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I have a stretch of land where the township recently installed a guardrail. It's hideous. I can't see it from my house. Even though this is on the far end of our property and you can't see our house from there, I want to do something. I'm an avid gardener and consider this to be a fun challenge.
It's about 50' of guardrail. There is the asphalt road on one side and concrete on the other side. Between the two is rock where the guardrail was installed. So there is about 2' of rock. The asphalt is about 1' higher than the rock. We'll either put topsoil over the existing rock or dig out some of the rock so there can be deeper topsoil.
No matter how deep we make the dirt, these flowers will need to be drought and salt tolerant. We get a lot of rain here but the moisture will drain quickly due to the rocks and the heat from the asphalt and concrete. Salt tolerant is important because our township salts the roads in the winter. This area is almost full sun.
Near my mailbox, I have a garden where lilies, coneflowers, an Shasta daisies thrive. I know these can handle salt and drought conditions. I want to do something different.
I thought mints would be lovely to smell while walking down the street but they need moisture and shade from afternoon sun.
I thought of wisteria. I've always wanted to grow wisteria but never had a structure strong enough. A guardrail could handle the weight of it. By looking at wisteria pictures, it's almost like a tree so I doubt it's root system could handle it.
That leaves me thinking about clematis. I'm not sure I want the whole thing to be a matt of vines. I'd love for it to look like an idyllic roadside garden.
I'm hoping some of you have some great ideas for me.
It's hard to find pictures of guardrail gardens as an inspiration. I have found these so far.
does this land belong to the town or you? sometimes they don't want you on their land-safety issues. what about deer?
mints and wisteria are both extremely invasive except Amethyst Falls Wisteria but it only has a short blooming period and would be expensive for any kind of show. Sweet autumn clematis is beautiful in the fall and is a vigorous grower. joe pye weed doesn't have the prettiest blooms but man does it attract the butterflies. I have 6-7 ft tall and one only 4-5 feet tall.
other clematis are so ugly in winter I wouldn't want it there unless you cut it down to the ground and start fresh every spring.
ditch lilies are cheap and hardy and you can always find somebody who wants some dug up. divide them in sept-october
amsonia blue star is very hardy-deer don't touch and has delicate flowers in spring but i don't know how any of those would do with salt.
does this land belong to the town or you? sometimes they don't want you on their land-safety issues.
In my region, property owners own into the middle of the street. Roads are easements. Plants aren't going to interfere with safety. The guardrail will still stop cars. The township doesn't care. They put the dirt in for me. They were going to put more rock in but I asked for dirt, explaining I was going to plant flowers there. They showed up with the dirt shortly after I posted this thead.
Quote:
Originally Posted by no kudzu
what about deer?
What about deer? We have them but they aren't a big problem. There's plenty of vegetation in this region to keep them from eating stuff in yards.
Quote:
Originally Posted by no kudzu
mints and wisteria are both extremely invasive except Amethyst Falls Wisteria but it only has a short blooming period and would be expensive for any kind of show.
Invasive would be a good thing in this area. I need something that will grow and thrive. Since the space is contained by asphalt and concrete, it's the perfect place for an invasive plant, as long as it's only invasive by roots.
Quote:
Originally Posted by no kudzu
Sweet autumn clematis is beautiful in the fall and is a vigorous grower.
I have sweet autumn. It's beautiful.
Quote:
Originally Posted by no kudzu
joe pye weed doesn't have the prettiest blooms but man does it attract the butterflies. I have 6-7 ft tall and one only 4-5 feet tall.
Thanks. I'll look into this. It sounds like it might have a deep root system though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by no kudzu
other clematis are so ugly in winter I wouldn't want it there unless you cut it down to the ground and start fresh every spring.
All clematis die in the winter here. Everything does. I don't cut my clematis down. I really don't care what my garden looks like in the winter.
Quote:
Originally Posted by no kudzu
ditch lilies are cheap and hardy and you can always find somebody who wants some dug up. divide them in sept-october
amsonia blue star is very hardy-deer don't touch and has delicate flowers in spring but i don't know how any of those would do with salt.
I already planned on lilies since I know they grow on the side of roads. I'll check out amsonia blue star.
I have a stretch of land where the township recently installed a guardrail. It's hideous. I can't see it from my house. Even though this is on the far end of our property and you can't see our house from there, I want to do something. I'm an avid gardener and consider this to be a fun challenge.
It's about 50' of guardrail. There is the asphalt road on one side and concrete on the other side. Between the two is rock where the guardrail was installed. So there is about 2' of rock. The asphalt is about 1' higher than the rock. We'll either put topsoil over the existing rock or dig out some of the rock so there can be deeper topsoil.
No matter how deep we make the dirt, these flowers will need to be drought and salt tolerant. We get a lot of rain here but the moisture will drain quickly due to the rocks and the heat from the asphalt and concrete. Salt tolerant is important because our township salts the roads in the winter. This area is almost full sun.
Near my mailbox, I have a garden where lilies, coneflowers, an Shasta daisies thrive. I know these can handle salt and drought conditions. I want to do something different.
I thought mints would be lovely to smell while walking down the street but they need moisture and shade from afternoon sun.
I thought of wisteria. I've always wanted to grow wisteria but never had a structure strong enough. A guardrail could handle the weight of it. By looking at wisteria pictures, it's almost like a tree so I doubt it's root system could handle it.
That leaves me thinking about clematis. I'm not sure I want the whole thing to be a matt of vines. I'd love for it to look like an idyllic roadside garden.
I'm hoping some of you have some great ideas for me.
It's hard to find pictures of guardrail gardens as an inspiration. I have found these so far.
Hello!!!! Ohhhh.....I love this kind of a challenge. I just started looking and so far I came across a site from the NC State University. It references plants that can be grown near the ocean which has a high salt content. If it can handle that it can probably handle winter salt. It has trees, vines, grasses, shrubs, perennials, etc. I think you have a wonderful idea - and I can't wait to hear about and then see pics of the project. I'll keep snooping around. I went out to run some errands this morning and came home with MORE plants.....I adore planting them and then enjoying them. Here's the link: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/files/librar...t%20Plants.pdf
On that vine list I like confederate jasmine, lady banks roses. english ivy will take over as well. but I'm thinking..the salt they are talking about on this list is in the air and certainly not at all like the kind of salt put on the roads which will burn up roots. A big difference. Also beach climate is way milder than where Hopes lives.
On that vine list I like confederate jasmine, lady banks roses. english ivy will take over as well. but I'm thinking..the salt they are talking about on this list is in the air and certainly not at all like the kind of salt put on the roads which will burn up roots. A big difference. Also beach climate is way milder than where Hopes lives.
Are you sure they use salt on the road or a de-icing chemical or chemically treated sand. There are differences and you may want to call your township again to make sure.
It's a great list. I can certainly use it. I just need to cross reference it with my zone. There are beach areas that are colder than my region in the winter. The beaches of New England are crazy cold in the single digits. Our daytime temperature hovers around 30 degrees in the winter.
Quote:
Originally Posted by uncleharley
Are you sure they use salt on the road or a de-icing chemical or chemically treated sand. There are differences and you may want to call your township again to make sure.
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