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diggerdee

Need some shrub ideas and thoughts please (long)

Hi everyone,


A week or so ago I posted a thread (here) about having some trees taken down by the electric company and now having a big exposed area. I'm looking for some suggestions and/or feedback for some things to plant there.


The electric company has been telling me for almost 30 years they were going to clear that corner under the wires, but they never did, despite coming through the area several times. Last fall I finally gave up on them doing so, and cleared some of the smaller sassafras trees and other weed shrubs myself, and I bought some part shade shrubs (rhodies, deciduous holly, and a small viburnum) to go in there under the remaining trees. So of course this year they took out all the trees.


Now that the area is fully cleared, there's a LOT of sun - way more than I am used to anywhere on my property. So I'm not sure if what I currently have will work (especially the rhodies) and I also have more room to plant, so I need a couple more things.


Please feel free to suggest things, or comment on my ideas below. No grasses please - I'm just not really a fan. I am looking for shrubs between 6 and 10-12 feet high, and about 4-6 feet wide. A mix of evergreens and deciduous is fine. I think the soil here is relatively decent - decades of leaf litter etc. - although there are a lot of rocks. The soil a few feet away in my (previously) mostly-shade garden is quite nice, and somewhat moist, as the soil in the new area seems to be, but I'm not sure how moist it will stay from now on with all the sun, and the rockiness of the area closer to the street will make it even drier. Funny how a few feet makes a difference!


Here is the area.


I want to plant along the street and in front of that row of euonymus. I was thinking, if you look at the photo, that I would plant the narrowest thing closest to the camera, next to (behind, as you look at the photo) the dwarf lilac in the bottom right, and gradually put the wider shrubs as I go farther towards the euonymus border, but keeping the outside edge of the (mature sized) row straight with the street, if that makes sense (it is extremely important here to keep sightlines in mind, as I am in a blind curve). In other words, as the shrubs increase in width, I will move them further inward into the yard (further to the left in the photo) so the street side is a straight line. This will make the row kind of "curve" to the left on the yard side, towards where the mock orange is (near the white pot). Hope that makes sense....


My ideas:


Holly

· Ilex Berry Heavy - bought last year for here, but don't need to put it here if it won't work now.

· ilex Castle Spire

· ilex Blue Stallion (pollinator, I know but fits size requirements)

· ilex Straight and Narrow

· ilex Santa's Delight

· ilex Chesapeake


Arborvitae

· Emerald Petite

· Fluffy western arborvitae

· Forever Goldy


Taxus (yes I have some deer pressure but I love yew and am willing to consider it)

· Stonehenge

· Korean Gold


Chamaecyparis Soft Serve Gold

(I also have a chamy Vintage Gold (approx 5 feet tall now) in a neglected area; thinking about moving it here but don't know if it will fill out - looks like it could be Charlie Brown's tree this Christmas lol!)


Viburnum Brandywine (had a new small (2 foot) one planted here already - dug up to avoid destruction during clearing - perhaps too much sun now? Will drier soil with the added sun make a difference? Other viburnums in this height range?) Also, is the 5-6 foot height info on Brandywine accurate?


fothergilla major (too wide?)


Huron Gray dogwood (conflicting size info - 3 feet? 6 feet? 8 feet? Does it sucker?)


Brilliantisima Red chokeberry


Spring Glory serviceberry (apparently there's only one photo of it in existence lol. Also, some variation on height info. Says it's good for under power lines but I don't know....)


Purpleleaf Sandcherry (maybe too wide and or too tall? Varying size info)


Winecraft Black smokebush


Iceberg Alley sagebrush willow (too dry? Height variations too wide - 6 feet okay, 3 feet is not)


physocarpus Nugget (other physocarpus suggestions? Too dry here?)


I have a white rhodie for this spot too, but have only ever grown these in part sun/part shade conditions. Will this area now be too sunny?


For those of you still with me, lol, thank you for reading! If you have any experience with some of the plants I'm considering, or if you have other ideas, please feel free to share. I appreciate all input.


Thank you!

:)

Dee

Comments (18)

  • 4 months ago

    I would look more closely at some of less common viburnums. I'm trying to remember the names of a couple I had at my last place, but can't, though 'Allegheny' may have been one of them.

  • 4 months ago
    last modified: 4 months ago

    Given your location, are you sure you want to ring the dinner bell for the deer by planting yews, arborvitae and american hollies?

    I have eunoymous (not sure of the variety) that were on the property plus a couple I planted as a hedge 30 years ago. Some varieties are listed as invasive (so check the varieties you are planning to use) and they throw off a lot of unwanted seedlings each year. In recent years, the deer have been lightly browsing the lower 3-4’ which has impacted their screening impact.

    The viburnum suggestion is a good deer-resistant one and do well in full sun for me - double file will get large (8-10’ high/wide) with spectacular flowering, snowballs have a smaller rounder shape and the leatherleaf are evergreen but I am seeing some winter deer browsing on the leatherleaf.

    Japanese hollies and ink berries have deer resistance.

    Spireas are also resistant and have some great leaf colors. The bumble bees absolutely love the blooms.

    Andromeda are deer resistant but check the variety as some do better with more sun than others.

    Is the area large enough where you can fit in a smaller ornamental tree that will not interfere with the electrical pole & lines?

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    Vicki, I would recommend something that will form a pleasing backdrop to complement your hostas in the foreground. Therefore, I would choose something that will get larger and slightly taller than your largest hostas, that would look natural in a woodland setting, and that has a fine foliage to add contrast to the big leaves on your hostas. Ferns would be great. My #1 choice would be the Ghost Fern (Athyrium pictum 'Ghost'). It's much like a Japanese Painted Fern, but stands more upright and gets slightly taller (about 36"). So it will be tall enough to see. It doesn't flop over like the Japanese Painted Fern. It has very fine, lacy silvery fronds which look superb with hostas. Another option is to plant some shrubs to form a nice background. You will need to evaluate how much sun this area will get. Select some that will eventually get a little taller than your largest hostas. Some that would look great are: (1) If you want dark maroon/black lacy foliage, try Black Beauty Elderberry (Sambuscus nigra 'Gerda'). This lacy dark foliage is a perfect complement to bright green and blue hosta leaves. (2) Viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' is an excellent shrub that looks natural in a woodland setting. It's very floriferous, having many double white blossoms that are held on the top side of its branches. It gets 8-10' tall and wide. An excellent shrub. (3) One of my favorite shrubs is the Daphne 'Carol Mackie.' It has very fine, oval green and white leaves. But the best thing is its wonderful fragrance- just outstanding! These shrubs are a little slow-growing, but will eventually form a globular shape 4-6' high. They don't like to be transplanted, although I've successfully transplanted several I'm growing. They look good with hostas. (4) Another unusual woodland-type shrub/small tree is Aralia. It has a very large, lacy compound leaf. You can get one that's all green, or green and white leaves, or green and cream leaves. My favorite is green and cream. But they are all wonderful and look very natural in a woodland setting with ferns. (5) Rhodendrons would also form a pleasant background for your hostas in this setting. Hope this helps. Happy gardening! Don Sambuscus nigra 'Gerda' Viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' Daphne 'Carol Mackie' Aralia elata 'Variegata'
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  • 4 months ago

    I think you are asking for a design for your streetscape. It should harmonize with the larger context including your street entrance, so please provide more pictures of those views.

    The deer left your rhodies alone??

  • 4 months ago

    Would you consider removing the Burning Bushes while you're in change mode?

  • 4 months ago

    Yes, kitasei, lol, I've never seen deer damage on rhodies, either in my yard or family members yards, or yards of my customers (used to have a small garden maintenance business) or on any of the many rhodies up and down the street. Same with hollies - that's why I was kind of surprised when that was mentioned. Deer around here seem to go for hostas mostly lol. And daylily buds.


    Actually, I'm NOT concerned with the way this looks from the street lol. I AM concerned about sight-lines in terms of being able to see coming out of my driveway, being in a blind curve, but other than that, I'm more focused on how things look from inside the yard, and on getting back my privacy. Although it's suburban, I live in a rather rural area and many, many properties have (or had lol) trees in front, and lots of scrub trees, and unlandscaped, natural frontage along the road. Actually, now, where many trees have been removed, the weeds are just awful - huge, tall, messy looking - and this is what many homeowners now have along the street. So my shrub border will look fine from streetside.


    laceyvail, I did a quick search on viburnums and I'm afraid lol - so many of them! Like with other shrubs, there are just too many choices lol! But I am going to go through some of them that are appropriately sized. Good to know they can take full sun!


    Design fan, I admit I don't know a lot about shrubs, but I did think all the hollies I listed were not American hollies. And actually, I admit to not knowing that any hollies were attractive to deer - I have planted several hollies and the deer have never touched them. Are any on my list particularly susceptible to deer?


    I didn't really think about deer when listing the arborvitae - have never really grown them so I didn't even think about that. Good point. "Supposedly" the Forever Goldy and Fluffy are "more deer resistant" than others but of course this is from marketing material so must be taken with a grain of salt.


    I had two beautiful yews that were never touched by deer, but they were up against the house. While I have never had really bad deer damage, aside from literally one or two individual instances in the last 30 years, this area IS a deer path. They walk through this area, although 99% of any damage is from them walking on plants rather than eating them. But still good to keep in mind - planting yummy stuff may be too enticing for them!


    Those euonymus bushes are my neighbor's. If it were up to me I would rip them out. Hate em. And there are thousands of little seedlings I am always pulling. Actually one reason I am putting my own shrub border alongside the euonymus is that they are showing some signs of decline and I want to have my own privacy border there in case the euonymus are ever gone.


    There is a spirea hedge between my neighbor's yard and mine, but it is only about 3 feet high. Are there taller cultivars? I will look into it, although I am wondering if taller also means wider.


    Funny, I thought of andromeda but I thought this needed more shade. I have always seen them (as well as rhodies and even viburnums) planted in more shade than sun around here. Again though, I think of andromedas as large in width, at least the ones I have experience with. And taller IME often means wider lol.


    I CAN actually fit a smaller, narrow tree here - maybe 12 feet high? Perhaps even 15 - I need to go out and see how high the wires actually are. My concern is - with everything I plant - the varying size descriptions. All my gardening life I have contended with deciding which size description to believe lol. And sometimes they are wildly varying - is a shrub 5 feet or 12? A difference of one foot or so in a description is one thing, but when it's 3 or 4 feet or more, who do you believe? I don't want to end up having to cut something down in a few years because its so much bigger than it had been described.


    But I have the Spring Glory serviceberry on my list, which from the one photo I see everywhere is a small tree, and some of the purpleleaf sandcherry photos show it as a small tree. If you have other suggestions please do let me know. I will definitely consider them!


    Thank you all very much for reading and for your input! Hoping to hear some more ideas and more thoughts on my listed possibilities.


    :)

    Dee

  • 4 months ago
    last modified: 4 months ago

    Virburnums are a good choice -- lots to choose from. I have Mochican and Koreanspice, 5' my *ss on the Koreanspice, they're taller than me after just a few years. I have Doublefile down by the road and some other one but I can't remember which one(s) down there.

    Winterberry hollies are another good one, but if it's too dry they probably won't do well.

    Dogwoods of different types -- Arctic fire, red-twigged, yellow-twigged, and if you want to jazz things up with variegated foliage there's Ivory Halo. I also have gray dogwood and silky dogwood, of the two I prefer the silky because the stems are a rich reddish-brown in the cold months.

    I love fothergilla, wouldn't be without them. Very nice foliage all season and then bam! they light up flamin' orange in the fall, absolutely fabulous fall color. I also enjoy the blooms in the spring, they're unusual, are reminiscent of honey, and the pollinators make good use of them.

    Also consider rugosa roses -- there are some good tall ones. No furry creature is going to go anywhere near them, those thorns are a force to be reckoned with. They smell wonderful and have nice red hips. Blackspot doesn't bother them, as long as a you get a variety that has rugose leaves (there are some fancy cultivars who have a good portion of non-rugose parentage -- I'd skip those). They don't need a ton of water, but if it's bone-dry they're not going to like it. Full sun or part shade is fine, they're not fussy about that like regular roses.

    I have a couple of "Iceberg Alley" sagebrush willow and really like them -- the silvery coloration is intense and sets off other plants beautifully. I'm not sure about soil moisture level, since mine are planted in average to moist soil, but IME they do much better in full sun. The older of the two I have is 5-6 years old (I think) and isn't quite 5' tall.

    Dwarf Colorado blue spruce might be another one to consider -- those silvery-blue needs are just beautiful. Also, dwarf mugo pine.

    I'd stay away from the broad-leaf evergreens, inkberry, rhodies, and the lot -- if it's an exposed site the wind is going to do them in. I'd stick with the conifer family.

    Is road splash an issue? If so, you do need to take that into consideration and plant far enough away from the road that the splash won't reach the plants, or plant stuff that won't be bothered by it. Splash from a dirt road is different from that of a paved road -- with paved roads it's the salt that's the major consideration, but with the dirt road it's the mud and dust that can cover foliage -- not only unattractive, but it may affect the health of the plant.


    ETA: Oh, and serviceberries! They come in shrub form as well as tree form.

  • 4 months ago

    Spirea 'Ogon' will get considerably larger than 3 ft and is a very handsome plant with chartreuse foliage, extremely early bloom of tiny white flowers, and very late soft orange leaf color. You might also want to look at the Ninebarks. Both highly deer resistant.

  • 4 months ago

    Thanks mxk. Yeah I had the winterberry holly already (Berry Heavy) and dug it back up to avoid damage; now I'm wondering if it's too dry and/or sunny. I do see them by the side of the road around here often, but it is usually as an understory shrub, so they get some shade and the soil is probably moister.


    I had fothergilla on my list above - you think it wouldn't be too sunny or dry here then? I have some in other, shadier parts of my yard.


    I actually had red twig dogwoods out there previously (immediately next to this newly exposed area) and they did not do well at all. I figured it was too dry and too sunny/hot. But lol I put some in a part-shade bog garden and they didn't do so well there either. Maybe they're just not for me. Unfortunately.


    THANK YOU for the info on the Iceberg Alley sagebrush. This is exactly the kind of "real-life" experience I was hoping for on this thread! And the blue spruce suggestion is appreciated too - I didn't realize there were smaller varieties to choose from. And never even thought of roses for this spot.... hmmm..... Also, I will look into other serviceberries besides the Spring Glory I have above - maybe something else will work better than that.


    Road splash really isn't too much of an issue. These will be planted a good 8 feet at least from the road, and there is a small slope going down to the road so they will be raised up from the road a bit.


    laceyvail thank you for the spirea Ogon suggestion - I will look into it, as I do like spireas. I had ninebark on my list above - any thoughts on the Nugget cultivar? Although lol I can't remember why I chose this one in particular (there are so many nice ones! I have a Summer Wine Black and have been looking at some bright green ones as well for other areas). I think I chose the Nugget because it seemed to be taller than wider....?


    Thanks!

    :)

    Dee

  • 4 months ago

    So, I'm going to a garden center on Friday. Does anyone have any further thoughts on my list of potential choices? Any real-life experience with any of them?


    Thanks,

    :)

    Dee

  • 4 months ago

    If anyone is still looking at this post, I realized that the above photo may be confusing. The shrub border is going in along the side of the photo, along the street, not in front of the existing euonymus border. (I will be planting there, but not immediately).


    Here is another photo looking straight at part of the area to be planted:

    So the shrub border will be running left to right, along the street, at the back of the area in the photo. There's about 30 feet to fill. There is already an existing border of smaller stuff to the right of this area, planted just within the last year or two - diervilla, small hollies, small buddleia, callicarpa - nothing really over 5 feet tall at maturity.


    btw I went to a garden center yesterday whose website listed many of the choices on my list, and they didn't have a single one. :( Some of the things I am considering are hard to find, which doesn't make this any easier!


    Thanks for any continued input.

    :)

    Dee

  • 4 months ago
    last modified: 4 months ago

    Dee, I have the same problem, researching and finding plants online that sound great, then you can’t find them anywhere. That became so frustrating, I stopped going about it that way. When are you planning to plant this area? Before winter, or in the spring? Either way, why not a weekend hitting a few of favorite nurseries? Fall sales are coming. If you do it this way, you can see what is available. You can see it in person. You can ask for help. Go with a list of things you like to start with then see what they have. You can put shrubs together at the nursery and see what they look like together. You might see a mature version of it. You could make it painless and decide all in one weekend! LoL Yes, you will get more selection in the spring, but you might find something you can use at a discount to get you started. If not, at least you can see them all together.

    I love evergreen hollies, like the Blue Hollies. I have Blue Princess and Prince. The Prince gets very large, it’s up to my gutters on the front of my cape. I prune it often, which I don't mind, I do a lot of pruning. The Princess, however, is no bigger than 6ft high and I never prune that. There may be a pair of hollies that stay small. I also have a variegated holly….Ilex meserveae ‘Honey Maid’ I am enjoying that gets to be 6ft and hasn’t needed pruning yet.

    'Honey Maid' Holly

    Ilex crenata ’Sky Pencil’. Pruning it couldn’t be easier and infrequent. It makes a very vertical accent piece and takes both sun and even half shade. Moderate growth rate, never pay attention to it.

    YouTube videos for pruning just about any shrub.

    Arborvitaes grow well without attention and I never have to prune those. If you buy them small enough - it takes a long time for them to get large, at least mine did. I have ‘Emerald Green’ since 2009 and it’s only about 9ft tall now, growing in a dry area. On the other hand I have a Western Arborvitae that quickly became a tree - wide and tall - and is still growing. A great screen and never needs pruning, but takes a lot of space. I don’t know if they have any dwarf varieties that would fit your space.

    What about Rhododendrons? Evergreen and some are very handsome. Once they are established, if you give them the space they need, they are pretty carefree and don’t need pruning. Azaleas as well. And they come in all sizes.

    Smoke bushes? The Dark ones are interesting and I don’t think they need much care.

    If it’s sunny - I do love my Hibiscus ‘Berry Awesome’ It does not need pruning, it does not outgrow it’s space. I never fertilize it and it has average water needs and the blooms in July/Aug are really eye catching. I’ve had other perennial Hibiscus and there was some problem with each of them, but this one is a keeper. You cut it back to the ground each spring.

    Ninebarks? I have ’Seward’s Wine’ and it’s stayed the same size for the past few years. I can measure it for you tomorrow. I think it’s a medium size shrub. For me it’s been carefree. I have pruned it a little just to clean it up. I just walked past it this week and I did a double take, it looked so good. Denser and darker than usual and I remembered I fertilized it in the spring for the first time ever, with one of the Espoma organic fertilizers. I have wondered if I would have liked ‘Diablo’ better because I think it is darker without the red tones and the leaves look a little larger. But I see there are even more varieties now. And….it is a native. I saw this photo and think I should get it....Dart's Gold



    Pieris are nice. I love those, but they haven’t done well for me here. They stay a nice size. Viburnum carlesii has that spicy fragrance that I love. They stay a nice size.

    Weigelias - they have a lot of varieties but I don’t have one at the moment, maybe someone else can share their experience.That’s all I got. [g]

  • 4 months ago
    last modified: 4 months ago

    Taxus - I love mine but I don’t have deer.

    I have ‘Brilliantisima red chokeberry and I love the color of the foliage and berries in the Fall, but…it is a very airy shrub, not dense at all and it leans to the sun if there is too much shade. So it might do better in full sun. The birds do eat the berries.

    The Sandcherry you are looking at, I assume is for the foliage color and you might be better served by the dark Ninebarks.

    Viburnum carlesii - Spicy fragrance is my favorite fragrance in spring and it’s in your 6ft size range.

    Your question on the Ninebark in dry conditions. I’ve been surprised at how well it has done this year when we have not been able to water more than 2x in the past 2 months and other things in the yard look it but it doesn’t.

    I don’t know about which Rhododendrons might do well in full sun. Try this article...

    https://garvillo.com/rhododendron-full-sun/

    I just thought of something...the NEWFS in MA. They sell native plants. I haven't bought from them in awhile, but when I did, they offer good healthy stock in pretty good sizes for very reasonable prices. Maybe you have something like that in CT?

  • 4 months ago
    last modified: 4 months ago

    PM2, thank you so much. I always, always, always appreciate the time and effort and thought you put into your answers. It's very generous and thoughtful of you!

    Yes, the purpleleaf sand cherry was for foliage. Can I ask why you prefer the ninebark?

    Funny, when I was at a garden center the other day I impulse-bought a Ginger Wine that was on sale. I just planted a Summer Wine Black last year so I don't really need the Ginger Wine but couldn't resist it - a nice, 3-foot tall full shrub for about 40 bucks (40% of!). I have been wavering on whether to put it in this border. It's mature growth is stated as 5-8 x 5-8. LOL the way I think, I'm worried it will be too short but too wide! That it will end up being 5 feet tall and 8 feet wide! I'm sure that won't happen of course but these are the thoughts that go through my mind and make me a hesitant gardener!

    Wavering on the taxus too - mine were never ever touched by deer in almost 30 years, but those were by the house, and this area is farther away and near an established deer path....

    Thanks for your thoughts on the other shrubs too, especially the chokeberry. And I will definitely look at the rhodie article. There are other rhodies on my street that are planted along the road, but I have to look again and see if they are shaded, or perhaps on lower ground (moister soil, etc). There's one at the end of the street that is quite spectacular - almost but not quite as stunning as your neighbor's big one - but I do think that might be under an oak and gets a bit of shade.

    Will also check into a native plant society here in CT. You did remind me though that there is a reputable native plant nursery here. Sad that there are so few true nurseries left...

    :)

    Dee

    Edited to add - a big thanks on the Honey Maid. I had been looking at a variegated holly - Santa's Delight - but the Honey Maid is perhaps more readily available. As soon as I read it in your post I thought of course! Why didn't I think of that! I had never heard of Santa's Delight. Which doesn't really mean anything because what do I know about hollies, lol, but I just think if one has a more recognizable name it's probably because I've seen it around more than other cultivars!

  • 4 months ago
    last modified: 4 months ago

    Dee, you’re one of the few people I always feels is not put off by the length of my posts. You understand the tendency to see so many details…lol. Happy if something helps.

    The Sandcherry - no, I haven’t grown one, so I can’t compare. I just wouldn’t want you to miss out on a Ninebark if you only had space for 1 dark leaved shrub. Ginger Wine looks nice and it fits your size requirements. Great price too…and that is getting more and more important.

    That smoke bush you are looking at looks nice.

    I’m not sure what the concern is about height and width? Is it that you want to fit as many shrubs as you can? Or is the height about blocking sun into the area between this shrub border and your house, so you won’t be able to grow more full sun perennials or veggies? Also, if a shrub ends up a little wider than you want it, it is really easy - simple - to keep it in bounds with just minimal pruning, unless it suckers.

    Since this area is near a deer path and a distance from the house, I would think all your selections have to keep it in mind. Do you have any neighbors that you could ask, who do have plantings near the deer path, how much damage they get and which plants they are visiting?

    By the way, my neighbor’s Rhodie….it’s in the front foundation of their house and that faces west, but there is a very large mature Maple between the Rhodie and the west sun. So it has the house behind it all morning and then a shortened time slot of sun in the afternoon. So it really is doing amazing in what amounts to a lot of shade.

    Are you layering? Putting some shrubs in front of others in back of them? So would some plants have the shade created by shrubs behind them? Maybe some of the evergreen smaller arborvitae you are thinking of in the back closest to the street and the others in front of that closer to your house?

    Oh...one last thing....the Viburnum carlesii - to me it's not a show stopper at all. the shrub itself and the small size of the blooms are not a wow, but I would grow it just for the fragrance. I wouldn't give it center stage. I don't even remember if it has fall color.

  • 4 months ago

    PM2, yes you and are are similar in our postings lol - I too often feel like I am too wordy! But there's so much information to give lol, and so much detail to tell!


    The height and width of this border are a concern because of the overhead wires and the sightlines coming out of my driveway. I don't want to plant something that will just grow into the wires and once again need to be removed. And I am in a blind curve. I have INCHED out of my driveway only to see oncoming traffic speeding towards me 60 feet away - even garbage trucks and UPS trucks! The blocking of vision is added to by a telephone pole, my neighbor's wall, and my neighbor's euonymus shrub (which I am always hacking back so I can see a bit better), and so I need to keep these shrubs well back from the road for safety.


    I think I will put the rhodie I purchased for this area (before the trees were cut down) in another spot. The afternoon sun here is hot so I will give it a bit of shade and choose something else for the border.


    I'm torn about the deer. They do walk through this area but very rarely nibble on anything (odd but thankfully true!) Really. In almost 30 years they've eaten things twice - one year some hostas; another year, some daylily buds. Most of the damage they do to my beds is just by the act of walking - lots of deep embedded footprints, especially in the early spring soil, so some newly emerging plants have gotten squished. And later in the year I find things kind of leaning or knocked over. But that being said, I don't want to plant something here that might be offering them a tasty snack on a silver platter lol.


    I think I will take rouge's advice (I think it was rouge, on another thread) and wait till spring to plant. For one thing, I'm having trouble deciding exactly what to do here. For another, I'm still back in August somewhere and am daily surprised at the leaves coming down, the angle of the sun, the earliness of dusk - lol I keep thinking wow, it's early for all this. Then I realize it's mid-October and I have limited time to do stuff!


    :)

    Dee

  • 4 months ago

    Dee, I get it now, that you’re trying to keep the width away from the end of the driveway so you can see what’s coming along the road. And you have the overhead wires to consider with the height. You have more space than 6ft tall to still be under the wire though, right?

    Okay, I agree, that waiting until the spring may work out better for you. It really is pretty late to come up with a plan and a buying list. And you don’t want to rush yourself. Plus what is better over the winter, than to have a garden project to mull over?

    Still, you did say you’ve been visiting the nurseries to see what’s on sale. If there are more you could visit you might see something with a great price tag that you could work into your plan over the winter. Otherwise, you will have the best selection in the spring at the nurseries and that will make it much easier.

  • 21 days ago

    Lol, so I open the shrubs forum, see the title of this post, and get all excited because I thought Ooh! I might get some good info here! And then I see it's MY post haha!


    Babs it is SO good to hear from you! I hope you are doing well in your new location. Please let us all know how you are doing and all about your new gardening exploits. And thank you for responding, as I always appreciate your input.


    I had some tree work done (some light pruning on about 15 oaks, not the hatchet job, tear down project the electric company performed) and I was able to get a load of about 8 cubic yards of woodchips. They are out covered in snow in 9 degree weather lol, but I plan on putting down cardboard and spreading them out at my earliest opportunity. I may just wait till fall to plant, and even if I don't really plan on it, that might be how it works out anyway lol


    I was out driving a few months ago and drove by something I had completely forgotten about. In the town over was a nursery that was reputable, and actually some of you may have heard of it, since I believe they did mail order as well - Twombley's, They closed a few years back, and I had forgotten that another nursery moved in. I thought it was a wholesale place, but I saw an ad for them and it looks like they do retail as well. Unfortunately they don't have much of a website but perhaps in spring I will visit and see what they have. I don't mind paying a bit more for larger plants, and would actually rather have the larger ones here since I'm going for privacy. Normally I do mostly mail-order but since I want quicker results I will try doing some in-person shopping.


    Thank you again Babs - and everyone! - for your input. Much apppreciated!


    :)

    Dee