Succession planting
ne of the marvels of landscaping is the perennial border. It's the poster child for a traditional English cottage look.
In my imagination, tiny front yards are converted to ever-blooming floral oases with a cobblestone path that leads one through the garden to the front door of a thatch roof cottage.Whether it's an English cottage garden or the ever popular American style meadow garden, it's a place where new plants are in continuous bloom from April through October. Bees and birds are busy there all day in abundant sunshine and under blue skies.That's why the famous British landscaper Christopher Lloyd's wonderful classic "Succession Planting for Year-Round Pleasure" is such a great read. Lloyd was a past master of the perennial border.There is an amazing amount of work needed to keep a meadow or a border in top condition, and the book can guide you.It's tricky to get plants to cooperate in a mixed border. Invasive weeds move in. Insects and disease devastate a beautiful planting. From the viewpoint of the plants, it's about competition for resources with neighbors you may not like.Successful succession planting is an art. Like Japanese bonsai, each plant must be carefully studied before it is planted. And you have to be ruthless about culling. A formerly well-behaved plant may take over if you don't control it.I believe in two principles when designing a border.One is the small flowering shrub that adds structure and interest all season long. Dwarf azaleas are a great little shrub for structure. They are completely dependable and easy to transplant if need be. The other is adding annuals to pick up the ball when the perennials are looking shabby.When you pick plants for succession planting, think about how they will share resources. Each square foot of land may be occupied in succession by several different species over the course of the season.For example, daffodils are a workhorse but their foliage after blooming is troublesome. I like to pair them with my deciduous azalea because they distract the eye from the bare shrub which doesn't come into bloom until the daffodils are finished flowering.I plant lavender and columbine in front of the daffodils, and the daffodil foliage is a nice backdrop to the lovely columbine flowers.Finally, I plant a showy annual like New Guinea impatiens in the same area because the columbine will disappear and the lavender doesn't show from a distance.If you dream of meadows and perennial borders, I recommend you read Christopher Lloyd's book and spend the winter months drawing up a plan complete with a plant list.Prepare your soil well before you start, and mulch with undyed wood chips to conserve moisture and keep weeds down.When your lovely border is blooming, your dream will have come true.Find Carbon County Master Gardeners at facebook.com/carboncountymastergardeners, or at 529 Lentz Trail, Jim Thorpe; by phone at 570-325-2788; or email at