I truly enjoyed meeting you both today. You have such a beautiful home, and so many options to create your desired outdoor space. I wanted to work backward a little bit this time because we are using simple layers. This way I can make sure that I am designing around the plants that you are envisioning.
Each plant is hyperlinked to a site that should have multiple photos to view. You can almost any kind that you would like since you have morning sun with afternoon shade. In addition, I didn’t hyperlink any of the plants that you sent in the original email. Lastly, I did not mention camellias since you already have them in the yard.
Some of the plants would be for later phases, but I wanted to make sure I included them now so that we are considering all options in the short and long term. This way all the plants will coordinate at completion.
Neem Oil is the spray that you need to treat the plants with brown spot. You can find it at any garden center, Home Depot, or Lowes.
Evergreens:
Medium-Low Evergreens:
- Frostproof Gardenia — fragrant
- Encore Azalea — blooms 3 times a year — any color that you like
- Little Heath Pieris — the new growth is a corally orange. Orange is hard to get here in NC — if these are a little too pink for you, but you like the variegation, there is another one that’s similar but more orange. I will have to find the name
- Spider Web Fatsia
- Colorguard Yucca
- Moonlit Lace Viburnum — These are prettier in-person
- Goshiki Osmanthus — Could start with a smaller one and maintain to desired height.
- Scorpio Illicium — there is a white version, but the name is escaping me. It looks the same as this, just white flowers
- Golden Dragon Yew
- Gold Dust Aucuba — requires a little more maintenance
- Cinnamon Girl or Coppertone Distylium
- Otto Luykin Cherry Laurel
- Kaleidoscope Abelia or Radiance Abelia
- Soft Caress Mahonia
- Dwarf Cryptomeria
- Raulston Hardy Viburnum — one of my favorite shrubs
Tall Evergreens:
- Miss Patricia Holly
- Fortunes Osmanthus — these smell so good in the fall
- Spiral Blue Point Juniper
Deciduous Shrubs:
- Hydrangeas
- Low Scape Aronia
- Pugster Butterfly Bush — amethyst or blue —semi-evergreen
Grasses:
- White Cloud Muhly Grass … eventually in the open area
Perennials
- Heuchera … So many colors
- Hellebores … so many options — foliage is evergreen
- Jack Frost Brunnera — deciduous
- Dark Vader Pulmonaria — deciduous
- Veronica — examples: Moody Blues, First Lady
- Dianthus– ex. orchid or firewitch —semi-evergreen
- Astilbe — Purples usually look the best in person
- Rainbow Ascot Euphorbia
- Perennial Pansies— hard to find — usually in fall
- Sedum
- Hostas— so many to choose from as long as you don’t have deer
Groundcovers:
- Georgia Blue Speedwell
- Ajuga
- Dead Nettle
Thinking Outloud…
Initial Design
I added this on so that I could easily access it for reference. Truthfully, it’s not a good design. Some of the plants are annuals here, and there isn’t enough space on the sides to have both the Cryptomeria and Maple Tree or Italian Cypresses. However, we could simplify it a little to make it work.
Another option, would be to add an additional layer of hydrangeas behind the Cryptomeria. This would push all the plant material out another 4.5 feet, which would allow you to see the viburnum when they are blooming from your balcony. The cryptomeria would hide the dormant stems this time of year from the street. Instead of using the ajuga down here, I would suggest using the transplanted Sedge. The dark colored foliage of the ajuga would blend into the mulch. We could add it somewhere closer to the rocks to make it more visible.
Below is essentially how it would look. I did add the Miss Patricia (we could even do a Nellie Steven’s Holly) on the end cap so that you could see the transition point.
This is three Italian Cypress, two fragrant tea olive trees along the wall. Three goshiki osmanthus, and three creeping fold juniper.