Kevin’s Gardening Blog

Well, after much effort, I’ve got the berm in. This was a major project during the late summer and fall at my parents’ house. I ripped up the sod, which took up the most time. Some of the sod I replanted elsewhere, some I discarded. I then installed approximately 50 lineal feet of plastic border, and put a lot of top soil and soil amendments in there in order to fill it in and give it some height.

For the centerpiece of the back (north) part of the berm, I plan on putting in a Yoshino Cherry tree much like the one shown to the left. However, it appears that I will have to wait until spring before I can acquire a young tree and plant it.

The centerpiece of the front (south) part of the berm will be an ornamental grass of some type. Possibly a Maiden Grass such as this one shown below:

I’d like to have a lot of mounding plants in the berm, such as a variety of heathers. To that end, I’ve ordered the “Color All Year” collection from heathsandheathers.com. It’s a collection of 6 winter blooming and 6 summer blooming heathers. I think that should look good. For additional summer blooms in a mounding form, I plan on putting in a couple of choreopsis plants, such as this one:

Finally, I’ll be filling in the remaining areas with plants that bloom in the spring and fall – such crocuses, tulips, and chrysanthemums – and plants with interesting foliage colors and textures such as juniper, artemisia, and ferns.

Below are some pictures of the work I’ve done.