Keywords: Geranium, Ground cover plants, Rock garden plants, Lamium, Epimedium, Liriope, Stachys, Brunnera

PAL Question: I've built low, 2 to 2.5 foot brick retaining walls running east to west in my backyard. The walls face north. I'm looking to plant in a narrow strip atop these walls some "spiller" plants which will enthusiastically droop over the walls despite their north-facing nature.

Ideally, I'd like mostly evergreen plants which would fill in fairly quickly, though I'm willing to plant a variety and carve out space for the slower growing plants as needed. There's great drainage since I have gravel reservoirs behind each wall, and the part of the plant above the wall will get part to full sun, though I could overplant them if necessary for a plant that couldn't handle full sun.

My biggest priorities are to have evergreen plants with interesting foliage and form. I'm really looking to soften the look of these grey brick walls, and so would prefer a furry look to a spiny one. Flowers and fragrance are less important though always nice, and I'm hoping to have at least 2 or 3 different plant types with different colored foliage (shades of green are fine).

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Keywords: Geranium, Liliaceae, Narcissus, Platanus, Lamium, Epimedium, Vinca, Brunnera, Galium, Pulmonaria, Tiarella, Vancouveria hexandra, Chionodoxa

PAL Question:

We have a very large beautiful sycamore in our back yard. My roommate thought it would be nice to build a flower garden around the base of the tree, but something tells me that doing so would be harmful to the tree's root system. Is this true? I would love to hear your thoughts.

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