complementary plants
snobunyz24
4 years ago
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Marco
4 years agosnobunyz24
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Boxwood and Raised Bed Questions
Comments (7)You should probably post this in the New England forum unless a boxwood guru shows up. Common box has hardiness issues. The usual recommendations are to buy Korean box, or at least Korean hybrids. They tend to be smaller plants than what you have pictured, though Green Mountain will eventually get that tall. Even the hardiest types of boxwood can winterburn badly if not sited properly. They require shade during the winter because their root systems don't tend to be deep enough to reach below the frost line. I'm afraid putting them in a raised bed is going to make that problem worse. They may work in a sheltered, zone 7 microclimate. That will need local input....See MoreHelp with planning?
Comments (10)Thanks for your input everyone! I have absolutely decided not to put Golden Celebration in that bed. In fact, I'm wondering if I will have space for it at all. As to Blackspot, yes GC seems to attract it naturally. Mine is starting to clean itself up however, and is looking better. Where I am from, we seem to benefit from a climate that is halfway between the Great Plains and the humid south. During the summer, the blistering sun offsets a lot of the humidity. While we see a lot of blackspot between our winters and summers, when the humidity is in full swing, once the sun comes out to stay the black spot dies down a lot. I will see how it performs. I may give it away to a local, public garden if it becomes problematic. I have hope, however, as my Hybrid Teas and Floribundas are squeaky clean right now as well as all of my other Austins. And that is without spraying. As for space, the picture is a little misleading. The bed itself is rather large. It is easily fifteen feet on each side, and sixteen feet along the back side. The roses are also offset, so Jude sits forward of Heritage and Eglantyne so they are not competing as much for linear space. I agree, however, that this may have been poor planning. The first 3 years may not be an issue, but past that Jude may decide to shoulder out the other two. I am hoping that they will, in fact, grow into each other in some aspect so that bed has a "jungley" look. However, If Jude stats eating the other plants, I may have to move them. Heritage and Eglantyne I chose because they have very upright growth. I am even pondering staking them in order to make them grow vertically.......See MoreBoxwood Hedge - Raised Bed - Questions
Comments (10)Thanks (everyone) for the feedback- very helpful. Some additional details below: So, Math was never my favorite subject. I went out back and measured the distance of the fence from corner to gate (which is where the privacy is really needed). We're at 28 feet total. To get to the young maple (which is a natural transition point) it's 20 feet. So, we're looking at the hedge being somewhere between 20-28 feet depending on how we want to taper/transition. The Boxwoods are about 1.5' wide. I'm thinking we will space them about 10" apart...that should give us coverage along the fence with a little wiggle room. It will add a bunch of immediate privacy and some room for the hedge to establish and then connect...and it sounds like a season or two should do the trick. Once we transplant the current grasses/plants and remove some pavers, we should have a width of about 6 feet to work with, reduced to about 4.5 feet at the Hydrangeas. Hoping this is enough space for the hedge and to texture some plants in front. Specific to the responses above: Steve- good thoughts on spacing and thanks for the Geranium and Hosta suggestions. We have a lot of Hosta in our front and sprinkled through the back. We will definitely use that to complement the boxwood hedge. The raised bed idea was two-fold: improve drainage for the hedge and make sure they don't compete/hurt the Hydrangeas. I was thinking a base of peastone/gravel before backfilling the bed would solve both problems (but making sure the depth of the backfill matched the current depth of the boxwood pots). We'll religiously trim the boxwoods as the current height works for us (another foot would be OK too). Beyond that, I'd need a ladder to trim and would like to avoid it...realize this may be a pipe dream after a few years, even with regular trimming? Digger- the Boxwoods are Common/European (Buxus Sempervirens). Based on the feedback here, I will space them a bit and get closer to your 18" on center suggestion. We brought the Boxwoods home last Sunday. Haven't watered them yet since we've had ample rain. It doesn't sound like watering the pots will be neccessary unless we hit a dry spell...and that seems unlikely with the New England spring forecast. I'll keep checking the root balls...I was going to build the raised bed using pressure treated 4x4 for the posts (sunk in ground). 2x4 treated cedar for the side boards. I was planning on building the box without digging down and sinking any of the cedar. We're on a light slope so I'd build the top of the box first, elevate it and level using wood blocks, then skill saw tapered pieces to ground level to run with the grade. Remove the blocks once secured. Add some aluminum spanners throughout to prevent bowing and backfill the bad boy. Final depth would be slightly above the depth of the pots in order to put drainage stone on the bottom and backfill with dirt. We run soaker hoses throughout the garden to handle watering...as far as the boxwoods themselves, we looked at nurseries, but couldn't find anything in the 6' range for under $400/piece. We found the current ones at Home Depot for $99. Still cost us a fair amount, but seemed reasonable for an instant 6-7" privacy hedge. The boxwoods themselves came from a nursery in CT. I suspect you could contact your local HD and make a request for however many you want...that's what we did (Waltham store). Thanks for the VT boxwood link too! Oracle- I didn't even consider the sunlight factor or wider bottom versus top. More reason to space them further apart. As I mentioned above, we're more like 20-28 feet in needed privacy, so the 10 boxwoods should balance better. We can certainly return some if all 10 aren't needed. Thoughts on a distance from the fence? We have 6 feet to work with for most of the hedge row, but we'd like to add some plants/shrubs in front to layer the garden. The Hydrangeas are 4.5 feet from the fence to center and we don't want to touch those...so we're tighter on space for about 8 feet of the boxwoods that will sit behind the hydrangeas. Do you think the boxwoods will hurt the well established hydrangeas given our space constraints? The berm idea is also interesting. I like the idea of less work, particularly if it provides a healthier environment. No standing water in the garden area. We're not bothered by the Boxwood smell, aside from the 'cat pee' driving our dogs wild. They'll be thrilled. Can't wait to chase them out of the gardens on a regular basis this summer... Based on the feedback so far, maybe the raised bed is overkill. Yes, it would look nice but it will take some time/money to build and there is a benefit to getting these in the ground sooner. How about Oracle's berm idea? It would add some texture to the garden and presumably help with drainage too. More than anything, I want to make sure we don't hurt the Hydrangeas. It would be a real bummer if the boxwood row doesn't take well, but I'd much prefer that over having the boxwoods thrive at the expense of the hydrangeas. Attached is a picture that gives a sense as to the current spacing between the fence and hydrangeas...you can see the fence line at the bottom left corner. Thanks again for all the suggestions. Would welcome any additional thoughts....See MoreDesigning a small orchard with complementary plants
Comments (37)"i add just one caveat regarding home orchards .... growing pretty fruit ... requires a spray regimen.." No, Ken. It doesn't. ==>>> really sah ... hmmm.. in my experience ... if its not bugs.. its diseases ... i got plenty of pie, juice or apple sauce fruit .;.. but nothing that looked like store brought fruit ... you must lead a charmed fruit life ... come on jason.. you have to try ... just do it ... the only failed attempt.. is the attempt not made .. you never learn without trying .. btw.. i dont consider crabs as fruit .. they never need anything to have a pretty bumper crop ... but what do you do with them.. other than feed the birds in winter .. im sure someone adds 50 pounds of sugar.. and makes jelly ... sure.. why not ... ken...See Moresnobunyz24
4 years agoMarco
4 years agoMarco
4 years agosnobunyz24
4 years agoMaryMcP Zone 8b - Phx AZ
4 years agosnobunyz24
4 years ago
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