Tell the Truth Tuesday: Stumped for Inspiration

The area on the east side of our backyard patio is particularly sandy and, after we removed the last of our lawn there in 2016, I used succulents to fill the narrow area between the patio and the flagstone path.  A few shrubs crept in on a piecemeal basis and, as happens, some plants grew to overwhelm the area while others died out.  Dorycnium hirsutum, now classified as Lotus hirsutum and commonly known as Hairy Canary Clover, did both.  While the clover planted elsewhere in my garden survived our wicked summer heatwaves unscathed, the clump in this bed was badly damaged last year so I pulled it out, leaving an empty patch of dirt.  Dirt doesn't normally remain bare in my garden for long but this area has been the exception.  I just haven't been able to decide what to do with it.

It doesn't look too bad from this angle.  The Aeoniums in foreground and the Helichrysum in the background bookend an empty patch of dirt.

As shown in this photo

The Agave colorata I planted in the center of the bed is finally bulking up and the Aeonium 'Kiwi Verde' surrounding it has filled in nicely.

The Kalanchoe orgyalis growing up through the Aeonium needed to go, though.  What was I thinking when I planted those 2 succulents on top of one another?

I tried filling in the bare area to the right of the Agave with tiny succulent cuttings but it just looks sad.

Those tiny succulents aren't going to fill in any time soon and the Alyssum is already covering many of them as it is

The pots I added to the bed when I first planted it aren't doing much for the space either.

I'd completely forgotten about the half-buried pot, which originally had succulents "spilling" from it.  It'd been swamped by the clover for some time.  The larger blue pot needs replanting too.  On the other hand, I like the combination of Yucca 'Blue boy', Helichrysum 'Icicles' and Santolina virens.

Denise of A Growing Obsession had given gave me another Yucca 'Blue Boy' cutting several months ago.  Now well-rooted, it needed a home in the ground and, since my other Yucca did so well in this location (while I lost 3 others in another area of the garden), it made sense to me to plant it near the healthy specimen.  I pulled out the Senecio vitalis, which I've used to excess because it fills in quickly, and inserted the Yucca but the area still has holes and lacks cohesion.

I added Cotyledon and Kalanchoe orgyalis cuttings but I think this just makes things look worse

The area's in need of a more serious overall

I'm considering a range of options:

1. Replacing all the tiny succulent cuttings with one or two varieties in larger sizes to fill the entire empty space.
2. Replanting the large blue pot with a good-sized Agave or Mangave, creating a "stream" of other succulents pouring from the smaller blue pot half-buried in the bed, ending in a "pool" of the same succulents.
3. Removing both pots and purchasing a third Yucca 'Blue Boy' and more Santolina virens to replace all the small succulents.
4. Pulling out everything and planting ornamental grass.

What would you do?

Tell the Truth Tuesday is the brain-child of Alison at Bonney Lassie.  Do you have some ugly truths about your garden to share?


All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party