Landscaping junipers you like the look of
karoliberty
13 days ago
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artinnature
13 days agoOntario_Canada5a_USDA4b
13 days agoRelated Discussions
Don't like the look of edible landscaping/ lawn alternatives?
Comments (26)Everyone seems to look at the above picture and admire the thriving plants, but seem not to see that most of the area is bare soil. Will it remain that way or what additional planting will be required to finish this off and stabilize the site? I'm not familiar with that area of the country, but it seems that stabilizing the surface is really not a big deal due to lack of erosive forces and growth rate of invasive weeds. It would be very impractical to use a lawn there. It is an alien to that environment. In much of the country, grass is a normal naturally occuring part of the ecosystem - not monoculture turfs, but grassy fields. I think it is possible that people from arid regions may not appreciate what happens when soil is left exposed to the elements in the not so arid regions. Stabilizing soil is a high priority for the protection of the environment. It needs to be covered to keep it from eroding. In these regions you need pretty close to complete coverage or you will have erosion. That means having small patches of groundcover or spotty shrub plantings is not going to get the job done. You could have large areas of mulch, but this is subject to erosion and weed growth. The weed growth reintroduces "high maintenance" and the possibility of pesticide use. You have to plant the whole thing or mother nature will be working on that for you as she also tries to erode it away. Lawnless in non-arid areas has to overcome erosion by having some kind of surface that resists it. That can be trees, shrubs, herbacious plants, groundcover, pavement, or mulch (mulch will have the least resistance to erosion). It has to succumb to or overcome mother natures desire to reclaim it with a succession of weeds and grasses to thicket and eventually a forest. Going lawnless is fine, but you have to know that in most of the country it is not a matter of removing grass and planting a few drought tolerant plants. Most of the attempts that I see are done by well meaning people who do not complete the job in stabilizing the soil - I'm not even going to go into aesthetics. The result is usually spotty plantings and wood chips everywhere (the well meaning folks who tend to go lawnless tend to like to recycle wood chips as well). If you are going to do it, think it through and make a commitment to an end result. Don't remove the grass and then try to figure it out later. There is a sizable investment of time and money to do this up here in the northeast. I suppose wood chips might make some feel that they have recycled and removed lawn at the same time and they can sleep better at night. Again, is matching what you value to the conditions of the site. Don't under estimate Mother Nature. She won't treat you any differently just because you have her best interests in mind....See MoreLooking for Dense, Spreading, Compact Juniper Cultivar
Comments (13)I've never seen "can be rejuvenation pruned" as part of the definition for a shrub. Some other types of shrubs don't lend themselves to this treatment, anyway. To me, a conifer, that grows to the height of what most of us think of as a shrub, is as much of a shrub as a forsythia or a viburnum. Conifers can be trees, shrubs, or groundcovers. I think Ken is the only person I've seen differ on that point. But hey, he can still be my buddy even if he doesn't know a shrubs a shrub (-; Ken, I don't have a list of junipers that do well here, but I think most do. Of course, virginiana grows like a weed on crack here. Most of the various junipers I've planted seem to do great. The only ones, that come to mind, that don't do as well here as I would like are the blue stars and closely related cultivars. They tend to die out a little in spots (not sure how unique that is to this climate). Someone today recommended using a cotoneaster for my application. I don't know why I hadn't considered it in this situation, but now I'm kind of leaning towards that direction. My customer is supposed to see what she thinks of cotoneaster tomorrow. I'm still open to conifer suggestions though. In additions to the low-growing form (if I end up using conifers for this job), they'll need to have a more needle-like foliage instead of the scaly foliage on many junipers....See Morelook alikes: Junip comm gold cone and gold totem
Comments (2)Ken, I love the first photos showing a very narrow form with that beautiful color combination. I sure would love to add one of those to my gardens. I have the perfect spot....See MoreWhat landscaping would look good? Don't like the Pachysandra...
Comments (19)The thought of ripping out the pachysandra makes my head hurt.. It's not easy, and it also is in keeping with your house. Keep exploring options for adding the shade it needs. White birch trees arrayed throughout would provide just enough dappled shade, as well as a striking design feature. So would many other choices, but the key is to limit the variety, ideally to one. Avoid mixing metaphors, as in plants that don't grow together naturally. Most grasses would fall in that category IMO....See Morebengz6westmd
13 days agoOntario_Canada5a_USDA4b
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6 days agolast modified: 6 days agoartinnature
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5 days agoartinnature
5 days agoEileen
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