Dealing with Clay Soil
Tilling clay soil will actually make it hard and clumpy, and planting holes can have solid, smooth side walls that cause plant roots to circle, unable to escape the confines of the hole. To combat this, start with smaller 4-inch-pot perennial specimens (they’ll grow!) to minimize the amount of digging. Carve several grooves into the side of the planting hole with a shovel or soil knife to create a notch that will catch growing roots and redirect them outward. Backfill with the native clay soil, not compost or other amendments, so the plant acclimates to its new environment.
PLANT CHOICE IS CRITICAL The plants in this plan tolerate and even thrive in clay soil. In fact, dense soil structure can inhibit a species that might be an aggressive spreader in other situations, such as the obedient plant we chose for this border!
SHRUB CARE The arborvitae and deutzia need little pruning except to remove dead branches in early spring. If you want to shape deutzia, trim only after it blooms so you don’t cut off flower buds that form in summer for the next year. Encourage new growth on Berry Heavy Gold winterberry by cutting two to three of the oldest branches to the ground in early spring every year or two. Any other pruning risks cutting off flowers and the lovely golden fruit. (To get berries, plant a Mr. Poppins® winterberry within 50 feet for pollination.)
WILDLY ATTRACTIVE While deer mostly ignore the plants in this plan, other wildlife will have plenty of reasons to visit. Compact Euphoria Ruby Joe Pye weed’s vanillascented blossoms attract butterflies for months as long as you deadhead the fading clusters. They’ll love the coneflower as well, but leave a few spent blooms to form seed that will delight birds in fall and early winter. Hummingbirds will find lots to love here and can’t resist the obedient plant and bee balm that will keep them coming back.
A Switchgrass Panicum virgatum ‘Hot Rod’ Perennial; purple panicles from late summer to fall atop blue-green grassy foliage that ages from red to burgundy; full sun to part shade; 36 to 40 in. tall, 24 to 36 in. wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9 Number to plant: 6
B Deutzia Deutzia gracilis ‘Nikko’
Shrub; white flowers in spring, burgundy foliage in fall; full sun to part shade; 1 to 2 ft. tall, 2 to 5 ft. wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 5 to 8
Number to plant: 5
C Joe Pye weed Eutrochium purpureum
Euphoria™ Ruby
Perennial; ruby red flower clusters from summer to fall; full sun; 24 to 32 in. tall, 24 to 28 in. wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9
Number to plant: 8
D Bugleweed Ajuga ‘Pleasant Pheasant’
Perennial; blue flowers in spring atop spreading foliage in shades of chartreuse, gold and copper; part to full shade; 4 to 6 in. tall, 9 to 18 in. wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9
Number to plant: 31 E Coneflower Echinacea Baja Burgundy
Perennial; burgundy flowers from summer to fall; full sun to part shade; 18 to 22 in. tall, 22 to 24 in. wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9
Number to plant: 16
F Arborvitae Thuja occidentalis Fire Chief ™
Shrub; globe-shaped golden foliage in spring aging to orange in summer then red in fall; full sun to part shade; 2 to 4 ft. tall and wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 5 to 8
Number to plant: 4
G Obedient plant Physostegia virginiana ‘Vivid’ Perennial; pink flower spikes from midsummer to fall; full sun; 12 to 24 in. tall, 12 to 18 in. wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9
Number to plant: 14 H Bee balm Monarda ‘Fireball’
Perennial; scarlet flower clusters from summer to fall; full sun to part shade; 12 to 18 in. tall and wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 8
Number to plant: 10
I Winterberry Ilex verticillata Berry Heavy® Gold Shrub; small white flowers in early spring, followed by gold berries that persist into winter; full sun to part shade; 6 to 8 ft. tall and wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9
Grow Mr. Poppins® winterberry as a pollinator plant within 50 feet of Berry Heavy Gold to get berries
Number to plant: 4
J Red buckeye Aesculus pavia
Shrub; red blooms in early to midspring; full sun to part shade; 12 to 15 ft. tall and wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 8
Number to plant: 1