Design

We've had a lot of fun creating garden space in our "low-maintenance" landscape in the mountains. sedum beds, perennial meadow, and raised beds for vegetables Hmm. We couldn't help but plant natives below the slope, establish raised beds for my vegetables, and work on a meadow/perennial bed in front (not to mention the sedum bed, hemlocks, rhododendrons, and others).  It's becoming a landscape that's fun and rewarding.

The difference between meadows and perennial borders is, perhaps, a matter of scale, with the mix of plants a key to their look and feel.  Perennial borders can look quite meadow-like, at least in our vision of them,  while our 'front meadows' are probably more like exuberant perennial beds than true meadows, which include many grasses. But I think the key is the mix of flowering perennials, whether they have large showy flowers or the reduced flowers of grasses;  this mix determines how the border/meadow feels and looks (in the garden).  A cottage garden is largely flowering perennials without grasses; a meadow includes a majority of grasses as the matrix. Front 'meadow' in Asheville But a sparser front planting bed, in the process of becoming more complex, feels like a meadow in progress, too.

A neighbor's garden (in the mountains) is in full bloom. It's a bit eclectic, and was a bit jarring in its colors early in the season, but now, it's quite delightful. (Do click on the photo for a larger view). They planted their front garden this spring, but have kept adding along the way. (Their much younger neighbors told us that it makes them tired to watch - but hopefully, it'll be an inspiration). Now, in mid to late summer, it looks lovely. And this is a (very) part-time garden, as the gardeners live elsewhere for much of the time. It reflects the beauty of old standards (the zinnias and Shasta daisies) as well as perennial sunflowers, shrub roses, and others.