Which kind of holly

[Rosalind]

Hey youse guys, I need some shrub selection help.

I'm re-doing my front yard, as the plants that were there got smashed during a recent renovation. Planted six white roses in front already: there are two climbers, which will be trained around some sort of ornamenty things, on either side of the door. Haven't bought the ornamenty things--I would like a trellis like faux-topiary affair, DH is pulling for gargoyles we'll see who wins.

I found ground cover that will look nice: dwarf huckleberries that turn reddish in the fall with edible blue berries, white flowers in spring of course.

However, even when the roses are mature, there will still be gaps between them. In those gaps are the windows of the house. So whatever I plant in the gaps has to be short-ish, because I don't even own hedge trimmers. A dwarf-y type of a thing. At least, slow growing.

Right now it is bare apart from the roses. I would like something of winter interest, but not too formal--we're going for a cottage look here.

Technically I am in US zone 7, but this side of the house tends to catch all the weather, especially all the ice. It has absolutely NO shelter, so for all intents and purposes, call it zone 6. This makes me sad, as it rules out some of the Mahonias I would have liked. Would like some not-too-formal evergreens for winter interest, but not sure which ones. Some sort of holly? House itself is bright red, which is why I planted white roses, so they will stand out and have some contrast.

Ideas? Suggestions?

 

[Greensage45]

Well,

Only because you asked! :bee

I could imagine everything you were describing. You're really good at describing the texture and placements. I wonder if my mind captured it the way you see it.

Do you have a picture?

I am not sure, but, did I miss the direction the bed sits? I must be reading over that part, but I think you mean the North side where it gets the hardest winter bite.

Well, I am terrible with knowing anything about your region of the World, but when you were describing this, my mind could see these fabulous big White Echinacea

Well, I say go with the white because of the white roses, but that is all a matter of how dark it is in that area and or if there is enough sun to support Echinacea; I remember seeing some fine specimens in a picture from New Jersey.

OK, would love to see some visuals! :coolsun

Ron

 

[lesa]

Of course, Holly is a lovely shrub. However, I hate it! Nothing against holly really, but as those leaves dry and fall into the dirt- watch out! They are sharp!! I love digging around my garden beds with my bare hands and those things really hurt. Even though they don't drop all their leaves, they drop plenty...I personally would pick something else. Your white roses against the red house will be drop dead gorgeous! Enjoy!

 

[Rosalind]

Here's what it looks like in winter:

This is an old picture, but pretty much the same. The neighbor brats broke my light, so you'll have to imagine the new light--one of those round nautical types--but same size, same location.

Contractor working on the siding:

So you can see how close to the road I am. We are planning to put in one of those dry-stacked rock walls next year.

House is still the same red as it was in the first picture. Local historical society says, I must match the exterior colors to the architectural historian's analysis. So red it is.

Edited to add: this is a southern exposure. All our weather blows up the coast from the south, occasionally slamming into the cold jet streams from Canada and turning into several days' worth of blizzards. The backyard, the north side, actually slopes down and has really good tree breaks, so my north side is, ironically, great for apricots, grapes and early apples.

 

[simple life]

Rosalind,
I love your house! I love when people restore the old houses instead of ruining them. I live in a circa 1768 cape myself and have spent the last 15 years restoring it.
Well, I am in a similar zone as you, we don't live that far apart.
I have had great luck with arborvites, boxwoods, hollies, cypresses and spruces. Thats aside from the more ornamental like the hydrageas, azaleas, roses of sharons rhodies and quinces.
I have a couple of holly shrubs and while I love the way they look they do grow fast and will require pruning so if that is the issue you may want to skip them or buy the hedge trimmers.
Mine are the blue princess variety.
You can get the sky pencil hollies that grow tall but narrow if you are looking to squeeze them in somewhere else, just to keep in mind.
However, looking at your pictures I think holly shrubs would look great there.
The dark shiny green leaves against the red house and then the white roses.
Have you thought of hinokis-false cypress? I have a few and they get full and pretty but so far have not gotten to the point where I would have to trim them and they come in the regular green and the golden which varies from an actual yellow gold to a lime green.
Of the ones I put in 6 years ago only one has gotten almost to the bottom of my window and the rest are not even close.
They look nice all winter.
Witch hazel does well here also.
I know the roses are more for spring and summer interest so you would want something that offsets that during the winter months, which is why I see you were thinking of the hollies.
Any type of small evergreen would be pretty against your house color.
When you dig the holes to plant the shrubs you ought to be able to get enough rocks to build your wall.
I planted some shrubs last week and got enough rocks to build another border.
Good luck and have fun!!

 

[Greensage45]

I had to go peek out there in Internet-land, and see how the folks in New England create gardens.

I found this very interesting site on the use of our Natives in the Landscape; this site is specific to New England and there are many links to various Historic structures and gardens.

I especially liked the variety of ferns there are. Perhaps you might be looking to add a bit of softness to your landscaping.

Now is the time to be creative.

oh ...here is that site:
http://www.newfs.org/

Ron

 

[Greensage45]

Here is another site with some great samples of something that your climbing roses will look like.

http://gatorpreservationist.wordpress.com/

I especially loved the windowbox display on this old house with the hydrangea on the side there.

very nice, I want to see updated pics... I especially love that your property comes with a worker in the front yard!

Ron

 

[Rosalind]

Hunh. Here's the thing, I wonder how the cedar shakes and structural timbers under the trellises are holding up. In Nantucket of course the house owners can afford to have Norm Abrams come out personally every year as needed, but I would really like this to be the very last time I have to rebuild this wall. I know that cedar is supposed to last and last (my clapboards are cedar, structural timbers are oak), but we've got cedar shakes just like that on the barn, and I gotta tell ya, they are good for mayyyyybe ten years in the shade and moisture. So I was thinking of wrapping the climbing roses around some sort of object set about a foot away from the wall. Pruning roses is no biggie, I just don't want a tree-sized evergreen that will disrupt the foundation without a lot of attention. Bonsai is not my forte.

The false cypress is a definite possibility. Still sighing at the Mahonias...they would have been awesome...

 

[Greensage45]

Well, I think the real math lies in What age you are now, How long it takes to grow a tree to maturity, and do you come from a Family that puts the elderly in a home!

Then you can make a better more rational decision! LOL It is all really quite simple.

I am constantly hearing folks say what they don't like in their attempts to find what they do like. Instead why not just do what you like. Obviously, this house is a testament of how short and temporary life is for people...so get out there and quit your complaining and plant some flowers. If you don't like them in several years then pull them and plant something else. Eventually we will all move through life at records speed; nothing will stop that, but the garden will continue to flourish.

I still think the window boxes are to die for!

Ron

 

[patandchickens]

Do hollies generally do well on south sides of houses in your area? They don't everywhere -- if the ground freezes up, all that sunlight and warmth on those broad evergreen leaves can create a water deficit that the roots cannot possibly replace on accounta bein' frozen, causing significant winterkill. If lots of people in your area have happy south-side hollies, this is probably not an issue; otherwise, you might proceed with a bit of caution.

As for roses, just weld or wire yourself a trellis of rebar (yeah it will rust, but you will not SEE it amongst the roses so who cares) and stand it off a foot or more from the house. Attach the top end with something removeable, and ideally set the bottom into the hole of deck blocks or something, so that when the time comes to repaint or reshingle the house, you can just tip the whole thing outward away from the wall, if that makes any sense? You may have to detach and/or cut back the roses to do it but they'll survive and it beats trying to work on the wall behind a trellis of something thorny

Neat house!

Pat