"Lee" wrote in message
om...
"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
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

have a similar sitation, compounded by those thingies that go over
windows to shade them. It is a small brick home on a concrete slab and
most people in this area put soakers around the foundations to keep
the soil reasonably moist else the brick can crack from the swelling
and shrinking of the soil. SOOoooo.... with that problem solved, the
plants get the water they want, too! People who have basements usually
do the same thing to protect the basement walls.
good luck...Leo

Care to elaborate on the "protect the basement walls" thought?