In article , "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

I'll be moving into a new house this week, and a couple of spots present a
challenge. The house has eaves extending outward almost 3 feet - great for
summer. But, it's a desert under those eaves. There's nothing growing there
now, and it's not due to anything the previous owner sprayed - it's just
bone dry. I intend to create a very deep perennial border - perhaps 6' deep.
My initial idea is simply to cover the dry areas with some sort of flat
stones and not even try to get anything to grow. This would give me easy
access to the back of the border (and the house itself) for maintenance.
But, I'm still curious if anyone's gotten anything interesting to grow in
such spots, WITHOUT having to water constantly. I'm in upstate NY, zone 5-6
(depending on exposure). Could be any of the basic "generic shrubs" as a
backdrop for the border, or perhaps something more interesting.
-Doug

There are a number of small shrubs that once established will have
extended their roots far enough to find water, though they would be
sensitive to drought for the first year. Witchhazel, weigala, abelia,
escalonia, beautyberry, dwarf lilac cultivars, oregon grape, rugosa roses,
manzanita, cotoneaster, artemesia, gaura, budleia, Potentilla fruticosa,
silver buffaloberry, juniper, Indian hawthorn, rabbitbrush, Siberian pea
bush, spireas, & many others will get by with very little watering after
the first year. If it's sunny enough you could pack the area with
sun-roses & rock-roses & have the floweriest drought-garden imaginable.
But for all these, check to see if they can stand zone 5/6 winters, some
of them might not, others like abelia might do well enough but be die-back
perennials in your zone instead of big bushes like in mine.

But rear access to a garden can be very useful too, or an area of
container gardening with automatic drip to them. I have a spot similar to
what you describe which until the past two weeks was jam-packed with
drought hardy shrubs, but I've been moving them bit by bit so I can build
there a chicken pen with laying boxes, for miniature hens that I'll let
wander in the whole garden from time to time & pen in when I'm not
around.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com