Landscaping ideas

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#1

So, as so many people do I have a fence. I would like some ideas for drought tolerant, shade loving, no fuss plants for the North side of the fence. There is no sun on the north side of the fence, and in the past I’ve planted “shade loving” things there that have died because they needed more water than I was willing to provide. I’ve planted “drought tolerant” items that died because they couldn’t get enough light.

I have some Texas red sage salvia in another part of my yard that I really love, but otherwise my back yard is pretty unlandscaped.

Edit: As a side quest, does anybody know where I can get some american beautyberry? I love edible plants and I have a friend who makes beautyberry jam. I’m told it can grow pretty well here.

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#2

Have you tried cast iron plants? They love shade and are allegedly fairly drought tolerant.

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#3

I was looking at crossvine the other day…for fence reasons as well although I am not clear if you were talkiig about simple seasonal color, long term ground cover, or general beatifying (i.e. covering up) your fence, or something else.

https://www.viverogrowers.com/sun-shade-need-a-vine-plant-crossvine/

Also, I was looking at this, too:

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#4

Are they hearty enough to be outdoors in our winters? I’ve only ever heard of cast iron plants as house plants.

#5

OMG we have crossvine and I can’t begin to tell you how invasive it is. We have crossvine everywhere. We planted it in the back yard but we keep finding it in the front yard, on the other side of the house, outside of the fence, etc. It’s super hardy though, I’ll grant you that.

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#6

I’ve been hesitant to plant anything that will grow on the fence because ours will need replacing in the next 5-10 years and I’m afraid the weight will speed that need up. Crossvine is beautiful, though. Maybe I can get a trellis of some sort that doesn’t rely on the fence to stand up.

I’m mostly interested in general beautifying as well as hopefully adding plants that are beneficial to pollinators.

#7

Our 15-year old cast iron plants have been outside ever since they were planted. Some are along a fence, distant from the house, so they’re not getting any additional warmth from the walls of the house.

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#8

I’ll definitely add those to the list then. They have that super lush green color I want.

#9

I’m not going to say that they’ll survive xeriscape gardening however. I’m sure you’ll have to at least occasionally give them some water. You should look them up.

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#10

I also have beds out front (also north facing) that I have struggled to get plants to grow in, but those have the benefit of being watered by my foundation soaker hoses so I think I can at least plant them there.

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#11

There some berries that are tolerant of heat if not direct sunshine. they’ll cover the fence and provide good eats.

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#12

Have you checked out Weston Gardens in Bloom? It’s a little drive but worth it (down just south of where I-20 and east Loop 820 converge) kinda between south Arlington and forest hill, down in the country just a bit

They sell organic native and naturalized Texas plants that grow well in north-central Texas, with the sales area being divided by how much shade they need, so shopping is easy.

Annnnd across the road is the exhibition gardens where you can see how plants look after they’ve matured.

It’s an old estate they’ve reclaimed that dates to the 1930s-40s where he was an architect and she liked gardening. Wandering down in there is an English garden, a covered walk to a grotto with sun moon and stars in the path, a lily pond and rose garden, a meandering moat/creek that was actually a very long swimming pool, and on the other side of the moat is an “island” that was accessible by suspension bridge where they used hold barbecues and built into the side of the island is a stone ship with rigging just there in the middle of woods where they had dancing and a cabin for guests. (Link below has pics)

There’s more, but those are highlights. And throughout there are plants they sell that you can see as mature landscaping with identifying lables so if something catches your eye, you can see if they have it for sale across the road. And the folks are really helpful and nice and can steer you with your questions above.

Highly recommend clicking on the History page to see info and pics I mentioned above. There’s a decent amount of the stone ship (cabin burned at a party in the 1970s and was restored),

https://www.westongardens.com/

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#13

I’ll have to check that out!

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#14

You might also check with North Haven Gardens. They carry a lot of native and adapted plants. They also have some lists, by category, on thier web site at nhg.com.

I am trying a wavy cloak fern they recommend for shade that is relatively drought tolerant. Will know in the fall.

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#15

Do hostas take a fair amount of water? I just went and checked a random recommended thing, and they said that they were “low maintenance”, but didn’t say diddly-squat about water. Although, they also didn’t mention “drought-tolerant”, so that may tell its own story.

#16

In my experience if you want them to last through the summer yes. They’re fine for spring/fall, but in the summer they’ll crisp up without a good bit of water.

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#17

I started working on this plan to get native plants with color in a section of the front that I’ve decimated over the last few years with “I’m gonna…” plans that never happen.

All my research and poking around comes from The Bible of North Texas Plants aka A&M

My fake current plan involves lots of different varieties of Mexican Milkweed, Some Bee Balm, Queens Wreath, and a Texas staple Salvia, Now all this is in my imagination (also in a powerpoint) and it all grows beautifully, its planted by my expert unflinching entirely green thumbed hand, is all perfectly affordable, and never has any weeds or problems. I’m wearing a white dress that I look good in, possibly sipping a drink, in harmony with plants, and I never ever sweat, and I possibly talk in a Georgian accent.
In real life…just this morning…I pulled a weed that was AS TALL as my 10yr old out of the flowerbed today because that’s the level I’ve ignored it all and I’ll probably spend as much as a car trying to make it work and watch everything die in misery.

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#18

Weeds are a constant struggle for me, especially as it gets hotter and I can spend less and less time outside before being a wiped out pile of sweat. Weed barriers cloth is the only thing that helps, really, and even then I’m having to pull weeds out of the mulch that I’ve decorated the top of the weed barrier that managed to grow with no dirt (at least then its easier).

Plano has a property standards code and our neighborhood’s property standards inspector is very particular about tall weeds, but they don’t check the back yard.

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#19

I’m going to invest in a goat and just be done with it all.

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#20

This is a clever, earth sustainable, and fashionable way to handle the situation. Alas, city of Plano forbids livestock as pets, so its not an idea I can steal and use for myself.