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Suggestions for low hedge

11 years ago

Where I step off my deck in my backyard the previous owners planted a half-moon shaped hedge of some sort of spirea. It looks ok, nice guide to lead one into the backyard. However, it flowers a beautiful clear pink in May (when everything else blooms as well) and within a week turns to green and tan. Not great looking. I have been trimming it into a hedge form for a couple of years just to give it some shape and get rid of the spent flowers. I am looking to replace this hedge though with something that looks better for longer. The hedge should be about 2 to 3 feet tall, and about as wide. It can be informal, but should still look presentable without a lot of pruning and fussing. Here are some ideas I had so far: Compact varieties of pg hydrangeas such as Little Lime, Little Lamb or Bombshell, though they may still get bigger than what I envision. Other options are small varieties of clethra, such as Hummingbird or Vanilla Spice, though I have not seen any pictures of them used as a hedge. Than there are the new varieties of Buddleia that stay small and compact. can you guys help me with my selection process? Maybe point out pros and cons of those ideas? Maybe suggest something different I hadn't thought of? The area is highly visible from my deck, gets sun from around 9am until about 2pm, has decent soil, not a bad place overall for shrubs. Oh, and my soil is Indiana clay amended over the years with leave mulch, so most acidic soil loving plants are not going to work for me.

Thanks in advance.

M.

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Comments (7)

mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
11 years ago
If you can't grow acid loving shrubs, you ain't growing clethra. End of story.

Lavender is a distinct possibility, as of course is boxwood. Both will require a serious pruning once a year. I've like germander when I've seen it, but have no personal experience with it. Pennisetum or another smallish ornamental grass will work.

In general, I think the size is going to be difficult to achieve with shrubs.
lisanti07028
11 years ago
How wide are you expecting the plants to be? Even shrubs that have been bred to be short can be wide, especially in bloom.
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Thank you NHBabs--you have sparked an idea for me. I have candytuft and perennial geraniums "St. Ola" and some purple variety growing on the opposite side of the walkway from the lavender and both seem to do well, so that is an option that might really work and would require minimal pruning as I only deadhead the candytuft if we are really droughty and it gets a lot of brown tips at once. I also have boxwoods, as do most of the houses around here, so I guess I was thinking of these as a backup in case I can't find something else--something with flowers or that will take less shearing/pruning. I love caryopteris and saw a lovely hedge-like planting of them at Longwood Gardens in PA, but both of the ones I planted here died in 3-4 years. Additionally, they were so incredibly late to leaf out in spring that I always had to spend a month wondering whether they had actually survived winter. I think that'll put me back to the same problem I have with the lavender--too much time spent looking bleh for the front walk, although I hope to have them again someday out back.
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marcindy
Original Author
11 years ago
Not to sound stubborn, but clethra does grow here, it seems to tolerate our clay soil somewhat. I was referring to things like rhododendrons, azaleas, pieris, and such. I like the lavender idea, I have several around my yard and they only require a once a year shearing. I could go for one of the larger varieties even.

Ideally the shrubs should not exceed 3 feet in width...
goodhors
11 years ago
Just a question, but do you prune off the Spirea before it leafs out in spring? I shorten mine to about 10 inches, just as the leaf buds appear.

The benefits are lush new growth, puts the bloom time back a few weeks, so everything looks nice at a different time.
Mine are Limemound and Goldmound, so the colors are quite different, contrast well. Other varieties might give you different leaf colors as well.

The short, Japanese Spirea, bloom on new growth, so your shearing them short, should help increase the bloom quantity too. My flowers last a couple weeks, as they gradually all get opened.

I love the little Spirea, they are always colorful, RELIABLE, no work except that yearly cutting back.

So an idea for you to consider. Change out the bushes if you only have plain green. Doing an every other variety, with two very different colored leaves, could be quite striking.
marcindy
Original Author
11 years ago
I usually tidy the hedge up a bit before fall so it looks decent in the winter, as decent as a bare spirea hedge can look... I like your idea of different colored spirea... I have always liked Goldflame spirea, right up to the point when it flowers... hate the pink flower color against the golden warm red leave colors...I'll consider it, thanks Goodhors.
felisar (z5)
11 years ago
some other suggestions that might work for you: Russian sage, caryopteris - there are several varieties with yellow or variegated foliage, leptodermis oblonga-very twiggy so has good winter presence, dwarf red twig dogwood, Lemon Queen -a yellow-leafed spirea that I think is superior to Gold Mound
greenhavenrdgarden
11 years ago
Spirea Double Play Artist has deep purple/reddish new growth followed by deep fushia flowers. After the flowers fade I cut them off and shear the shrub slightly which triggers more new colorful growth. I am very impressed with this one and the size is right for you.

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