Neat Plants! Gardens for the Terminally Tidy
People seem to view sycamore trees in one of two ways. The first admires the way the peeling bark creates an interesting texture on the tree's trunk - something to offer winter interest.
The second can only say "Oh - but they're so messy!"
Now I'll be the first to admit that I am not a neat person. I am the sort who, when separating seeds at the kitchen table watches a few drift to the carpet below and idly wonders if there is enough dirt there to permit germination. But I also have to admit that once we paved the secret garden with beautiful brick pavers, the first garden tool that I demanded was a broom. And now, when the seasons are waning and the idea of the major garden clean-up faces so many of us, we may find ourselves wishing for plants that don't shed much.
A stray rose petal or two drifting down was decorative. But once you become aware of the "garden floor" it's amazing how many different plants seem to scatter debris all over the place. And if that bothers you, you are one who needs a garden for the tidy.
This is a garden made primarily of plants that will not litter all over your lawn - which at first glance would seems to eliminate most growing things. I went out this past week and took inventory. Which plants have I never had to sweep up after? Which ones take only minimal care to eliminate debris (I had to take special inventory - this is not the kind of thing I notice on my own.)
In the secret garden, rose petals had scattered themselves all over the brick paving, and nicotiana was sprouting in between the bricks. There was a lot of other unidentifiable plant debris, too. I decided that plants that reseed enthusiastically would not suit the neatnik. Nor would they suit the lazy person who finds weeding bad enough without worrying about too many non-weedy extras, or the tender-hearted who can't bear to pull a plant if they know it's something they call a flower.
But in one corner I found a perfect grouping - several sedums, some 'Elijah Blue' fescue, a grouping of sempervivum and some nasturtiums for color. Sedum never sheds. It just sits there looking small and colorful until midseason when it gets larger and more colorful - and then even more colorful in fall. The upright varieties such as Autumn Joy, Vera Jamieson, and Bertram Anderson are the neatest, since they tend to grow where you put them. Groundcover sedums like Dragons Blood wander around creating havoc with careful color compositions. I stuck a few tiny sprigs of Dragons Blood into our stone steps a year or two ago - this summer I went out to find that the steps had disappeared under them.
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