judil-question
Maryanne, We live on the Enumclaw plateau and were on the garden tour a couple of years ago. We would like to increase the size of our borders to cut back on road dust. Also, since the tour we put a shade garden under the large willow in the front yard. The tornado took down the willow and now we have no shade so need to rethink that area. Our gardens have a European feel to them. I talked to you once about helping design the gardens and you said you didn’t do that much any more. We’d love to give you the work or have you give us the name of a designer that we could work with. Thanks, Judi Le Penske
Posted by on October 4, 2009
Thank you for thinking of me for your design work. I am teaching a class at Green River community college this month on the Enumclaw campus on October 15. I can offer personal help with your landscape problems at this class or you can contact the local nurseries in your area for designer recommendations. Both Big E nursery and Grandma's Garden nursery offer help. I love the idea of bigger borders for dust control and be sure to mix in evergreens like viburnums and arborvitae with summer color from hydrangeas, abelias and spiraeas with a thick mulch of at least two inches deep to keep down the weeds and keep the soil moist while you wait for these shrubs to fill in and become a living wall. For added color and drama plant bulbs that naturalize such as the snowdrop, dwarf daffodil and autumn-blooming hardy cyclamen under the skirts of your shrubbery. A border of shrubs can be much less maintenance and less expensive than a fence plus provide food and shelter for birds and wildlife. As for your shade garden, it might be nice to construct a pergola or shade structure over the exposed plants, add a bench to this little pocket garden and some vines growing up over the structure and create a destination shade garden to replace the willow tree you lost. Keep growing, Marianne Binetti
