I just have to say that I absolutely love landscaping. I'm not really a gardener but I love nothing more than planning, researching, buying and installing shrubs and trees. Having lived in several homes, I've been lucky to have done quite a bit of this in my life and I love the process. Although I've been in my current home for five years now, other than a small bed around the patio that I installed, I've not done any work on the landscaping. Having a small farm with horses, improving the fields was more of a priority than the yard or landscaping. Now that my fields are lush and growing and my herds has dwindled to two small donkeys, I felt the landscaping calling out for attention.
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| Patio after install |
The previous owners had done a nice job around the front foundation but several azaleas are dying out and needed replaced. Since I love knowing the species and varieties, I was thrilled to find a diagram done by a local company who designed the landscape plan including names of all the plants.The current front includes Nellie Stevens, Compacta and Needlepoint Hollies, several azaleas and a Redtwig dogwood. Everything looked okay except for the azaleas which are getting old, woody and dying out.
I decided to get two David Viburnum and two Pacific Blue Junipers, both evergreens that don't grow tall but will spread out as they mature. There are so many wonderful Viburnum varieties with such different requirements and characteristics. I love this genus of plant and there is a viburnum for almost any situation. I think I've planted one in every landscape design I've done.
The new plants look so tiny in the landscape pictures but will fill out over time. I also got a Spilled Wine Weigela which I planted in front of the azaleas that are not thriving. I had wanted to get 3 of them but could only fine one in my local gardening centers. If I happen to see a few more, I'll pick them up. They'll provide a low growing plant with contrasting purple foliage to fill in as the azaleas deteriorate. I also planted two Knock Out Roses on either side of the steps which should give nice color from spring through fall. I've never had Knock Out Roses but I've read a lot about them and see them everywhere now in landscapes.
I also edged the entire front beds out another 6 inches or so and just need to get some more mulch and I should be done. I'm constantly battling the wire grass that grows around my house. I call it crab grass on steroids. When I moved in, it was literally climbing up the house. It is the most invasive plant and short of killing the lawn, it is difficult to eradicate. It is a constant struggle to keep it at bay but edging the beds certainly helps keep it under control.
I also have three 'Golden Mop' Cypress (Chamaecypress pisifera) around my light post at the front of my sidewalk that have gotten very overgrown. I did some research and found that I could trim them back but since they are so overgrown, I'll have to do a little at a time. You can only cut them back to where there is growth and if you cut too drastically, they won't come back. I trimmed about 8 inches this morning and hauled away a wheelbarrow full of clippings but it's going to take some time to get them where I want them.
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Now to tackle the back yard, which is really what I wanted to do. It has very little landscaping and yet I spend quite a bit of time back there. Since I built the patio two years ago, it is one of my favorite places at the house and I love to hang out there in the evenings with the dogs and the donkeys. The downside is that there aren't any existing beds, which means lots more work to do before I can plant anything. I have to dig up the sod, dig the holes, amend the soil and mulch. I've decided to start the beds small and expand outward to accommodate the plants growth. That way I can get the beds started now when the plants are small and then expand as I need to.
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| French Pussy Willow Tree |
I started by trying to hide the trash cans that are at the back of the house. I planted Salix Caprea 'Curly Locks' or French Pussy Willow. It an ornamental deciduous tree that gets 5-6' wide and tall. Again not something I'm familiar with but I thought I'd give it a try.
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| Loreopetulum |
I then made a bed in front of the trash and planted a Lorepetulum 'Purple Diamond' or Fringe Flower. A beautiful evergreen purple draping plant that gets bright pink flowers in spring - a nice specimen bush that should partially hide the cans yet not be in the way. I'm a little worried about this choice since they don't typically do well in poor clay soil but I added quite a bit of compost to improve the drainage and hopefully it will thrive.
I then went down the fence line and planted two Ligustrum 'Swift Creek' or Chinese Privet flanking a 'Snow Storm' Spirea. The privet is evergreen, fast growing with a nice variegated leaf while the Spiraea provides big flowers in spring and colorful fall foliage. I wanted to get several 'Lime Mound' Spiraea to plant in front of the bed as contrast but I wasn't able to find them on my plant quest. Instead I found some Goldmound Spiraea which gets larger and aren't quite as bright but that seemed to be all that I could find. Also decided to plant one of the Knock Out Roses surrounded by some inexpensive Stonecrop Sedum 'Lemon Ball' that adds some of the contrasting yellow that I was looking for.
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| Ligustrum & Spirea |
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| Rose and Sedum |
I debated about planting another bed at the back of the fence but I love seeing the donkeys so even though the sunlight isn't as good, I decided to expand the bed beside the patio rather than plant at the rear of the yard. I knew I wanted a 'Lime Light' Hydrangea (foreground) as an accent bush but wasn't sure what to plant with it. While browsing the various garden stores I came across one of my favorite all time plants - the Variegated Redtwig Dogwood. I've searched for this plant on several occasions with no luck so I ended up buying two different varieties an 'Elgantissima' and a 'Halo'. The 'Halo' is a dwarf version so I could put the taller variety in behind the hydrangea and the dwarf variety in the front.
I already had three Gold Abelias, a few hostas and some Mahonia repens (Oregon Grape-that I transplanted from my mom's in PA). The garden is kind of naturalized with violets and mint growing among the plants - very informal. I think it fits with the house and my lifestyle. Update: finished removing the rest of the sod and added some transplanted catmint or Napeta (variety unknown).
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| Naturalized area under the dogwood |
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| Hydrangea, Variegated Redtwig Dogwoods and catmint |
I also found a small variety of Butterfly Bush - Buddleia 'Blue Chip Jr' which only gets about 2' tall and wide so I expanded a bed in front of my a/c unit and beside the patio for this bush. Since it will stay small, I thought it was a nice addition.
Looking forward to watching the plants mature and tweaking the plan along the way. Weather has turned humid so I'm glad I got most of the planting and digging done while I still had a little cool weather.
I also started a 'nursery' in among the patio garden plantings. As I've been working around the property I've discovered several small dogwoods and holly trees. I transplanted them to the nursery so I can keep in eye on them. Once they have matured and develop better root balls, I'll then transplant them to elsewhere on the property. I've also transplanted several pachysandras and variegated vinca major from one mature bed to around beds of some small trees that I started. A friend gave me some rootings several years ago and I now have a nice thick bed from which I can transplant. Having ground covers around the tree beds helps keeps the weeds out and also provides shade for the newly developing trees. Being able to use what I already have is a great way to expand my landscaping without having to spend money.
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