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

From: "Doug Kanter"


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

Did you know that lack of moisture around a homes foundation can actually cause
basement leaks?

"HA HA Budys Here" wrote in message
...
From: "Doug Kanter"


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

Did you know that lack of moisture around a homes foundation can actually
cause
basement leaks?

I wasn't aware of that. But, I've visited this house once a week since May,
and even with 2-3 heavy rainstorms per week, this one's dry as a bone. No
stains, no smell, and no aftermarket waterproofing.

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

"paghat" wrote in message
news
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

Hmmm....rugosa. Forgot about that. They not only survived the worst abuse
imaginable at my last house (drought, rock salt, falling ice chunks), but
they actually thrived.

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.

Another thought. Installing rain barrels and using soaker hoses would
increase your options a lot. My local Pepsi bottler gave me four 55
gallon HDPE (Food Safe) barrels for no charge and modifying them was easy.

Joe

"Joe Sandlin" wrote in message
newsan.2004.08.19.22.16.21.339566@REMOVETHIScfw. com...
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.

Another thought. Installing rain barrels and using soaker hoses would
increase your options a lot. My local Pepsi bottler gave me four 55
gallon HDPE (Food Safe) barrels for no charge and modifying them was easy.

Joe


That's an interesting idea. What color were the barrels?

Doug Kanter wrote:

Another thought. Installing rain barrels and using soaker hoses would
increase your options a lot. My local Pepsi bottler gave me four 55
gallon HDPE (Food Safe) barrels for no charge and modifying them was
easy.

That's an interesting idea. What color were the barrels?

They were white. I used Krylon "Fusion" spray paint to make them match
the color of my brick foundation. It bonds to HDPE. Rustoleum also makes
a "Plastic Primer" that you are supposed to be able to use any of their
paints on top of.

"Joe Sandlin" wrote in message
newsan.2004.08.20.11.15.10.279480@REMOVETHIScfw. com...
Doug Kanter wrote:

Another thought. Installing rain barrels and using soaker hoses would
increase your options a lot. My local Pepsi bottler gave me four 55
gallon HDPE (Food Safe) barrels for no charge and modifying them was
easy.

That's an interesting idea. What color were the barrels?

They were white. I used Krylon "Fusion" spray paint to make them match
the color of my brick foundation. It bonds to HDPE. Rustoleum also makes
a "Plastic Primer" that you are supposed to be able to use any of their
paints on top of.


Hmmm. I see a project looming over the horizon. :-) The new neighbors have
no idea what they're in for. One of them already wandered over to tell me
that my brown compost box would attract wolves, raccoons, snakes, bears,
rats, mosquitoes, etc etc.... I asked her "Really? Who told you that?" She
muttered something about "something she heard once".

Wait till she sees the Rheum palmatum in a couple of years.

Doug Kanter wrote:

Another thought. Installing rain barrels and using soaker hoses
would increase your options a lot. My local Pepsi bottler gave me
four 55 gallon HDPE (Food Safe) barrels for no charge and modifying
them was easy.

Hmmm. I see a project looming over the horizon. :-)

Cool! I just got tired of paying the city to water my garden. We've got a
spiffy new water treatment plant, and our water bills have become obscene.
I found it to be a remarkably simple project. Google "make rain barrel"
or something like that and you'll find a lot of info.

My Pepsi barrels had two 3" or so plugs in the top. I was pleased to find
that the plugs had 3/4 FPT threads already in the center. I just cut out
some plastic out of the center and screwed in a male PVC adaptor. Then it
was all gluing 3/4" PVC to connect a faucet. The barrels were placed
upside down on cinder blocks, with a large hole in the bottom (Now the
top) for the downspout. I cut the hole to accomodate a basket from a pool
skimmer to filter out debris. Then I glued some fiberglass screen to the
inside of the basket to keep mosquitoes out. (Use the PVC cement, Super
Glue doesn't work) Many people just use a little vegetable oil or a
mosquito "dunk" to keep the bugs at bay, but I liked this setup.

Cut off the downspout and connect some flexible corregated drain pipe to
run to the barrel. Now for an overflow: I found a "sump pump kit" at
Home Depot. It's 25 feet of sump pump drain hose, a 1.5" male fitting and
a hose clamp. If you drill your hole the right size, the PVC fitting will cut
threads into the side of the barrel. I drilled about 3" down from the
top. Unthread, coat the fitting with silicone sealant and screw it back
in. Connect your hose and run it someplace harmless.

That's it. It sounds complicated to me as I type it out, but if you have
your materials at hand, it's an afternoon project.

One barrel is exactly as I describe. Another two are plumbed in parallel
to fill and drain simultaneously for 100 gallon capacity and I just cut
the entire top out of the last one so that I can plunge a watering can
into it. I just place an old window screen on top of that one.

Hope this helps. It's both an ecologically and financially satisfying
project. I think the plants like the water better, too.

Joe

I have a japanese yew in similar conditions - it survives - although I
wouldn't describe it as vigorous. It gets NO water, and sits in a tiny
island of soil surrounded by asphalt, under the eaves, just to the side of
my attached garage doors. (I didn't plant it there - it's really against my
nature to torture plants). I suspect that either it transpires very slowly,
or has a root system that extends into the irrigated lawn 5-6 feet away, or
both. I'm pretty sure that you could plant one under your eaves, but you
would need to water it for one year to get it established.
"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

They aren't a foundation plant but my hollyhocks do fine under the eaves....
they don't get quite as tall if I don't water them from time to time, about
once a week at best but they grow and bloom. I have a couple mock oranges under
my eaves that are huge, they have have been put in by the original owner 100
years ago. I have a Prairie Style home also known as a Four Square, gotta love
Mission/Craftsman Style with an art deco twist )
Colleen
Zone 5 CT

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



How about some variety of barberry? They are tough buggers and the
thorns provide good security under windows.

Laura B.

"Laura B." wrote in message
...
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



How about some variety of barberry? They are tough buggers and the
thorns provide good security under windows.

Laura B.

Hey...that's actually a good idea. And, birds can hide in them and thumb
their beaks/noses at cats. :-)

"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