So I killed two birds with one stone the other day.
The chimenea on the back patio had suffered enough freeze/thaw cycles that the spalling on the bottom had gone all the way through.
At the same time, there was a persistent bit of bare dirt in the southeast corner of the privacy fence that is obviously not getting enough sunlight for grass.
A plan is hatched!
I schlepped the chimenea over and plopped it on the ground, nestled in the corner. I will now fill it with potting soil and try to encourage something to grow out of it.
I need to find a subspecies of Hygrangeum* that is shade-tolerant and likes to spread all vine-like along the ground, but won't try and climb the fence and vault into the neighbor's yard like the mutated tendrils from a bad Fifties SF flick in an attempt to strangle their little yappy dog. (Although if it could do that all subtle-like and then vault back into our yard without leaving evidence, I'd take that as a plus.)
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*If you don't mow it, can't eat it, and can't stand in its shade, it's a Hygrangeum.
Try pachysandra. I've managed to decimate ours by tromping upon it while putting the new fence in, but it's already regrowing. It's also not a climber, though it does sneak under the fence pretty handily.
ReplyDeletephlegmfatale's comment to that original post seems almost ... prophetic.
ReplyDeletehmmm, flowery or leafy? Does the corner get ANY sunlight? Do you want something that gets kinda tall or stays low to the ground?
ReplyDeleteIt gets a small amount of direct sunlight briefly around noon for most of the year.
ReplyDeleteI'm envisioning 'special needs' ivy that doesn't know how to climb. And it'd be good if it spread its tendrils from the pot so I can train it along the fencelines.
You are the first hit for hygrangeum on google.
ReplyDeleteI take it kudzu is out of consideration......???;>)
ReplyDeleteThis might help.
ReplyDeleteThough my first thought was "golden sunbeam hops like the shade pretty well", but a brief bit of sun around noon ain't gonna be enough even for them...
Grow an ash tree.
ReplyDeleteFind a Smilax.
ReplyDeleteOh, Miss K! If you could just talk sense to my housemate, and maybe kick him a little bit about the head, while I hold him down for you?
ReplyDeleteThe boy just ain't got no sense, when it comes to deciding what to plant. He is an hopeless Yankee, and thus thinks he knows what to plant, here in Flarduh, though he has only recently arrived here.
For instance, he has actually recently paid money, for which he had to work, to buy a palletful of St. Augustine grass sod.
He's not all bad; he hates golf as much as I do.
Feed me Seymour...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7SkrYF8lCU&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Sendarius - looking back, I should have said marksmen and markswomen.
ReplyDeleteYou need an Audrey II. That'll take care of the yappy little dog, and his little owners, too, perhaps.
A Bleeding Heart does very well in the shade and is a perennial in this area.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!