Question
We have created a space in the middle of our lawn for an island bed. This area gets full sunlight.
We dont know what we should plant here. we live in georgia. I am looking for some low maintenance. Also some color and visual appeal. this in a corner property with lots of traffice and lots of views.
Any suggestions please. I dont mind any other work like watering and spraying etc.
Thanks in advance.


Answer
Hi chitra,



>>"...low maintenance,...what we should plant here...?"

[01a]:

Only Use plants and grasses rated for your climate-zone.
HORT ZONES from ZIP CODES:
http://www.arborday.org/trees/whatzone.html

[02a]:

To help you decide what plants to use and where to place them check-out the "PLANT SELECTOR" applet:

http://www.growit.com/PlantInfo/
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About a LOW-MAINTENANCE GARDEN AREA:

Note that all gardens will need more or less regular care and maintenance to perform well and look attractive.  The plants will need to be watered at least every so many days and also provided with the minerals they need to grow well.  All gardens will be invaded by weed seeds and weeding will be a never ending task.  There are ways and means to make all the work minimal while also making the garden the best it can be.

Gardening is a constant learning process and can be a great and rewarding hobby;... if you find the gardening tasks are detracting from the enjoyment, you should consider hiring help or perhaps consider alternative landscaping scenarios.

Below here are some general considerations and STEPS to FOLLOW in establishing a small garden area that should be satisfactory for many years without a great deal of effort:

[01b]:

Establish a totally WEED and VEGETATION FREE area to start a garden area.
You will end-up with a bare patch of your existing TOP-SOIL.

Examine this soil and consider its CHEMISTRY and PHYSICS.  Most people can recognize a good top-soil versus one that will not do so well with certain types of plants.  A dry sandy and low-fertile soil for example might be great if and only if you want to grow cactus and not much else.  If there are happy earthworms in your top-soil, it is probably an excellent soil for growing most anything.  If your soil is inadequate for any reason, you will have to work to improve it to have any chance of having a good garden  (See  step [03b] below).

[02b]:
Next,...
For a low maintenance garden area, I recommend that you work first to make the area well bordered by using some sort of solid border material such as timbers, brick or stone, etc.  There are also various synthetic and/or plastic border materials you can use. Lawn and garden centers and places that sell building supplies will have all the tools and resources you will need to build your new garden.  Using these border constructions will make a sharp distinction between the garden itself and the lawn areas.  With a warm-climate grass-type such as Bermuda-grass for your turf-grass, having an established border is essential because these types of lawn grass can be very invasive growing into the gardens and causing the gardener endless hours of extra work to weed the lawn grass out of the garden proper.  So plan on having solid borders AROUND the garden and use a weed-barrier OVER the soil to prevent these problems.

More about WEED-BARRIER and how-to
Manage Weeds in Gardens:

http://www.growers-supply-co.com/dewitt.htm

[03b]:
Once the garden area is well defined with border constructions, work to improve the soil.
You can do this by adding SOIL AMENDMENTS.  At your lawn and garden center you will find several things you can add including commercially packaged composts, quality top-soils, peat-moss, and humus products such as specialty potting soils and manures.  If possible roto-till these soil amendments into the existing soil.  If there is high-clay and poor drainage, add some sand to the top-soil and root-zone.  Working to have the best top-soil will help to guarantee many years of future success with anything you plant, so it is worth the expense and effort to improve the top-soil.  You can also do an inexpensive SOIL TEST to see exactly what certain parameters are with your existing soil.  If you already have an A+ top-soil,... skip this step.

After you have worked to optimize the soil, you may also want to consider installing some sort of irrigation or watering system to make watering things an easier task.

[04b]:
Next recommended step is to install a WEED-BARRIER.
Lawn and garden centers sell one or more of the commercial weed-barrier products.  This is simply a woven plastic fabric which you can pin-down over the top-soil. It essentially 'tiles the top-soil in defined areas in full or part.  You can use scissors or single-edged razor to cut-shape or slit the weed-barrier material as needed.

It lets water, chemicals and fertilizers pass into the root-zone while it light-starves any weeds that try to get going in the garden.  Using this will save you many hours of tedious weeding in the garden and is highly recommended.

You will not want to use this material wherever you will want to have close plantings of ANNUAL GARDEN PLANTS, creeping ground-covers, vines or ivies. Weed-barrier is great for isolated plantings that are not so closely set into the garden, such as roses or similar.  So, install the weed-barrier only where you will have PERENNIAL PLANTS, SHRUBS, SMALL ISOLATED PLANTS such as a clump of mums or whatever.  Plants such as these are installed into the weed-barrier garden system by simply cutting a slot in the fabric and planting the specimens where you want them.

The weed-barrier should be secured to the ground with galvanized pins, wire or nails.  After all is planted, use a DECORATIVE MULCH of your choice to cover the weed-barrier entirely.  
Mulches can be pea-gravel, pebbles, wood-chips (cedar, pine, eucalyptus, etc. ), lava-rocks, ...and so on. The mulches hide the weed-barrier, conserve moisture and add eye-appeal to the scene.  Use a mulch of your choice that is what you will like to see and what looks good to you.  The organic mulches will have to be replaced every so many years while the weed-barrier can last indefinitely.
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Examples of this now classic American garden system abound.  You can find the "WEED-BARRIER GARDEN SYSTEM" at almost any commercial establishment as part of the garden landscaping near the buildings and along the side-walks and drive-ways and parking.  Most new homes also now have this type of garden construction included with the builder's landscaping plans.  

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As for "What to plant?" in your new island garden,....
you should plant what you will like to see prosper.

In gardening, not everything will survive or go as planned.  You will have to experiment and try to do so wisely.  In gardening there is always an element of luck involved as you try to cooperate with Mother Nature.  And this process should be something that is just between Her and You and/or your family.  Your 'Green-Thumb' success should be yours and yours alone.

There are so many plants you could use, you really should not rely upon anyone else's ideas.  Just use what is rated for your zone and what has eye appeal for you.  Realize that most of the plants you will purchase will (hopefully) mature and grow to mix and blend with all the others in the landscaping scene,.... so your garden is an idea that exists in the future and not in the 'now' exactly. Garden today for the years ahead.  Use your imagination and try to make things happen.

You can easily get ideas by shopping at the various garden centers and nurseries in your town.  At the library there should be several gardening magazines and books with images and free catalogs you can order.  Ask neighbors and friends what they have had good luck with.
Since your neighbors probably have similar soil conditions as with your lot,...they can be valuable resources for your plant shopping efforts.  Explore around your area to see what's growing and what looks good to you.  A large part of the gardening experience is just getting to know and identify the many hundreds of plants in the world and finding the ones you want to add to your environment.


The amount of free gardening and plant information on the Internet is incredible, so use your online resources to help you with your plans and selections; there are simply too many possibilities for us to go into any details here.

Also, be aware that nothing you do in regards to your garden experiment is absolute and immutable.  If you don't like anything, you can always change or eliminate it.  Again, use your imagination for a  "future scene" and work slowly to attain what is possible.  Don't get discouraged, expect problems as well as successes and Have fun.

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More Links:

[a]
Shop for Lawn and Garden Items via the WEB:
A List of LAWN & GARDENING CATALOGUES:
 http://www.qnet.com/~johnsonj/webonly.htm

[b]
Images of lawn and garden plants:
http://hortiplex.gardenweb.com/plants/

[c]
Protect garden plants from the heat with Wilt-Pruf:
 http://www.wiltpruf.com/
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Go to GOOGLE.COM and enter the
Keywords: "YOUR/USA/STATE/NAME Horticulture;"  this search engine may direct you to many excellent lawn/garden websites for your precise locale.
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I Hope this has answered your question(s)!
Have a Great Summer!
Good Luck!

Visit my Lawn & Gardens webpage for more facts and links:
http://hometown.aol.com/eilatlog/lawnol.html

Your Questions and Comments are welcome at ALLEXPERTS.com

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