Solution Gardening 3: Even More Plants to Solve Yard Problems
Author and retired horticulture professor Dr. Allan Armitage’s plant-buying theory is that most people don’t go to the garden center looking for certain plants.
Shrub roses such as these Knock Outs are a good choice for sunny house foundations.
They go to carry out a gardening project or to solve a yard problem.
His intriguing suggestion is that maybe plant-sellers should start displaying plants by the situations they address instead of the traditional way of lining up plants alphabetically by their type.
He dubs the idea “solution gardening.”
Unless/until Armitage’s solution-gardening suggestion catches on, I thought I’d weigh in with Pennsylvania-geared solution-gardening lists of perennials, shrubs, and evergreens.
Here’s my third collection of seven of the more common issues:
Plants for Along Sunny House Walls
These are good choices for along sunny house foundations, generally west- and south-facing ones:
Evergreens: birds nest spruce, blue holly, boxwood, cherry laurel, dwarf Hinoki cypress, dwarf globe blue spruce, dwarf cryptomeria, globe arborvitae, juniper, yew.
Flowering shrubs: abelia, beautyberry, bush honeysuckle (Diervilla), caryopteris, dwarf butterfly bush (sterile varieties only), dwarf black chokeberry, dwarf crape myrtle, dwarf lilac, dwarf winterberry holly, deutzia, ninebark, oakleaf hydrangea, panicle hydrangea, red-twig/gold-twig dogwood, rose of sharon (sterile varieties only), shrub roses, spirea, St. Johnswort, sumac ‘Gro-Low,’ viburnum, Virginia sweetspire, weigela.
Perennials: allium, agastache, amsonia, aster, baptisia, betony, black-eyed susan, butterfly weed, candytuft, catmint, coreopsis, daylily, dianthus, dwarf goldenrod, dwarf Joe Pye weed, euphorbia, gaillardia, gaura, hardy geranium, hardy hibiscus, heliopsis, iris, lamb’s ears, lavender, liatris, lilies, liriope, mums, most ornamental grasses, penstemon, peony, perennial sunflower, phlox, purple coneflowers, Russian sage, salvia, sedum, Shasta daisy, sneezeweed, stokesia, veronica, yarrow, yucca.
Annual flowers: ageratum, alyssum, angelonia, blue salvia, celosia, coleus (sun-tolerant types), dusty miller, dwarf sunflowers, dwarf zinnia, euphorbia, geranium, globe amaranth, gloriosa daisy, lantana, marigold, pentas, petunia, scaevola, verbena, vinca.
Plants for Along Shady House Walls
Summersweet is a good shady-foundation shrub choice.
These are good choices for along shadier house foundations, generally north- and east-facing ones:
Evergreens: azalea (if good drainage and willing to tolerate lace bugs), box honeysuckle, boxwood, cherry laurel, dwarf rhododendron, inkberry holly, Japanese plum yew, leucothoe, Russian cypress, sweetbox, yew.
Flowering shrubs: bayberry, bush honeysuckle (Diervilla), deutzia, fothergilla, mophead/lacecap hydrangeas, oakleaf hydrangea, red-twig/gold-twig dogwood, smooth hydrangea, summersweet, variegated dogwood, viburnum, Virginia sweetspire.
Perennials: astilbe, barrenwort, bleeding heart, coralbells, daylily, ferns, foamflowers, foamybells, goats beard, hardy begonia, hosta, Indian pinks, Japanese anemone, Japanese forest grass, lamium, leadwort, ligularia, liriope, lungwort, rodgersia, sedge, Solomon’s seal, turtlehead.
Annual flowers: begonia, browallia, coleus, impatiens (mildew-resistant types), ivy geraniums, New Guinea impatiens, Persian shield, torenia.
Plants for Driveways and Sidewalks
Dianthus is a good low perennial for lining a sidewalk or driveway.
These plants can deal with extra heat coming off of asphalt and concrete surfaces as well as potential salt runoff from winter de-icing:
Evergreens: birds nest spruce, boxwood, dwarf cryptomeria ‘Globosa Nana,’ dwarf goldthread falsecypress, dwarf mugho pine (if tolerant of potential mites and scale), globe arborvitae, juniper.
Flowering shrubs: abelia, dwarf butterfly bush (sterile varieties only), dwarf lilac, dwarf ninebark, dwarf panicle hydrangea, dwarf weigela, shrub/groundcover roses, spirea.
Perennials: betony, blue fescue, catmint, coreopsis, creeping sedum, daylily, dianthus, dwarf fountaingrass, dwarf goldenrod, dwarf Russian sage, feather reed grass, gaillardia, hardy geranium, hens and chicks, Japanese forest grass (some shade is best), lamb’s ears, lavender, little bluestem, liriope, mums, oregano, penstemon, peony, prairie dropseed, salvia, sedum, switchgrass, thyme, yarrow, yucca.
Annual flowers: ageratums, blue salvia, celosia, dwarf zinnia, geranium, lantana, marigold, pentas, petunia, verbena, vinca.
Compact Landscape Plants for Small Spaces
Deutzia is a compact shrub that blooms in mid-spring.
Evergreens: boxwood, birds nest spruce, cotoneaster ‘Tom Thumb,’ dwarf cryptomeria ‘Globosa Nana,’ dwarf Hinoki cypress, dwarf rhododendron, dwarf spruce ‘Little Gem,’ globe arborvitae, juniper ‘Blue Star,’ nandina, sweetbox.
Flowering shrubs: caryopteris, deutzia, dwarf butterfly bush (sterile varieties only), dwarf blueberry, dwarf chokeberry, dwarf fothergilla, dwarf lilac, dwarf ninebark, dwarf panicle hydrangeas, dwarf summersweet, dwarf viburnum, dwarf Virginia sweetspire, dwarf weigela, mophead/lacecap hydrangeas, shrub/groundcover/miniature roses, spirea, St. Johnswort.
Perennials: allium, astilbe, betony, blue fescue, butterfly weed, candytuft, coralbells, coreopsis, dianthus, dwarf aster, dwarf black-eyed susan, dwarf catmint, dwarf goldenrod, dwarf purple coneflowers, dwarf Russian sage, dwarf Shasta daisy, foamflowers, foamybells, hens and chicks, lavender, liatris, liriope, mums, penstemon, salvia, sedum, stokesia, turtlehead, veronica, yarrow.
Small Trees for Small Yards
This Cornelian cherry tree is blooming yellow in early spring.
Evergreens: Atlantic whitecedar ‘Red Star,’ boxwood ‘Dee Runk,’ blue holly (Red Beauty, Dragon Lady, Castle Spire), dwarf arborvitae, dwarf blue spruce, dwarf cryptomeria ‘Black Dragon,’ eastern red cedar, falsecypress Soft Serve, Hinoki cypress, goldthread/greenthread falsecypress, Japanese umbrella pine, weeping Norway spruce, weeping Serbian spruce.
Flowering trees: American dogwood, American fringe tree, amur maackia, Cornelian cherry dogwood, crabapple, crape myrtle, dwarf river birch ‘Little King,’ hawthorn ‘Winter King,’ Japanese maple, Japanese tree lilac, Kousa dogwood, Little Girl series of magnolias, magnolia ‘Bracken’s Brown Beauty,’ pagoda dogwood, paperbark maple, parrotia, Peking lilac, purple smoketree, red buckeye, redbud, serviceberry, seven son flower (Heptacodium), snowbell, star magnolia, stewartia, sweetbay magnolia, weeping purple beech, witch hazel.
Plants that Look Especially Good in Fall
Viburnums are some of the showiest shrubs in fall.
Trees: American fringe tree, American holly, American hornbeam, bald cypress, black gum, crabapple, crape myrtle, dawn redwood, all dogwoods, elm, flowering cherry, ginkgo, hawthorn, Hinoki cypress, honeylocust, katsura, larch, oak, all maples, parrotia, redbud, river birch, serviceberry, seven son flower (Heptacodium), smoketree, sourwood, stewartia, sweetgum, sycamore, willow, witch hazel.
Flowering shrubs: bayberry, beautyberry, blueberry, caryopteris, chokeberry, cotoneaster, deutzia, fothergilla, leucothoe, ninebark, oakleaf hydrangea, Oregon grape holly, panicle hydrangea, pyracantha, red-twig/gold-twig dogwood, roses, spicebush, spirea Mellow Yellow, sumac, St. Johnswort, summersweet, viburnum, Virginia sweetspire, winterberry holly.
Perennials: aster, big bluestem, coralbells, creeping sedum, feather reed grass, foamybells, fountaingrass, goldenrod, Indian grass, Japanese anemone, Joe Pye weed, leadwort, little bluestem, muhly grass, mums, perennial sunflowers, prairie dropseed, sedge, sedum, switchgrass, threadleaf amsonia, toad lilies, turtlehead.
Plants for Winter Interest
Redtwig dogwoods best show off their red stems when bare in winter.
Evergreens: Atlantic whitecedar ‘Red Star,’ azalea (if good drainage and willing to tolerate lace bugs), blue juniper, blue spruce, box honeysuckle, cryptomeria, goldthread falsecypress, golden arborvitae, golden boxwood, golden juniper, golden pine, golden spruce, hardy camellia, Hinoki cypress, holly, Japanese plum yew, Japanese umbrella pine, Korean fir, leucothoe, nandina, rhododendron, variegated boxwood, weeping evergreens, yew.
Trees: coralbark maple, curly willow, Japanese maple, Kousa dogwood, paperbark maple, parrotia, river birch, stewartia, sycamore, all weeping trees, winter hazel, witch hazel.
Flowering shrubs: bayberry, Harry Lauder’s walking stick, oakleaf hydrangea, red-twig/gold-twig dogwoods, winterberry holly, winter hazel, witch hazel.
Perennials: coralbells, creeping sedum ‘Angelina,’ dianthus, foamflowers, foamybells, golden sedge, hens and chicks, lamium, Lenten rose, ornamental grasses, silver-leafed brunnera, snowdrops, sweetflag, variegated liriope, winter aconite, yucca.
For more on getting the right plant in the right place, see my 18-page “Survivor Plants of Pennsylvania” booklet that zeroes in on hundreds of the best plant varieties with sizes, bloom times, and other important attributes. It’s available as a $5.95 download on my “Buy Helpful Info” page.