Planning perennial border along driveway.

[wowfed]

I'm about to complete my first year as a gardener... at my new house in central NJ.. For a first timer I thought I did a decent job. I started a bed of Hostas along the fence in the backyard.. I also have planted about 18-20 varieties of Mums along with couple of Rose bushes..They are on their full bloom show at the moment.. One area I wasn't too happy was the way I started the flower bed along either side of the drive way. The flower bed on either side of my drive way is about 2 ft wide.

I combined a number of different perennials(Coreopsis, Lilly, Lupines, Shasta Daisy , Phlox, Obidient plant, Veronica Spindles, Baloon flower, Dahlia bulbs without paying attention to plant height and color combinations. Dahlia plants are occupying large portion of the bed.. They have grown extremely tall and I will be digging up the bulbs to save for the winter. I also want to move all these perennials to the other flower beds I have in front of the house/backyard.. Now I need some advice in planning perennial(s) to plant along the driveway next spring. One side of the driveway gets complete sunlight and there are two trees on the other side and is quite shady. Here are features I want for my flower bed..

1)I can't plant any lillies as I have a lot of Squirrels, skunks and Rabbits around my house. So I need to pick plants which are Rodent resistant. I also see Deers occasionally on our streets. 2)I want to plant the perinneals which doesnt grow tall. I'm looking for something which grows max of 10-12 inches. 3)I don't mind planting the same set of plants throughout but would like to see 2-3 colors atleast. 4)I want to pick the perinneals which can start blooming atleast early summer(late spring) till early/late fall. 5)It will be nice to see same plants for both the side so I have similar flower border on either side.

One of the plants I was considering was English Daisy. As per features on Bluestone perinneals they don't grow tall and seem to have long bloom starting spring till fall. It flowers Red,Light rose and white blooms. Looks like this plant is Rodent resistant.Not sure if they can bloom in my shaded side of the bed. I'll greatly appreciate in any help/advice in picking some more plants so I can choose and decide.

[Scott Hildenbrand]

I've got squirrels, skunks and rabbits around too as well as deer and our lilies are doing splendidly.. We've got 50-60 varieties.

Best thing about lilies is that when the blooms die and you pull the scapes, you still have beautiful greenery.

Have you tried lilies before and had them die from pests, or basing that off others statements? Many lilies are extremely hardy. Some border on invasive and can easily grow into a huge clump.

We get all ours from David over at

-- Really nice guy, live right by him..

At any rate, just my two cents on lilies, because I love them so.. ;)

[Cheryl Isaak]

As another grower with a long driveway bed, but, much wider, I underplanted everything with daffodils. The main plant type are daylilies, but with a mix of ornamental grasses, coral bells and cranesbill geraniums. These last two will stay short enough for you (generally speaking). You might look at some of the shorter daylilies as well.

CPI

[Phisherman]

This design, borders along a driveway, is considered very poor design by many landscapers. This border can be seen most frequently in the South. It almost looks like a airport runway, bringing attention to the driveway and taking focus off the house and other landscaping. The border also creates maintenance/access issues. Look at some landscape designs done by professionals--you won't see many driveway borders.

[Scott Hildenbrand]

Well, we southern folk just tend to do things ya'll might not like but it sure does look perdy!

Really though, we do tend to line the drive which personally I like.. Most drives have a row of trees along them at the least.

Guess that makes us unprofessional.. *sniff* muh heart be broken... Don't break my heart.. my achy.. Oh Lordy, let me stop right there.. :)

[Cheryl Isaak]

Hey, Billy Ray.... Remember, this is your garden. You can do what ever you want. Including tie into the front of the house. Just keep it interesting to you....

BUT Only one side of my driveway is border ;)

R,D,H,

Cheryl

[Scott Hildenbrand]

LOL.. That was my point.. It's all good so long as you like what you're doing..