Creating a beautiful border

Landscape architect Tom Keith is not shy when it comes to designing perennial borders. He is not one to sprinkle begonias around the trees and add petunias along the edge. His plan for Jim and Cynthia LaCoste's front-yard hillside indicates how he prefers bold strokes of texture and color. He used 180 `Big Blue' liriope under the oak trees, 40 'Goldsturm' orange coneflowers above the retaining wall, and 30 `Stella de Oro' daylilies out front near the street.

Tom even planted 15 `Morden's Pink' lythrum, a clump-forming version of the loosestrife that grows wild throughout the Eastern United States. His mix of 'Gateway' Joe-pye weed (Eupatorium purpureum 'Gateway'), spike blazing star (Liatris spicata 'Kobold'), Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia), and threadleaf coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata 'Zagreb') were not what Jim and Cynthia had in mind. They were interested in Southern signature evergreens. But Tom advised that after many of the trees were cleared, the slope would be more suited to a colorful perennial border.

The plants Tom used have iron constitutions. "He assured me that this would be pretty low maintenance," Jim says. "He said he'd tested them all, and he found some even I couldn't kill." Jim maintains the yard in about an hour a week, plus a few bigger cleanups in spring and fall.

Many landscapes are designed to be viewed from the street, but Tom had to design a border that would be viewed from the porch, the street, and the parking pad. He placed the taller plants, such as the 'Savannah' hollies, `Nellie R. Stevens' hollies, oakleaf hydrangeas, and miscanthus grasses, off to the side.

He stepped down with drifts of medium-height perennials, such as the Japanese iris, Joe-pye weed, and orange coneflowers. On the outer edge of the berm, he specified plants in the 12- to 18-inch range, such as `Stella de Oro' daylilies, `Homestead Purple' verbena, 'Zagreb' threadleaf coreopsis, and mounding lantana. The 'Potomac' crepe myrtles on the lower end of the berm were limbed up so the house and perennials can be seen underneath them.

By using lots of different plants that can be seen from different angles, the entire border cannot be taken in from any single viewpoint; rather, it is revealed gradually as guests arrive. Even more important, Jim and Cynthia are thrilled with the plantings. "It's as pleasing from the porch as it is from the street," Jim says.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Mar 2002
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