming )
I have always lived somewhere where I had to keep things in containers. This past year I moved and was able to hastily put together a planter at my new place with a few Gladiolus that I neglected to dig up, some bleeding hearts, several different types of ferns, cardinal flower and a couple other things I forget now. They were not supposed to live in this planter, however I was unaware that where I wanted to plant them wasn't feasible because of a lot of old fill. Carpets, furnaces, statues, you name it and it's probably in there. I did manage to get a few bare root Ninebark shrubs to grow on a pile of dirt in this inhospitable place which is technically across the road/state land. Hey, I see it out my window can't blame a girl for trying. One Ninebark in particular is most healthy looking and no kiddding -- it's planted on a very old carpet mound covered with black dirt. I placed the roots and fanned them out and put some more dirt on top and it grew very well last year despite the condition, late planting and never planting a bare root anything before. Almost everything I got from the mail order nursery came up -- save the bearberry.
So far I've taken some of the ferns out and placed them in a less scorching area and planted some fall bulbs I neglected to plant last year, who knows if they will come up but I have very few options. One must use what they have.
I have morning glories ( heavenly blue I actually returned the Grandpa Ott's after doing some research ) , moon flower, nasturtiums, foxgloves, big fluffy poppies and chinese forget me nots started inside for some pots I have left over. I'm really surprised some of them have even germinated since I guess they don't take kindly to being started the way I started them. I also have some lillies to put in a bare spot near that one planter.
What's vexing me is the rest of it. Particularly the sandy hill. Now it's nearly 2 am and I'm fairly tired so I don't have pictures of the sandy hill,( however I can rectify that tomorrow or if anyone has the fortitude and interest to get through this post.) The weed infested sandy slope that, surprise surprise, drains into a little ditch on the neighbors land. Now, if I could fix all this I would most certainly but I'm just living here and I have to make sue with the situation as it presents itself.
I have gotten a few bags of wildflower seed to scatter over the area but they are mainly annuals for some quick color. The main issue is erosion control, groundcover and something that will outgrow the bindweed and horsetail. In full sun, until it gets past the tree line in the later afternoon, then the bottom half of the ditch is shady. Wet at times, and pretty much the same deal as across the road. I'm running into issues because I have at most $150.00 ( preferably less ) to spend on this very large area and I don't want anything invasive ( but aggressive is ok ). So far I've looked into sedums, juniper, phlox, and ajugla of different varieties for the slope. Obedient plant for the lower part of the ditch, which I might not be able to control was my biggest contender but since its breezy here they might get flattened or they could grow rampantly and I'll have a bigger mess on my hands than I already do.
I haven't been here but nearly a year now and I don't have an intimate knowledge of the specifics of the land, I know that slope is full sun though. My s.o wants to put in a veggie garden near this slope ( it's really the best area sun-wise ) and I'm concerned that building a raised bed near this slope will have bad consequences. So I want to get some decent looking plants to stabilize the hill.
I'm driving myself nutty , have 45 tabs open and I'm just a bit overwhelmed. If anyone has some advice for a lady with a lot of ground to cover and some tight purse strings I'd certainly appreciate it. I will upload some pictures tomorrow so that anyone that may look can get a better idea of what I'm dealing with. At the very least I've gotten some of it off my chest and hopefully can sleep better now. I really don't like asking people for help, I feel like bother but I realize I may not be able to pull this off all on my own. Pictures forthcoming!
I hope everyone has a lovely night/morning/afternoon !
-Rachael