Hi, I'm a bit of a novice gardener and need some advice.
In brief, to celebrate my parents wedding anniversary we want to 'plant' there initials in flowers on a nearby grass slope.
So what I need is some advice on what to plant. I'm thinking:-

- Seeds that can be sown rather than having to plant seedlings.

- Seeds that are cheap. The areas quite big.

- An annual we want to return the slope to the owner 'as new'.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks

I don't think it will work if the grass is already there. The seedlings will not be able to compete.

You could do it if you were sowing the whole area from bare soil, sow mainly grass, then flower seed within the outline of their initials.

You could do it with bulbs, but you'd have to dig them up again afterwards if you wanted to restore the slope to plain grass. Similarly you could do it by planting established plants, but I guess you want the effect to appear gradually.

On Sat, 12 Mar 2011 14:19:50 +0000, SaintUpNorth
wrote:


Hi, I'm a bit of a novice gardener and need some advice.
In brief, to celebrate my parents wedding anniversary we want to 'plant'
there initials in flowers on a nearby grass slope.
So what I need is some advice on what to plant. I'm thinking:-

- Seeds that can be sown rather than having to plant seedlings.

- Seeds that are cheap. The areas quite big.

- An annual we want to return the slope to the owner 'as new'.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks

A nice idea but unacheivable, sorry. If you need initials to be seen
as such, you will need plants that are about the same height, flower
at the same time (you don't say when the anniversary is) and you need
the seeds to germinate consistently and in the right pattern, not too
close together that they compete with each other and fail to provide a
good display. Too many problems sorry.

IMO, if you want something like you seem to want, you're not talking
about sowing seeds or planting seedlings, you're talking about
planting well grown plants, already in flower.

Don't forget that the grass will also be growing so you really need to
clear an area back to soil and then either plant the "initials" into a
patch of bare soil or if you want the green close around the initials
then fill in the cleared area with foliage plants about the same size
as the flowering ones.

May I offer another idea - something I did years ago for one of the
Garden Festivals back in the early 80s. Depending on how long you want
the display to be there for, get some plywood or some hardboard - the
latter will be good for a few days - and paint it whatever colour you
want (not green). Use a jigsaw to cut out the initials. Drill a couple
of holes for ground pegs and then lay them out on the bank and fix
down with "tent pegs". If money's a problem, get hold of some old
pallets - someone's always getting rid of some somewhere - the rough
wood won't matter when viewed from a distance and a bit of effort and
you can make a wide initial out of a couple of slats fixed together.

If the grass is cut short and you only want the initials for a day or
two, the grass won't suffer much and will recover once the "wood" is
removed. Plus you can do the job quickly while parents are asleep in
bed!

"SaintUpNorth" wrote in message
...

Hi, I'm a bit of a novice gardener and need some advice.
In brief, to celebrate my parents wedding anniversary we want to 'plant'
there initials in flowers on a nearby grass slope.
So what I need is some advice on what to plant. I'm thinking:-

- Seeds that can be sown rather than having to plant seedlings.

- Seeds that are cheap. The areas quite big.

- An annual we want to return the slope to the owner 'as new'.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks




--
SaintUpNorth

What about bulbs? ..... ;-)

Mrs Irene Graham of

Thorpe Avenue
, Boscombe, delighted the audience with her reminiscences of the German
prisoner of war who was sent each week to do her garden. He was repatriated
at the end of 1945, she recalled. "He'd always seemed a nice friendly chap,
but when the crocuses came up in the middle of our lawn in February 1946,
they spelt out 'Heil Hitler.'" (Bournemouth Evening Echo)
--

Mike

....................................
Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive
....................................

Thanks Kay.

I guess bulbs might be an option. Is there any such thing as an Annual bulb. A bit of time planting bulbs would be OK but digging them up afterwards would be an problem.
Alternatively if we used seedlings, could you recommend something that's easy to raise from seed, colourful and hardy?

Thanks

Mike

On Sat, 12 Mar 2011 17:18:37 +0000, Jake Nospam@invalid wrote:


May I offer another idea - something I did years ago for one of the
Garden Festivals back in the early 80s.

Whoops. Meant 90s - it was the event at Ebbw Vale. I was given an
impossible budget but achieved something that people were pleased
with. I remember going at the end of the event to recover (because we
had to) the marine ply that was used to create lettering. Some of that
is still holding back the embankment on one side of my garden! Good
stuff is marine ply! Must see if I can dig out a photo somwehere.

Downside of that is that the display had to be red, white and green.
The red was provided by salvias; forget what the white was but the
green was lemon balm. I dug up a few plants to bring home. Big
mistake, still trying to get it out of the garden and lost a few
friends to whom I gave some plants!

On Mar 12, 5:01*pm, kay wrote:
SaintUpNorth;914785 Wrote:

Hi, I'm a bit of a novice gardener and need some advice.
In brief, to celebrate my parents wedding anniversary we want to 'plant'
there initials in flowers on a nearby grass slope.
So what I need is some advice on what to plant. I'm thinking:-

- Seeds that can be sown rather than having to plant seedlings.

- Seeds that are cheap. The areas quite big.

- An annual we want to return the slope to the owner 'as new'.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks

I don't think it will work if the grass is already there. The seedlings
will not be able to compete.

You could do it if you were sowing the whole area from bare soil, sow
mainly grass, then flower seed within the outline of their initials.

You could do it with bulbs, but you'd have to dig them up again
afterwards if you wanted to restore the slope to plain grass. Similarly
you could do it by planting established plants, but I guess you want the
effect to appear gradually.

--
kay

I'd be more inclined to buy them a plant that they can have in their
garden if they have one, or in a tub , and that will last much longer.

No :-)
That's the whole point of a bulb - to store food over the dormant season to allow the plant to be perennial

The best you might do is plant something that originates in a hot country and is definitely not hardy, so the bulbs will freeze and rot over the winter. Begonias, or something like that.

Nothing that will out-compete the grass.
If you're starting from bare soil, you've a huge variety.

Why hardy? When's the anniversary?

"kay" wrote in message
...

SaintUpNorth;914792 Wrote:
Thanks Kay.

I guess bulbs might be an option. Is there any such thing as an Annual
bulb.


No :-)
That's the whole point of a bulb - to store food over the dormant season
to allow the plant to be perennial

Unless.

The grass normally mowed (or is that mown?) on a regular intervals, but the
bulbs can be allowed to grow, THEN, continue regular mowing. The bulbs will
then die off. depends on the time of the year and when mowing starts and
stops. ....... iffy.

Someone suggested a tree. Best idea yet.

Mike



--

....................................
Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive
....................................






The best you might do is plant something that originates in a hot
country and is definitely not hardy, so the bulbs will freeze and rot
over the winter. Begonias, or something like that.



A bit of time planting bulbs would be OK but digging them up afterwards
would be an problem.
Alternatively if we used seedlings, could you recommend something that's
easy to raise from seed, colourful and hardy?


Nothing that will out-compete the grass.
If you're starting from bare soil, you've a huge variety.

Why hardy? When's the anniversary?




--
kay

In article , kay
writes
Nothing that will out-compete the grass.
If you're starting from bare soil, you've a huge variety.

Why hardy? When's the anniversary?



Or better still paint grass with vegetable dye?
(Well it seems easier than having to plant bulbs when you don't want to
ruin the grass!)

or (sudden thought) cover grass with cardboard or something light proof
let it go pale yellow and then take cardboard off? Might be effective?

Near to us we have someone who cuts the profile of a ship a side of a
privet hedge so it comes out as half 3d/relief (if you see what i mean)
Looks good
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk