Solution Gardening 1: 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.
So many plants… which ones to pick?
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 first collection of seven of the more common issues:
Plants that Deer Don’t Like
Deer usually don’t mess with Virginia sweetspire.
Perennials: agastache, ajuga, amsonia, artemisia, baptisia, barrenwort, bleeding heart, brunnera, butterfly weed, campanula, catmint, coreopsis, euphorbia, fern, goldenrod, globe thistle, helleborus, iris, lamb’s ear, lamium, liatris, lavender, lungwort, monkshood, ornamental grasses, peony, poppy, Russian sage, salvia, sedum, sneezeweed, sweet woodruff, turtlehead, yarrow, yucca
Shrubs: abelia, aralia, bayberry, beautyberry, beautybush, butterfly bush, caryopteris, deutzia, fothergilla, rose of Sharon, spirea, sumac, summersweet, St. Johnswort, Virginia sweetspire
Evergreens: birds nest spruce, boxwood, cotoneaster, falsecypress, Japanese plum yew, juniper, leucothoe, pieris, Russian cypress, sweetbox
Plants that Don’t Take Much Maintenance
Sweetbox is a low shrub that takes virtually no maintenance.
Perennials: agastache, amsonia, barrenwort, betony, brunnera, coralbells, euphorbia, ferns, foamflower, dwarf goldenrod, dwarf Russian sage, hardy geranium, hens and chicks, hosta, iris, leadwort, salvia, sedum, yucca
Shrubs: caryopteris, deutzia, dwarf abelia, fothergilla, hydrangea, spirea, summersweet, sweetshrub, viburnum, winterberry holly
Evergreens: birds nest spruce, dwarf cryptomeria, dwarf Hinoki cypress, dwarf nandina, juniper, Russian cypress, sweetbox
Plants for Wet Spots
Turtlehead is a good perennial-flower choice for a damp, shaded area.
Perennials: beebalm, blue lobelia, cardinal flower, columbine, most ferns, foamflower, golden alexander, goldenrod, Japanese or Siberian iris, Joe Pye weed, liatris, ligularia, marsh marigold, New England and New York asters, sedge, sneezeweed, spiderwort, swamp milkweed, swamp rose mallow, sweetflag, turtlehead
Shrubs: arrowwood and cranberry viburnums, buttonbush, chokeberry, elderberry, New Jersey tea, ninebark, red osier dogwood, summersweet, spicebush, swamp azalea, sweetshrub, Virginia sweetspire, winterberry holly
Evergreens: inkberry holly, leucothoe
Plants that Tolerate Poor Soil
Viburnums generally do well in less-than-ideal soil.
Perennials: aster, betony, black-eyed susan, bleeding heart, butterfly weed, campanula, catmint, daylily, goldenrod, hardy ginger, helleborus, heliopsis, hosta, Joe Pye weed, liatris, liriope, ornamental grasses, purple coneflower, salvia, sea holly, sedum, sneezeweed, yarrow, yucca
Shrubs: abelia, aralia, bayberry, beautybush, chokeberry, deutzia, forsythia, fothergilla, honeysuckle, Japanese kerria, ninebark, oakleaf hydrangea, rose of Sharon, rugosa rose, St. Johnswort, sumac, spirea, sweetshrub, viburnum, weigela, yew
Evergreens: arborvitae, boxwood, blue holly, cotoneaster, euonymus, goldthread falsecypress, Hinoki cypress, inkberry holly, Japanese plum yew, juniper, nandina, yew
Plants that Don’t Need Much Water
Dry soil? Consider salvia.
Perennials: amsonia, artemisia, aster, baptisia, betony, beautyberry, beautybush, black-eyed susan, blackberry lily, candytuft, catmint, centaurea, coreopsis, daylily, dianthus, euphorbia, gaillardia, garden phlox, gaura, geum, goldenrod, hens and chicks, lamb’s ears, liatris, liriope, ornamental grasses, perennial sunflower, penstemon, purple coneflower, red hot poker, Russian sage, salvia, sedum, sea holly, yarrow
Shrubs: abelia, aralia, bayberry, butterfly bush, caryopteris, deutzia, fothergilla, honeysuckle, lilac, ninebark, oakleaf hydrangea, potentilla, pyracantha, rose of Sharon, St. Johnswort, spirea, sumac, shrub rose, viburnum (most), weigela, yucca
Evergreens: arborvitae, boxwood, cherry laurel, cotoneaster, dwarf cryptomeria, dwarf spruce, goldthread/greenthread falsecypress, Hinoki cypress, juniper, nandina, yew
Plants that Tolerate Dry Shade and Root Competition under Trees
Hosta holds its own in the root competition under big trees.
Perennials: barrenwort, bergenia, bleeding heart, brunnera, coralbells, creeping phlox, daylily, false or variegated Solomon’s seal, foamflower, foamybell, goats beard, hardy begonia, hardy ginger, helleborus, hosta, Japanese forest grass, Japanese painted fern, lamium, leadwort, liriope, pachysandra, sweet woodruff, viburnum, wood aster, wood ferns, woodland stonecrop
Shrubs: aralia, bayberry, beautyberry, fothergilla, Japanese kerria, oakleaf hydrangea, smooth hydrangea, spicebush, St. Johnswort, viburnum
Evergreens: blue holly, boxwood, cherry laurel, cotoneaster, dwarf Hinoki cypress, globe arborvitae, Japanese plum yew, nandina, Russian cypress, yew
Plants for Hot, Sunny Areas
Try catmint in your hottest, sunniest areas.
Perennials: agastache, allium, amsonia, aster, baptisia, betony, black-eyed susan, catmint, coreopsis, creeping sedum, daylily, dianthus, euphorbia, gaillardia, gaura, goldenrod, hardy geranium, hardy hibiscus, heliopsis, hens and chicks, iris, lavender, liatris, lilies, ornamental grasses, mums, peony, penstemon, perennial sunflower, phlox, purple coneflower, Russian sage, salvia, sedum, shasta daisy, veronica, yarrow, yucca
Shrubs: abelia, bayberry, beautyberry, beautybush, butterfly bush, caryopteris, dwarf crape myrtle, forsythia, lilac, ninebark, panicle hydrangea, rose, spirea, St. Johnswort, stephanandra, sumac, weigela
Evergreens: arborvitae, holly, dwarf blue spruce, goldthread/greenthread falsecypress, Hinoki cypress, juniper, nandina, yew
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.