A Great Foundation
Full sun to partial shade
Average to dry soil
The space right around your home’s foundation is a great place to experiment with a planting of perennials. Use them to replace the boring shrubs that are already there, or — if there’s space — plant the flowers in front of the shrubs. This collection of perennials supplies year-round interest from a variety of features, including showy flowers, attractive leaves, fall color, and even intriguing seed heads and evergreen foliage for winter.
The Garden Plan
Shopping List
1 ‘Little Spire’ Russian sage
Perovskia
2 plants
Zones 5–9
Alternates: Another 2- to 4-foot-tall perennial with showy blooms and/or attractive foliage, such as ‘Six Hills Giant’ catmint (Nepeta) [2 plants] or ‘Blue Fortune’ hyssop (Agastache) [2 plants]
‘Little Spire’ Russian sage (Perovskia)
2 Sunshine Blue bluebeard
Caryopteris incana ‘Jason’
1 plant
Zones 5–9
Alternates: Another 3- to 4-foot-tall perennial with showy blooms and attractive foliage, such as ‘Worcester Gold’ blue mist shrub (C. × clandonensis) [1 plant] or ‘Carolina Moonlight’ or other false indigo (Baptisia) [1 plant]
Sunshine Blue bluebeard (Caryopteris incana ‘Jason’)
3 ‘Cassian’ fountain grass
Pennisetum alopecuroides
3 plants
Zones 5–9
Alternates: ‘Hameln’ fountain grass or another 2- to 3-foot-tall perennial with showy blooms and/or attractive foliage, such as Arkansas bluestar (Amsonia hubrichtii) [3 plants] or ‘Magnus’ purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) [5 plants]
‘Cassian’ fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides)
4 ‘Angelina’ sedum
Sedum rupestre
7 plants
Zones 3–8
Alternates: Another creeping or upright sedum or other 4- to 9-inch-tall perennial with showy blooms and attractive foliage, such as ‘Aztec Gold’ speedwell (Veronica prostrata) [7 plants] or ‘Firewitch’ dianthus (Dianthus) [7 plants]
‘Angelina’ sedum (Sedum rupestre)
5 Blue lilyturf
Liriope muscari
6 plants
Zones 5–9
Alternates: Another 6- to 12-inch-tall perennial with showy blooms and/or attractive foliage, such as perennial candytuft (Iberis sempervirens) [6 plants] or ‘Caramel’, ‘Obsidian’, or other heuchera (Heuchera) [6 plants]
Blue lilyturf (Liriope muscari)
Planting Plan
Season by Season
Spring: Early color in this garden comes mostly from foliage: the lacy, aromatic, gray-green leaves of ‘Little Spire’ Russian sage, the bright yellow shoots of Sunshine Blue bluebeard and ‘Angelina’ sedum, and the strappy, deep green leaves of blue lilyturf. In mild climates you might also be enjoying the airy, branching spikes of small, purple-blue blooms of the Russian sage in late spring.
A simple spring cleanup will get this garden into good shape for the growing season. In early to mid spring, cut any remaining dead growth on the fountain grass, cut the lilyturf leaves back to about 2 inches above the ground, and trim out any winter-damaged shoots on the sedum. This is also a good time to divide the fountain grass, sedum, and lilyturf, if needed. Once you see new growth starting, cut the Russian sage back to about 6 inches, and trim the bluebeard back by about half its height, or even closer to the ground if new growth is only at the base. Finish up by spreading a fresh layer of organic mulch over the soil.
Summer: Foliage continues to be a key feature of this foundation border in summer, but there are plenty of flowers, too. ‘Angelina’ sedum produces clusters of yellow flowers, which are pretty, though they’re not very noticeable against the yellow leaves. In southern gardens the ‘Little Spire’ Russian sage is in full glory in early to midsummer; in northern gardens, the peak is usually mid to late summer. Late summer brings the purple-blue spikes of blue lilyturf, the brushy greenish tan spikes of ‘Cassian’ fountain grass, and the beginning of the clustered, purplish blue blooms on the Sunshine Blue bluebeard.
Summer care is minimal: just snip off the dead flowers on the sedum, cut the Russian sage back by about half if it gets floppy in midsummer, and water the garden during extended dry spells.
Fall and Winter: Autumn brings loads of color, with the bright yellow leaves of the Sunshine Blue bluebeard and ‘Angelina’ sedum and the purple-blue flowers of the ‘Little Spire’ Russian sage, bluebeard, and blue lilyturf. The ‘Cassian’ fountain grass spikes gradually turn tan and last well into winter. The whitish stems of the Russian sage, too, stick around after frost, along with the evergreen leaves of the blue lilyturf, which may also produce some near-black berries in fall. ‘Angelina’ sedum is especially striking in winter, when its bright yellow foliage often takes on rich orange tones.
Other than dividing the sedum in early fall, if it’s outgrowing its spot, leave the garden cleanup until spring so you can enjoy the interesting leaves and stems for winter.
Digging Deeper
- A rectangular border like this one fits neatly into the narrow strip of ground along the front of a house. Use it as is, or repeat the plan end to end if you have a longer space to fill. It’s a good idea to leave a bit of space behind the border — an unplanted strip about 18 inches wide — so you can get to the wall or shrubs behind the garden for maintenance.
- It’s nice to see loads of flowers early in the spring, but for the most part, perennials that are in peak bloom in spring can look tired by midsummer and add little to the garden for the rest of the year. To bring more spring color to this foundation planting while keeping the later-flowering perennials, tuck in loads of early blooming bulbs, such as snowdrops (Galanthus), crocuses (Crocus), daffodils (Narcissus), and hyacinths (Hyacinthus). These early risers add plenty of cheery color while their bedmates are just getting started; then, they die back to the ground for the rest of the season as the perennials fill out to play their part.
- If you’re new to gardening, you may be amazed to find that leaves come in all kinds of colors besides green, including yellows, reds, blues, grays, silvers, and even near blacks. Anything-but-green foliage is invaluable for adding season-long color to borders while the flowers come and go, a trick that’s especially important for gardens in high-visibility areas, such as by a door or along a commonly used path.