This is what our lawn looked like before we worked on it. It was weedless almost. We added a few inches of topsoil and lime to it before we did the grade work. It was starting to look pretty decent last fall before the snow flew. Now I need to find plants that will grow in these conditions. Any suggestions?
Look what those deer (Cheesehead calls them giant rats) did to my poor arborvitae! There a 2 tiny sprigs of green left growing on there, if you squint just right you may be able to see them! I need to find some plants that all the forest critters will allow me to enjoy. Somehow I just don't want to spend money on plants that will end up looking like this. Oh, did I mention our soil is beach-like, acidic, and fairly shady?
I'm new to zone 3 so I'm having trouble. My old yard had no animal problems, plenty of sunlight, decent soil (it was still fairly sandy but nowhere close to the rock and sand I have now), and was not acidic. Nothing like being thrown into completely different conditions!
I'm working on researching plants and stuff right now. I'd welcome any suggestions you may have!
8 comments:
I have no personal experience with zone 3 plants, but a quick search turned up this site:
http://www.bachmans.com/tipsheets/Minnesota_gardening/HardyPlantforTheLake.cfm
Have you searched for gardening blog sites in your zone? Also, usually, plants your local nurseries are selling does well in your area--still need to take in consideration soil/shade/sun and watering on your property of course. It sometimes helps to cruise the neighborhood to see what is growing well in your neighbors yards...assuming they have similar conditions.
Is there a local gardening group you could join? Be helpful and a great way to make new friends.
If you think your soil is an issue, it's worthwhile to have a soil test done. Most big nurseries can help you with that.
There's always an adjustment and learning curve in any new situation and you'll soon find what works for your gardens. It took me awhile to find my microclimate's niche...which turned out to be Australian, Mediterranean and California natives (have lots of other plants too, but the majority are from those areas.).
Hey!! I like your new name. I thought you had two blogs for a mintue. I have an evergreen that is bare on one side where the deer got hungry!! It's not any better at the new house--maybe worse. Sorry--I don't know anything about zone 3. I do know my house hasn't sold yet!! errrrr!
I am in zone 6b/7 so I haven't any idea. There are several sites that list with deer proof plants. I can only remember that they don't like fuzzy leaves.
We don't have deer here yet.
Gail
Lin- I've been looking. The houses around me are all fairly new so there really isn't any landscaping to check out!
I've been looking and I think I've found a few that sound promising. I'll look around at the nurseries once they open. They don't usually open around her until mid April or so though. Until then I can just drool at internet plants!
Anna- Thanks. It seemed appropriate. I don't really stick to any one topic and I don't mind if people talk about whatever they want so that's how I decided on it! I may be selling my house soon. About 2 more days until I hear a decision!
Gail- LUCKY! Deer are nice looking creatures, but I don't want them to eat up all of my hard work either!
Cinj, ouch! double whammy when it comes to zone 3 and deer. I don't know much about gardening around deer but I'm sure most men would say hunt them down....I've seen plants that are supposed to be "deer proof" or they don't like to eat them but I think in the deep of winter they will eat anything. Do you feed them by chance, I remember my Dad always had salt licks and he had a big feeder full of corn to feed them.
We've been thinking about feeding them. We aren't really hunters around here, so I think feeding them would be a better option.
I live in western MN. on the ND border, so I'm also zone 3/4. This winter our temps. were down to 30 - 40 below. The plants I have the most luck with are daylilies. They come in almost every color and size and they do really well around here. I don't have a green thumb so I need things that are easy to grow. I also have good luck with carpet roses. I do cover them in the winter. I have couple of really good booklets I got from a landscaper that deal with perennials and trees and shrubs for this climate. We have deer around our area, but so far they leave my plants alone, but they really like our new fruit trees that we are trying to grow. There are web sites that sell wonderful daylilies that do well in cold temps.
Sharon- Thanks for stopping by and sharing the input. I have been browsing the daylilies. There are many that come in a variety of lovely colors.
It has been a particularly cold and snowy winter around here too. I'll be interested to see if the plants I bought last year made it. I probably won't really know until April or so. I wish this snow would go ahead and melt already. Spring fever is setting in!
Post a Comment