By Betty J. Magnan
Beltrami County Master Gardener
Have you ever had a lawn problem in just one area of your yard? Our problem area was on the west side of our house with a mix of sunny, semi-shady and full shade patches. A decent growth of grass was not to be had, despite my husband’s best efforts, and it remained both a pitiful site and a pitiful sight!
Thank goodness for gardening magazines with just the right articles and photos at just the right times. The solution for our frustrating, skimpy, anemic and downright shabby lawn area was a “Crazy Quilt” garden, a combination of flagstones and plants.
After digging out the sod, or what was attempting to pass for sod, we placed landscape cloth over it all and spread a layer of sand on top of that. Next we laid down thin Colorado red flagstone, leaving spaces for planting pockets in a crazy quilt way.
Wherever we wanted to add a plant, we slit through the landscape cloth, scooped out enough of the soil (the amount depending on the size of the planting), and added enriched soil, popped in the plant and watered it well.
Some of the plantings creating the crazy quilt look are: Artemisia ‘Silver Brocade, silvery plants which enhance any color scheme, give a cool feel to an area and have a tolerance for shade. Helxine soleirolii ‘Baby’s Tears,’ a classic stepping stone plant that quickly and densely fills up empty spaces, staying compact and neat. It complements the artemisia and softens the look of the flagstone. Festuca ovina glauca ‘Elijah Blue’ grass adds a blue-green hue and a wedge shape in contrast to the low-growing artemisia and sedum. For a light lemony yellow, Stella d’Oro day lilies shine and Veronica scrophulariaceae ‘Hungarian Speedwell’ brings in some of my favorite color blue.
We kept the edges of the space open for ferns, an arbor-climbing kiwi, a honeysuckle bush and a Lonicera x Brownii ‘Dropmore’ honeysuckle vine, two of the hummingbird’s favorites. An Engleman ivy which partially climbs up a fence also creeps along the ground. A recovered and thriving lady slipper remained in her original corner spot along with a well-worn green bench completing the garden. Oh, yes, there is also a well pipe that was an eyesore before my husband wrapped it in a sheet of birch bark and I topped it off with river stones. Hurray! No more ugly well pipe!
There is another gardener at work in that renovated area, Mother Nature. She put in her two cents worth with a wild rose bush and some bright yellow-orange rays of black-eyed Susans at the base of a stately oak which anchors a corner of the fence. She always does me one better but, then again; she’s been at it a lot longer!
Other plants that might work well in planting pockets are dianthus/pinks, creeping thyme, moneywort, moss (for damp shade), Stonecrop tricolor, and Sedum ‘Angelina.’ Any plant that creeps and spreads would do the job.
This “Crazy Quilt” garden is one of our most satisfying renovations. Gone is the sparse and ugly supposed-to-be lawn and in its place is a view we can enjoy. We can truly say it was well worth the effort.
