Resources for beginner outdoor gardeners
October 31, 2023 12:19 PM Subscribe
I'm hoping to help my sister plant a small garden next spring (shrub/floral, NOT edibles), but we are both beginners. Seeking your recommendations and resources!
I'm a city dweller with no outdoor space, so only have some experience with indoor plants. My sister lives in the mountains of North Carolina (hardiness 7a bordering on 6b bc elevation) and has a small little uncultivated/weedy spot in the back of her house that she has asked me to help her do something with and has zero experience, even with houseplants.
She lives in a town house, and the garden is a 1/4 slice-of-pie-shaped area in the corner between her covered patio and a neighbor's exterior wall. Its radius is like maybe 8 feet, and there's a large HVAC unit in the inside corner so we'd really need to only have the outer 3-4 feet of the garden to plant in order to allow for HVAC maintenance as well as the space needed for it to intake air. The air intake I'm sure will also affect the plants so should be factored in (just not sure how). Crude, not-to-scale, layout here.
The garden faces north and is obviously tucked away in that corner but otherwise has no direct overhead cover. The garden then opens into a large grass swath that runs behind all the houses then dumps over into a deep ravine leading down to a creek, so there is no additional shade from the north either. Drainage is seemingly pretty good.
There are lots of animals in the area (again, mountains) so probably best to avoid plants that deer/rabbits/bears/whatever are going to munch on. I thought hostas would be a good hardy plant to start with but apparently deer love them, but just to give you a sense of what we're thinking of. Assume we don't want build any kind of fencing around this space.
We're only interested in working with perennials for now while she tests her green thumb and gauges her interest in a new hobby, and perhaps a mix of shrug/greenery/flowers, ideally pretty hardy, low-maintenance ones. She'd love some stuff that attracts butterflies too if possible. In my head I was thinking something taller closer to the HVAC to kind of hide it (no more than 3-4 feet tall so she can still see out of her kitchen window), then progressively getting shorter toward the outer edge, so there's kind of a layered effect?
No idea. Not a clue what we're doing. Will probably start this project in early spring so we have some time to research and learn and figure out the plan, so would welcome any ideas, but especially resources specific to the kind of thing we're trying to do.
Shoestring budget, we're going to do it all ourselves, so please don't suggest landscapers and any machinery beyond handtools. And yes her neighbors are totally cool with whatever she decides to do. The goal is just to have some nice stuff to look at when she's sitting on her patio. Really don't want to break the bank for something that is just meant to be simple beautification and personal enjoyment.
Thanks for your help!
I'm a city dweller with no outdoor space, so only have some experience with indoor plants. My sister lives in the mountains of North Carolina (hardiness 7a bordering on 6b bc elevation) and has a small little uncultivated/weedy spot in the back of her house that she has asked me to help her do something with and has zero experience, even with houseplants.
She lives in a town house, and the garden is a 1/4 slice-of-pie-shaped area in the corner between her covered patio and a neighbor's exterior wall. Its radius is like maybe 8 feet, and there's a large HVAC unit in the inside corner so we'd really need to only have the outer 3-4 feet of the garden to plant in order to allow for HVAC maintenance as well as the space needed for it to intake air. The air intake I'm sure will also affect the plants so should be factored in (just not sure how). Crude, not-to-scale, layout here.
The garden faces north and is obviously tucked away in that corner but otherwise has no direct overhead cover. The garden then opens into a large grass swath that runs behind all the houses then dumps over into a deep ravine leading down to a creek, so there is no additional shade from the north either. Drainage is seemingly pretty good.
There are lots of animals in the area (again, mountains) so probably best to avoid plants that deer/rabbits/bears/whatever are going to munch on. I thought hostas would be a good hardy plant to start with but apparently deer love them, but just to give you a sense of what we're thinking of. Assume we don't want build any kind of fencing around this space.
We're only interested in working with perennials for now while she tests her green thumb and gauges her interest in a new hobby, and perhaps a mix of shrug/greenery/flowers, ideally pretty hardy, low-maintenance ones. She'd love some stuff that attracts butterflies too if possible. In my head I was thinking something taller closer to the HVAC to kind of hide it (no more than 3-4 feet tall so she can still see out of her kitchen window), then progressively getting shorter toward the outer edge, so there's kind of a layered effect?
No idea. Not a clue what we're doing. Will probably start this project in early spring so we have some time to research and learn and figure out the plan, so would welcome any ideas, but especially resources specific to the kind of thing we're trying to do.
Shoestring budget, we're going to do it all ourselves, so please don't suggest landscapers and any machinery beyond handtools. And yes her neighbors are totally cool with whatever she decides to do. The goal is just to have some nice stuff to look at when she's sitting on her patio. Really don't want to break the bank for something that is just meant to be simple beautification and personal enjoyment.
Thanks for your help!
Response by poster: Correction: the patio faces more WNW than North. I was going off instinct instead of looking at an actual map. Oops.
posted by greta simone at 12:47 PM on October 31, 2023
posted by greta simone at 12:47 PM on October 31, 2023
I highly recommend looking to her county cooperative extension for gardening classes and free resources. They'll have good, locally relevant information and experts. Sometimes cooperative extensions also host free seed swaps, which is a great way to get started if you don't have a lot of cash to spend!
Here are a couple of easy-to-grow plants I love in my garden, and that should work in NC:
- Catmint (Nepeta) is tolerant of both drought and damp, it's deer-resistant, and pollinators (including butterflies!) love it.
- Hyssop aka Hummingbird Mint aka Agastache comes in a ton of gorgeous colors and various sizes, has fragrant leaves and blooms, is deer-resistant, and is also loved by pollinators (including butterflies and hummingbirds).
- If you have enough sun, milkweed is always great for butterflies.
Steer clear of butterfly bush, which is a problematic invasive species.
posted by ourobouros at 3:17 PM on October 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
Here are a couple of easy-to-grow plants I love in my garden, and that should work in NC:
- Catmint (Nepeta) is tolerant of both drought and damp, it's deer-resistant, and pollinators (including butterflies!) love it.
- Hyssop aka Hummingbird Mint aka Agastache comes in a ton of gorgeous colors and various sizes, has fragrant leaves and blooms, is deer-resistant, and is also loved by pollinators (including butterflies and hummingbirds).
- If you have enough sun, milkweed is always great for butterflies.
Steer clear of butterfly bush, which is a problematic invasive species.
posted by ourobouros at 3:17 PM on October 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
I'm a fan of the NC Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox.
posted by bananana at 4:04 PM on October 31, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by bananana at 4:04 PM on October 31, 2023 [4 favorites]
If she’s looking for something easy, I’d plant some native azaleas. They’re easy to take care of once established, the deer don’t seem to take much interest in them, have beautiful blooms and are evergreen.
Gardening takes times, but they can be an easy start
posted by raccoon409 at 7:32 PM on October 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
Gardening takes times, but they can be an easy start
posted by raccoon409 at 7:32 PM on October 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
Another vote for your local extension.
Another vote for native plants. Caring for exotics can be a chore, and they don't tend to feed the local wildlife as well, if at all.
posted by cupcakeninja at 3:56 AM on November 1, 2023
Another vote for native plants. Caring for exotics can be a chore, and they don't tend to feed the local wildlife as well, if at all.
posted by cupcakeninja at 3:56 AM on November 1, 2023
I've recommended HortTube on here before, and I will again. Putnam is in NC. He's in zone 7b, but has a good handle on regional natives and does a lot of garden tours and species deep dives to give you ideas. He also has a side hustle on his site teaching garden design, Ive been waiting to pull the trigger until life slows down a bit.
posted by SoundInhabitant at 3:22 PM on November 1, 2023
posted by SoundInhabitant at 3:22 PM on November 1, 2023
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You probably have a local native plant society that would love to help you, but there are also several native plant nurseries in the area that have info online or can help you pick plants in-person. Eg Carolina Native Nursery looks like a nice place to look. Many places specifically tag plants that are deer resistant, there are also lots of lists out there specifically complied for deer-resistant native plants, eg here but you can also find lists more specific to your location.
posted by SaltySalticid at 12:45 PM on October 31, 2023 [3 favorites]