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Oklahoma Gardening

need suggestions

greenmanOK (Zone7)

15 years ago

Hi all. I hope you are doing well and enjoying your spring gardening. In picking up where I left off in the fall, I'm still trying to find some shrubs for the south side of our house and would like to get some suggestions. The attached picture is the area I am working on. I basically want two vertical shrubs--one on either side of the boxwoods. As you can see, however, space is limited (esp on the left side), as I am wanting to center the arrangment in front of the windows. I'm open to suggestions, but I'm leaning toward a coniferous columnar of some sort. I saw some blue arrow junipers in the nursury yesterday and LOVED them. I have read that they get about 2 feet wide by about 12-15 feet tall. I have about 3 1/2 feet to work with on the left side, so that width is perfect, but I'm afaid they will eventually get too tall (the roof starts at about 11' on that left side). I'd really like someting like the blue arrow juniper, but 10 feet is the max height I want them to get. Can these be trimmed to this height? Are there any other varieties that might work in these locations? My ultimate plan is to have this arrangment (the boxwoods in between two vertical shrubs) centered on the windows, and then some sort of specimen to the right toward the corner of the house. I will probably also extend the bed out several feel eventually. Your suggestions are most welcome.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:252534}}

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Comments (7)

kathi_rogers
15 years ago
I like the tall arborvitae, we used them in GA and have planted a few here and they seem to be doing well.
Lisa_H OK
15 years ago
Pesonally, I wouldn't add any additional bushes there. Just my opinion, of course! But the right hand side would make a beautiful spot for a small tree.

Lisa
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greenmanOK (Zone7)
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the suggestions, folks. Lisa might be right--more bushes might make it look too busy. I can't seem to shake the desire to plant someting there, though!
Lisa_H OK
15 years ago
Does that room get really hot? I have friends with a similar type house that faces west. Their front room would get so hot. They finally planted a tree out in the middle of the yard to give the house some shade. I think they planted a chinese pistache.

I'm picturing a crepe myrtle tree there. You could put smaller bushes on either side, but I'm a flower gardener....I would fill it with flowers :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Chinese Pistache images
soonergrandmom
15 years ago
I had the exact same thought as Lisa. I wouldn't want anything large that close to my house, but a small tree would be nice at the corner and not quite so close to the house.
hardin
15 years ago
A few suggestions: Sky Pencil Holly, Crape Myrtle with white blooms, or a Sunny Knockout Rose. The reason I choose white or yellow bloom colors is so that it doesn't blend in with the color of the house, unless you want it too.
greenmanOK (Zone7)
Original Author
15 years ago
All good suggestions - thanks. Yes, Lisa, that room gets pretty hot since that is the south side of the house. We're actually considering tinting the windows for that room. Anyway, I like the idea of a small tree toward the corner--like a crape myrtle or something--but I still would like to have something on either side of the boxwoods to provide some color/texture contrast. My original thought was that something vertical would tie things together, though I'm not married to that idea. The plan is to extend this bed out and for these foundation shrubs to be the backdrop for flowering perennials.

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