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Veteran
Posts: 180
 
| Any ideas on creating an EASY flower bed for a busy barrel racer? What kind of shrubs are the little ones? Etc. Thanks! Pictures would be awesome too! | |
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 Veteran
Posts: 197
Location: Jones, OK | Bumping because I need assistance in this department as well :) | |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 928
Location: Northern CA | I just ordered a bunch of bulbs, I have heard that once planted they are low maintenance and perinnial, so you don' have to plant every year. | |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 836
Location: Southern Pennsylvania | halter_ego - 2014-04-02 10:25 AM
I just ordered a bunch of bulbs, I have heard that once planted they are low maintenance and perinnial, so you don' have to plant every year.
You could do this. Also, some plants "pop up" at different times of the year so you will continually have flowers through spring summer and fall. Be careful with "ground covering". These plants are likely to take over. It is a good thing for big areas, but bad if you want a lot of variety. To prevent weeds put mulch down every spring.  | |
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 Veteran
Posts: 129
Location: South | I'm a busy barrel racer, farmers wife, and I love my flower beds. My husband and I have been married for abour 2 years now and I've spent the past 2 summers working hard on our yard. I'm gonna list some plants that I have found that helped me get started. All the plants that I have planted are Hardy, easy to grow, and hard to kill :)!
1) Dwarf Nandina is a small multi colored bush that is Hardy , easy to grow, and something you can plant and will take care of itself.
2) I have also planted Mums in the fall. They come back every year once planted, and they come in a variety of colors.
3) I also have planted dwarf Crepe myrtle bushes. These also come in a variety of colors, are hardy, and very pretty once they bloom.
4)I can also recommend Peonie flowers. They bloom once a year and are very pretty. They also come in a variety of colors.
5) I also plant a lot of petunis flowers. First because they are cheap, easy to grow, and you can plant them in pots with a little water and last all summer.
I hope this gives you ladies a start. 
P.S. Never had good luck with bulbs. I have tried them several times, and always as friends for a few out of thier garden that way I'm never out $$$
I also use Red lava rock instead of mulch. A little more expensive but doesn't blow away from the wind, and last MUCH longer than mulch.
Edited by trobertson 2014-04-02 9:37 AM
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 941
Location: Kansas | Knockout roses, very hardy, bloom all summer. You can keep them small by trimming every spring or they will get big and bushy. I trimmed mine this year for the first year. They're about 7 years old. Iris--need to dig up and separate every few years to keep them blooming. Peonies bloom every spring if you don't plant them too deep. Forsythia bush, like roses they get big or you can keep them smaller. I planted some to hide my propane tank. Bloom on last year's growth so don't trim until after they bloom in early spring. Red and lime green barbary bushes. Tough as nails and very colorful but very stickery. As someone said above, lots of bulbs. I live on a hill where the wind blows and it gets hot. These all do great and don't require any effort. Also day lilies and sedum, coreopsis, galliarda, brown eyed susan--all perrenial varieties. | |
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Veteran
Posts: 103
| I like maintenance free, heat tolerant plants. I don't have time to stand there with a water hose, but my husband had a sprinkler system put in a couple of years ago, mainly for our yard we were trying to establish in the middle of a pasture where we built our new house. In my flower beds I planted things that I would never have to plant again, but I occasionally add annuals for a splash of color. But my beds are (for the western look), yuccas, red yuccas, dwarf pampas grass and other forms of grasses for movement. For color, and they come back every year, I have Day Lillies, which I love. They come in soo many colors and varieties, require little water or care and just multiply every year and bloom all summer. And I have big river rocks instead of mulch, since it kept blowing in the pool. Oh and I also have Rosemary bushes that get tiny lavender flowers on them in the spring. I love my flower beds. | |
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