Stopping to smell the flowers
Border patrol needs control
Arlene Marturano
Arlene Marturano a master

gardener, writer, and educator.

As an advocate of gardening as

a tool for learning, she helped

develop the Carolina

Children's Garden at the

Sandhill Research and

Education Center. She is an

education consultant with

T.E.A.C.H.

marturano@yahoo.com

Lower humidity and temperatures invigorate gardeners to conduct more intensive yard work in autumn.

One zone of the garden in need of attention is the border. The border garden is an ornamental edge featuring perennials grasses, bulbs, and backbone structures such as small trees and shrubs backed by a wall, fence, or hedge usually at the property line.

Autumn is a time to renovate, replenish, and reassess the border garden. The width of a border in a small yard may be two or three feet; whereas an expansive yard may be six or eight feet wide.

Amaranthus is a bold specimen plant for a wide border.

Most border gardens feature perennials that require sun. However, with an expanding variety of shade- loving plants available, shade borders are feasible.

Tall flowers should be placed in the back, e.g., hollyhock, sunflowers, and coneflowers. Medium sized flowers like yarrow, daylilies, and monarda should be in the middle. Dwarf varieties like alyssum, French marigold, and pansies edge the front.

The choice of plants is determined first by location (sun or shade), second by season of bloom (length and season), height and width of species, and lastly by color.

A successful border plan aims for a continual succession of stars on stage each season. Bulbs, annuals, and flowering vines can assist with the flow of color across seasons.

Gardeners can start by selecting plants of favorite colors. Then they can use a color wheel to experiment with companions, and group plants in multiples of five, sevens, or nines to create drifts of color and texture rather than using singles of a species or color.

Ceomes grow at the- fence border.

Good gardeners use a blueprint. Draft a sketch of the bed to scale on graph or plain paper. Overlays of tissue paper or transparencies will help with the layers of colors and plants over time.

Gardeners can visit botanic gardens, garden centers, and border gardens in established neighborhoods to view potential designs and plants.

The public library is stocked with how- to books on border gardens. Some garden catalogs offer instant border garden planting kits. Heat zones should be checked.

Asters escape from the fence border.