Help with what to plant in new garden?

Question

I'm new to the whole gardening thing; I have an area outside I'd like to plant in...it's a raised area next to the house surrounded by rocks. It gets lots of sunlight throughout the day. Any suggestions what to plant there? I want a variety of height and color. Can I go to a garden store and just buy a bunch of flowers?

Answer 1

Welcome to gardening!

Since you are new, you will want things that are easy to care for. I chose a bunch of culinary stuff for my bed: Tomatoes, green peppers, basil, oregano, sage, and lemon balm. You may want to actually put the lemon balm and oregano in containers, because these two plants are related to mints. Which can spread aggressively. I also got marigold seed.

Check at your local nursery: There should be someone who can advise you there. And take a look at the Arbor Day foundation site for planting zones: There has been some change in climate since the zones were first established.

Good luck!

Answer 2

There is no mention of actual size of the raised bed. So, it is hard to respond to. Flowers are mentioned ... so I will start from there. Two types of plants... Perennial and Annual. Perennial plants do not have to be replanted each year. They come back year after year. Annuals do not come back.

See the sites below for more information and selections...that you like the descriptions of. Remember to soil test and treat with crushed lime, if possible, before planting. Some plants do better with a specific pH. Hydrangeas change color according to the soil pH. If you have a local Farmer's Co-op, they often have the kits and may offer free service in exchange for agreement to purchase the treatment (lime) from them.

Perennials:

Achillea
Asters
Bleeding Heart
Campanula
Collections
Coneflower
Daisies
Delphinium
Eupatorium
Foxglove
Geraniums
Helenium
Hibiscus
Hosta
Kniphofia
Lavender
Linum
Lupine
Other Perennials
Plants
Rudbeckia
Scabiosa
Verbascum
Viola Agastache
Baby's Breath
Butterfly Bush
Chrysanthemum
Columbines
Coreopsis
Daylilies
Dianthus
Ferns
Gaillardia
Grass
Heuchera
Hollyhocks
Hydrangea
Lady's Mantle
Lilies
Lobelia
Monarda
Phlox
Poppies
Salvia
Sedum
Verbena

Annuals:

Abutilon
Ageratum
Alyssum
Asarina
Asters
Balsam
Bells of Ireland
Calendula
Celosia
Cleome
Collections
Cornflower
Dahlias
Dolichos
Flower Fairies Collection
Gardens
Geraniums
Heirloom Annuals
Ice Plant
Ipomopsis
Kale
Lavatera
Lobelia
Moonflower
Nasturtium
Other Annuals
Pentas
Phlox
Poppy
Rudbeckia
Scabiosa
Spilanthes
Stock
Sunflowers
Tithonia
Verbena
Zinnias Agastache
Alternanthera
Amaranthus
Asclepias
Baby's Breath
Begonias
Browalia
Cardinal Climber
Clarkia/Godetia
Coleus
Convolvulus/Dwarf
Cosmos
Daisies
Dusty Miller
Four O Clocks
Gazania
Gomphrena
Heliotrope
Impatiens
Iresine
Laurentia
Lisianthus
Marigolds
Morning Glory
Nicotiana
Pansies
Petunias
Plants
Portulaca
Salvia
Snapdragons
Statice
Strawflower
Sweet Peas
Torenia
Vinca

Answer 3

I have an area like what you are describing on one side of my house.It's a raised bed about 8 by 12 foot.First I refreshed the soil with 2 large bags of miracle grow potting soil,I find the ones labeled garden soil are mostly made up of sand.I dug all the dirt down about a foot deep and added the new soil and mixed it around.I dont know where you live or what zone you are in but I planted lemon grass against the house,it grows tall,is fragrant and has really nice purplish plumes in late summer and fall,{It grows pretty much anywhere}.In front of that I planted three heirloom tomato plants,they have bright yellow flowers and end up bearing colorful striped tomatoes.Those will need to be staked in a few weeks. In front of that I plant a variety of sage{purple flowers},rosemary{tiny pink flowers},and low growing marigolds{assorted colors}.My garden smells wonderful,looks great and I can use most of the plants for cooking and eating.Plus the marigolds and rosemary help keep the bugs away!

Answer 4

Take a walk around where you live, & look for similar situations , as far as light, direction, etc. See what you like , & then go find it.( That's a starting point ) Go to local garden center . The mass merchants target beginners, but actually is the last place a novice should go . As for specific plants , would suggest including some Daylilies (Hemerocallis sp.) as they will do well almost everywhere ,come in a wide variety of size, form, & color & are almost unkillable .(Positive reinforcement in the beginning can't hurt . )Never had anybody come back to me & say " My daylily died."
The most important thing is to enjoy it . Even the failures( & everybody has 'em) They'll make a funny story , later when you know enough to appreciate it. . I know a woman, who was the director/ curator of a local public garden , & studied with & is friends with many of the biggest names in horticulture , all over the world , who claims she doesn't fully know a plant , unless she's killed it 3 or 4 times . ( Not that you'll do that . ;D)
( Feel free to contact me for subsequent questions - there will; be many! ;D)

Answer 5

So easy. For veggies, make sure the garden gets a lot of mid day and afternoon sun.

Dig up the old plants. Till the ground if you can by shovel or tiller. Turn it over and over, pull out all old roots and grass and anything that is not soil.

Now mix in a general fertalizer that is good for gardening. No reason to get expensive, anything. The 'TONE' products are good, like Root Tone and Plant Tone...just anything safe for VEGGIES.

Now, plant the plants. I highly recomment NOT getting seeds, but the litte plants they have at walmart. Plant tomatoes about 3 feet apart, rows the same, 3 feet apart. Plant vining plants where you don't have to worry about mowing...cukes, etc. Zuchinni, tomatoes, peppers of any kind, cukes, all super easy to grow. Just keep them watered. If you see a problem, ask here.

Skip corn for now, it can be a real mess with pests.

DO believe the directions, for example that little zuchinni plant really WILL get to 3 to 5 feet across!

Good luck and happy gardening!

Answer 6

First you need to decide colors & heights of plants then need to look at the size of the area and the plants you want. Perennials come back year after year where Annuals don't but they do look nice and are compact, so they can fill in small spaces for the spring through fall seasons. Some suggestions would be Hucheras, Hibiscus, Tree Peonies, Shrub Roses, Astilbe, Hostas, Oriental (or) Day Lilies. You will also need to find out what Planting Zone you are in.

Answer 7

Sort of. Plants are labeled by USDA zone. So you can look on the label and see the normal height and space and sun requirements. Pick something that is hardy to your zone. It will be much easier on you. Also you need to look at your soil. Unless you're in an area known for acidic or alkaline soil, it's probably neutral. And there are rocks, but do they affect the moisture of the soil? If it's really dry there are plants that can adapt to that. I would start by just going to your local greenhouse and looking around. Don't plan on buying anything. Just look at whatever catches your eye and look at the label info. Also the workers are a great resource and should know some good easy care plants for your area.

Answer 8

You can get a variety of outside plant mixed together to form that beautiful garden. well, a garden is consist of many green eating food. but what you want to do is have nice flowers in this area. start with flowers that will last the hold summer and bloom to make this area nice. yes, yu can go to Lowes, have a nice plants for this project. less expensive.

Answer 9

If you are new to Gardening and want to plant some vegetables, plant some small to medium tomatoes.... they are very hearty and grow well in just about any soil, even in a 5 gallon pail type of a "bucket-garden". You can plant other things, but if the other plants fail, you will always have tomatoes! Pick the fruits when just fully enlarged and beginning to ripen so the plant will produce more fruits again and again in the season. (It uses its nutrient resources sooner to develop more fruits faster that way for a bountiful, repeat harvest). Ripen the picked ones in a brown paper bag in a cool, dry place (Cellars are too damp for this). They continue to ripen slowly off the vine if kept cool and dry and out of the sunlight. Check the bag for ripe ones every 3 to 4 days (at least) and remove and use the ripest ones that are red or they can be kept longer in the crisper drawer of a refrigerator only after fully ripe and red. If not red enough yet, return them to their cool, dry place. Do not let them over-ripen and get mushy as they will contaminate the others with mold spores and accelerate their decomposition.Any superficial mold spores on the surface of a firm fruit can be washed off with a dilution of mild dish-soap and THOROUGHLY rinsed and blotted dry on paper towels but use a new brown bag as the paper-fibers may retain some mold spores. If you find too much mold growing too fast it may mean that the closet or place where they are stored is too moist with water-vapor in the air. Use a dehumidifier or find another place that has dryer air. Carl

Answer 10

Grape hyacinths are a bulb. they are only about 6 inches, lots of color, will bloom in early spring. Then behind that, I recommend yellow daffodils or white with yellow centers (that's what I have and it's so pretty together). Behind that, any color of regular hiacynths. They are taller, and larger and the fragrance is to die for! Behind that you can put some Tulips, I think the lavendar and purple are pretty, but I have some varigated orange/yellow that are STUNNING. Then your day lillies behind that. Once the spring flowers start to die, you can plant some allysium, it's a spreading ground cover LOADED with white or blue or purple flowers. Actually allysium can be planted first and you can have the bulbs come up year after year right through them for a wonderful effect. Behind the tulips, try some day lillies or even bearded iris. They are awesome things, very tall. You can also plant pansy's close to the front, they don't get tall at all. they are pretty much almost year around even in zone 6 and don't forget the primrose. They are low growing. If you don't have a green thumb, still plant all the bulbs and then just plant nasturtium seeds after the frost. They are very green and leafy, drought resistant after established and the flowers are abundant if you don't fertalize. I love those! This is for a spot where you get mostly sun. If you get mostly shade, then you want to rethink the whole thing. : ) lIke hosta and astilbe, that's what I'm planting on one side.
Oh try some holyhock in the back, they are REALLY tall and the snapdragons in front of that. If you want to go even taller, get some seeds for russion giant sunflowers. Talk about TALL. So then you have your ground cover with flowers coming up out of it, then taller flowers , your daffodils, the tulips and you just keep getting talling. Lots of stuff out there. OH, daisies! Those are year round if your in zone 8 and up. Hard to really plan a garden if I dont' know where you live, but I live in Utah. Your local garden store will sell plants best for your area and you can even ask for help. They can show you all sorts of ideas. Have Fun. Good Luck! I'm so excite for you! I love flowers! The grape hyacinths (I can't spell), the daffodils, tulips, lilly's, iris are all bulbs,, so you can be creative and plant low stuff under them. You gonna have so much fun. Just be creative. Try www.americanmeadows.com the bulbs I mentioned are to be planted in the fall and are on SALE right now. They also have stuff for spring and summer and you can just go through and look at everything online. Also, www.parkseed.com and www.dutchbulbs.com I have an empty planter right now that I'm going to have a blast with! OH! Don't forget the gladiola bulbs!!! check it out on those websites.