can Manhattan euonymus espalier be this close to weeping river birch?
midorit
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Hello
I am doing some vertical gardening here in our tiny patio. I want to add a wall of evergreen behind our patio table to bring some year round green and visual interest while the rest of the garden sleeps during the winter.
This type of bush with espalier. In it's "free form" it is 5 feet wide, 6 to 8 tall.
The height is perfect. The width when it's done growing would go as close as 2 feet away from trunk of the river birch.
I don't care if that area gets dense like jungle with the river birch folding over the wall of green but my only two questions are:
1) Will the roots of the two plants be happy? From trunk of the bush to trunk of the weeping river birch it's about 4- 4 1/2 feet away. Is this enough room for them to both be happy? The weeping river birch is about a year old.
2) If the bush gets too wide, is it an easy bush to trim back? If the bush leaves/ branches connect with the river birch's branches this ok? No hard feelings?
Sorry it looks so dingy here. Had a plant on that table and it needs a washing badly. Also everything is in hibernation mode - that is why we would love some green vertical interest on this wall! I digress..
we would love having a green wall behind the patio furniture seen from our living room if possible :) For year round greenery outside.
This is how it looks in the summer: Where the pink hanging basket is, is where the bush would go.
I need to know soon as I'd like to put this in the ground asap. I'm in zone 7 DC metro area.
Thanks!
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Embothrium
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agomidorit
7 years agoRelated Discussions
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Comments (15)Debhawks, the last photo posted should have been your first one. I didn't understand the "unbalanced" comment. Now, seeing a non-myopic view of the Birch, I see the conflict. I'm still OK with the groundcover portion of my earlier submission, but think the tree-form shrub should be a smaller version... something that would only get 8' ht. So not intended to be anything one would walk below. Some of my advice about it will seem to conflict with advice I give later, below. But this is an architectural "fix" situation... not a normal, straighforward landscape use. Not enough time to do now, but let me explore this later. It could possibly be something different, too. Do I need to preach about how the Birch should be limbed up?... to higher than what you think because the upper limbs will hang lower over time. If you do the minimum, it will be back in your face not that much later. I would create at least a 12' clear trunk to start...asap. It's always better to start shaping woody plants while they're very young, but starting late is better than not starting at all. I would limb up the crab asap, too. Worry only about the trunk structure & canopy elevation. The head of the tree will form no matter what height you put it at (within reason... we'll not consider the outside extreme limits; we're just talking about normal situations.) Develop a nice bouquet shape of trunks. Remove those that spread too widely outside of the imaginary "cone" shape. (I think 50 to 60 degree spread generally works well.) To my thinking, a canopy should never begin below a persons head (but I've stated an exception above.) That's the minimum--or it obstructs view--but higher than that is fine. Think how you prefer the ceilings in your house to be somewhat above your head, not scraping against your hair. It's the same with tree canopies. On a small tree like the crab, I'd give a light trim to the outside dome shape of the canopy just to bring it into greater uniformity... if you have the means. You really DO need a tree at the left of house to make it look finished and established. It's too vacant over there. A medium size flowering tree could be nice. I'd also consider side a large tree-form "shrub" (12' - 15' ht.) by the mailbox corner--with some underplanting-- to help reduce the airport look of the driveway. There are very few instances where suitable shrubs in the tree-form can be purchased. The overwhelming preponderance of landscape thinking is ruled by horticulture, not by design. The horticultural thinking has it that woody plants, for the most part, should be allowed to grow as nature dictates... with just a little tweaking here and there. There are notable exceptions, but they have occurred with few plants. In most of cases it is far better to create the tree-form that works for your particular situation using the plant that suits your needs. It's not hard. It takes a little time, but not much effort. I can elaborate later....See More5 Uncommon Plants You Can't Live Without
Comments (25)Kind of hard to shift mental gears and come up with non zone 9/10 plants, plus I've no experience with Japanese beetles here in California. On the other hand, some of those recommendations of plants which are tender perennials here, such as the Nicotiana sylvestris and the various Angelica species are also great performers here in the SF Bay Area. Along those lines, I'd also recommend tall accents such as Verbena bonariensis, Helleborus argutifolius if hardy for you, and that Fringe tree is also fantastic in bloom here. And surprisingly, Hostas can be grown well here if carefully sited by keeping well separated from the rest of a garden by wide swaths of pavement which limit snail access. I would look into some of the hardier Euphorbia species such as E. myrsinoides and E. rigida. Eryngiums are another group of perennials with that something "extra". A rather tropical touch can also be had by adding herbaceous perennials such as Hedychiums, Colocasias, Cannas(Canna 'Pacific Beauty' is a particular favorite for outrageous orange color). Check out the on-line catalog for Plant Delights Nursery or our local California Annie's Annuals Nursery for tempting unusual mail order listings; both ship across the country and both have excellent web sites with lots of photos....See MoreMy hopeless front yard
Comments (34)Having fence sections on each side would work...I was always told there should be an opening to make your home welcoming. Later a curved walkway leading to your front door could be added. This would help direct attention to your front entrance even if the walkway is seldom used. The lamp post could be incorporated into the planting bed beautifully, even used for a flowering clematis perhaps. I would only use taller anchoring shrubs on the outside ends so the fence itself does not become disconnected from each other. You could use lower evergreens in the planting beds for winter interest. If you do put in a path to the front door I think a grey PA flagstone randomly placed would be beautiful with your blue house. At some point a small sitting area under the large tree near your front porch could be amazing. You could use the same flagstones, along large planters rather than trying to deal with tree roots, groundcovers, fountain....ahhh, the beautiful things you can do! I can't wait to see in-progress pictures. I think starting with the fence will make everthing else fall into place. This project should keep you busy until you are ready to tackle the porch area...See More'Dream' garden...what would you do?
Comments (28)well, there is the dream garden which has no basis in reality whatsoever - so this would essentially be a huge walled garden with high, high old brick walls, all of which would be covered with espaliered pears, apples, cherries, apricots, peaches and plums, ramblers and climbers. A Nut walk and a green oak pergola with vines and noisettes. Wide gravel paths with screens of tall perennials such as miscanthus, eupatoriums, verbena. A vegetable garden, an alpine scree garden, a grass and monocot bed, dahlias, pinks, daylilies and violas. A collection of primulas and an alpine house. A shady area of dogwoods, sorbus, forest pansy, malus, underplanted with spring bulbs, paeonies..... I could go on. Also, in this dream, ever seed will germinate, every cutting will strike, every bulb will sprout and pests and disease are unknown. Then, there is the dream in which the existing garden is finally licked into shape, all the projects you planned have come to fruition. Tediously, my dream would be to sort out the paths and edges properly instead of simply hacking a bit more space and commandeering it for this border or that plant family. To attend to edges with proper grass paths, instead of the stomped earth, woodchip and weed infested things they are now. To have at least one properly tended grass area - instead of the weedy, badly shaped bits of limbo between various cultivated areas. To sort out the whole structural thing so that my garden is not a collection of old bamboo and hazel poles, odd bits of timber and plumbing pipe, not fully dismantled bits of previous supports and to sort out the plantings so that everything is not the current mishmash of flowers, fruit and vegetables - this looks gorgeous (at times) but can be a nightmare to weed, tend, harvest. There is generally too much of everything. Finally, to be prepared with a range of pea sticks so that plants are staked BEFORE they become giants which then fall over in the first rain shower....See MoreEmbothrium
7 years agomidorit
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoEmbothrium
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agomidorit
7 years agomidorit
7 years agomidorit
7 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
7 years agomidorit
7 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
7 years agomidorit
7 years ago
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