This Bedford garden has officially become our “Research Garden.”
This is year three working with this client, and she has one particularly challenging area in her backyard — an 80-foot-long by 10-foot-wide garden bed tucked alongside the woods and a rocky slope.
For two years, we tried different perennial combinations. Unfortunately, many simply didn’t thrive in this difficult location. Because our perennials have a one-year guarantee, we stood behind our work and replaced about 60% of the garden — roughly 50 plants — at no charge, two years in a row.
This spring, I decided it was time for a completely different approach.
Instead of fighting the conditions, I selected what I jokingly call aggressive “weed” perennials — tough, spreading plants that actually WANT to take over. The goal is to create a dense, natural-looking garden that can compete with weeds and gradually fill this challenging 800-square-foot area.
And just two months after planting, they’re already spreading fast!
The silver-leaved groundcover is filling in beautifully, the ferns are expanding, and the other shade-tolerant plants are beginning to establish themselves throughout the bed. Rather than expecting every plant to stay politely in its own little space, we’re encouraging these plants to spread and create the woodland look this location naturally wants.
The client’s reaction says it all:
“Third time’s a charm! Yay — I love all the ‘weeds!’”