My garden plans for 2024 has me SO EXCITED!! My Carolina Garden vision is in the works, but I would LOVE to hear any thoughts or suggestions you may have for me.
My Carolina Garden is located in coastal North Carolina in growing zone 8a/8b. I have sandy soil, my ground does not freeze, and most of my property is in full sun. Gardening in full sun isn’t too bad, as I’m able to have a lot of colorful perennials! Some of the tropical perennials I grow are canna lilies, blanket flowers, banana trees and hibiscus!
I’d love to share with you my journey as my gardens expand!
Hi you guys this is Nicole from my Carolina garden and what I am up to right now that I am so excited about is coming up with my new design for my Gardens this year I can be the first one to admit that my poolside Gardens last
Year looked pretty freaking good I had varying colors textures sizes all sorts of things but this year I have so much more space that I want to expand into and that’s where you come in last year my Gardens right alongside the pool were pretty Lush I was happy with the way
They turned out but here’s the thing I have all this space down here that nobody wants to mow anymore because it means taking the lawn mower and dragging it out just for this area so instead I’m going to landscape from my fence line all the way to my concrete line over
Here which means I have all of this to fill in I’m definitely a huge fan of varying Heights of plants I want to have a very layered look to this area but I’m not sure if the right thing to do in this case is to put super tall plants along
The fence line and then start getting lower to a little pathway here and then maybe go from low to whatever again over here I’m not sure if that’s right because I do have my Leland Cyprus on the other side of the fence that are very tall already and
They are part of my property so I’m thinking that maybe in this case my layered look is going to come about from hanging things on the fence whether it’s garden decor artwork of some kind something that will bring your eye up and then I’ll have many plantings and
Textures and colors down below if I use artwork up on the fence I’m thinking possibly this wave painting I had done done I did it on plywood it’s completely sealed my husband thinks maybe we can build a frame for it or make it look cool somehow so hang up a piece of art
On The Back Fence perhaps I have these ores that I had the dock cleats on I used them to hang towels on previously from you know pool towels and stuff but I moved them out of the spot where they were so maybe they get to go up on the
Walls I just don’t know this year has to be about details though cuz it’s the details that are going to pull everything together for the look I want so that’s where my mind is so I’m hoping you can help me with some ideas or suggestions I have all the space from my
Shed to my greenhouse and then from my landscaped bed already beside my pool to my fence line all the way down so the space is large I am in growing zone 8 A/B I am in Southeastern North Carolina I have sandy soil and my ground does not freeze so certain things like Canales
For example I have a lot of they are perennial for me here so I want to show you some of the things I currently have planted and hopefully you can help me out with some thoughts on what else I can do to add the kind of Dimension that
I’m looking for largely tropical in style um but things that I can keep cuz I love perennials I’ll mix in annuals but I love perennials because I love how they grow they get bigger I can divide them up Etc okay so let’s start right here I have a little grouping of banana
Trees right here they look like nothing at the moment but once my temperature starts being above 50° consistently my banana trees are going to get quite tall and then the leaves on the top are going to be large as well so I have that is a
A bit of height that I have over here and then provided my Oleander stays alive this winter because this is the first time I’m going to have it over wintering I am right on the line of where Oleander is going to be perennial if the Oleander lives through the rest
Of the winter that is another item that I have that has height on it has the beautiful pink flower so it’s cool cuz I get to bring that colorful Bloom up I have tropical hibiscus I have Canales I I have blanket flowers lots and lots of things over here on this
Side but the two things I just pointed out are the tallest and then here these are Canales these are my beautiful variegated Leaf ones that I adore they have orange flowers again millions of blanket flowers right there so the blanket flowers are staying low To The Ground by that bench my Canales are
Going to have great height on them and I have things like uh the perennial hibiscus over here so I have color I have texture and now I need to decide what goes from over here to over here so with this distance I have in here and I
Only need a small walkway just for little feet not for any kind of big equipment I was thinking a of Rows of Sharon to be over here they can get pretty tall they have blooms that are very similar to a high biscus so I thought maybe that would be something I
Could do that would be quite nice I don’t really want to do palm trees because in North Carolina I there is not 100% success rate with them they can be quite costly to begin with so I’m kind of trying to stay clear of trees like that that are
Going to be a large expense and do more shrubs flowers low low growing things too even like yucka which have a a nice Vibe and and shape to them because they’re like different different kind of texture things like that as we start making our way to the
Greenhouse this was another area where I had tons of Cales uh differing Heights around in this flower bed you can see the golden sword yaka in the front which is just a standout feature plant in my opinion it’s gorgeous color all year round I mean it it’s pretty unbeatable
So I love having the yucka there I’ve loved the combination of my yucka and my clees together again to totally different textures and different Leaf shapes so that’s something I’m definitely interested in I have banana trees down at the far end of my pool over there so I have a big cluster of
Them so you kind of get a feel for what I’ve had and really where I can go I do have a very large grouping of Canales here they are quite quite tall they do have to be divided up each year because they don’t like to be suffocating each
Other so the more room they have to spread out sort of the better they do so I was already dividing some of those up and putting those along the fence line last year this way I have some nice height here some nice height over there and then hopefully we can start making
Some things happen in the middle if you have watched some of my recent videos where we’re sitting here talking about moneysaving ways to expand our garden uh propagating is one of the tips that I am recommending and I am propagating several of the hot pink cordine plants
Cordine for me has to be overwintered indoors in the greenhouse but the coloring on the outside is just so amazing that that’s something I want more of to put into pots or just toss in here or there so hot pink Cordy line is definitely coming out uh as I said more
Can of lies as I divide those up those are definitely being spread around and then hm what else I could definitely go for more evergreen shrubs I think having some more winter interest out here would be fabulous my grass is an absolute eyes sore over the winter because it does go
Dormant here so it makes me just feel like everything is dead my Gardens here are full sun and and the heat can be very treacherous over the summer so heat and drought tolerant plants are also something I’m after maybe something that’s going to blow beautifully in the
Breeze maybe it’s going to be some tall wispy grasses maybe it’s just more uh perennial hibiscus shrubs because they get to be large and those flowers are so plentiful I can’t believe how many blooms you could get on a perennial hibiscus I do have a succulent garden
That is along my pool side but those are beautiful in their own right but they are low to the ground they are small they are great for the interest right by where people walk so everyone can see them but I know that is not something
That I want to put further back on the fence line unless maybe it was a huge agave plant or something like that I could probably get down with that in my Greenhouse I already have some goodies that are gearing up to spend some time with me outside like I have my elant
Ears I think these are called Black Magic I did divide up a huge plant that I had and put it into multiple pots so that’s definitely going to be part of the landscape this is all in the name of using the things that we have and expl
Expanding our landscape in that way you know so I have some tropical hibiscus that is still living in pots for me I have things like my oyster plants I only had two small oyster plants last year they have been growing like crazy so I have divided those up and they can go in
Multiple places and it’s like the awesome coloring that is on the underside of a verigated leaf makes this an awesome plant so I do have that I have mandavilla here and yellow over here those are over wintering for me so those will be added back into the landscape I have the buganvilla
Buganvilia whatever back here so that’s over wintering for me there’s the Cordy line from which I took uh cuting so I can propagate and make mower oh this pot is heavy this is currently the only uh can of Lily that I have in the greenhouse you can see it
Sprouting up some new leaves I took this one out of the ground like right before it started to get really cold just so I could have it in here like kind of growing for me um I didn’t do that with any of my other Canales this year but
This one is my favorite because it’s a variegated but variegated with so much color holy cow but I have things like that I have things like my purple heart which is a succulent style plant I’ve talked about it before these are just cuting that are
Beginning to root in water I do this all the time with the purple heart um this will be added back into the landscape if I want so I do have some things but I really want to hear other people’s suggestions and ideas because my imagination is just running wild at this
Stage you know how it is winter time right I’m starting to get excited I hope that you are too spring is going to be here before we know it and then we’re going to be outside feeling our days with Garden Joys that is my favorite day
When I get to just be outside with my plants the whole time so I look so forward to showing you how this Garden expands and develops how I figure out my layering and the multi of plants that I would like to have always staying on a
Budget always staying on a budget so if you do have thoughts or tips or comments that you can give me please share in the comments below because I love to hear that this is what this channel is all about sharing plant ideas thank you so much for watching and happy planting
9 Comments
Can't wait to see what you do !
✨ exciting ✨
🌿🌿🌿💚🌿🌿🌿
Hi, your artwork is fabulous, I could see it hanging up behind the banana plants so it gives you a glimpse, and draws your attention over to your new garden bed. I like the idea of some winter interest, a few columnar evergreens might help. And I think with that large expanse of wood, some trellises with flowering vines like Honeysuckle or something for your climate would help break it up. I like your idea of hanging baskets too. I’m looking forward to watching, good luck!
You have alot of what I have down here in Texas,but I also have Iris,Guara,rose standards,coreopsis,rubekia,gerbera daisies, rubekia,pentas,and some Angelina along w jasmine, clematis,wisteria and gladiolus 😊the sky is limitless can't wait to see what you come up with!!!🎉 Cheers to this year's garden adventure!!!😊😊😊
It is difficult, because the new plants should not compete with the other plants in front, but rather complete them . I think I would put some evergreens , and beetween them some hanging basketts for the colour. (or shrubs) And stones instead of the lawn. Now you have a lot to think about! I am sure it is gonna be beautiful, like the rest of your garden and like the painting.
You mentioned grasses. Large drifts of pink muhly grass are truly stunning, and you have enough space to pull it off. Sun, heat, humidity and sandy soil are no problem (muhly grass is native to Florida and flourishes in the wild there). The slightest breeze sets the plumes into motion. There is a white muhly grass too, and the HortTube channel recently showed it looking terrific in January (in North Carolina). The grass could be a foundation that mixes well with your tropical plants too.
Your Leyland Cypress may look great now but trust me when I say, you will regret planting them in a few years time. Palms are not iffy in your area if you plant the correct ones that are very cold hardy such as the Windmill Palm, Needle palm, and Sabal minor palm. Consider the Giant Calla Lily plant. They grow huge and very tropical looking. Look into Dipladenia. They are tropical and best overwintered in your greenhouse. Agave americana looks great when it gets large but it's equally dangerous and armed.
Can't wait to see it!
Spaguetti ferns are pretty for baskets ( hardy for us) and tolerate full sun. I 've a couple on my front porch