Bye Yew Hedge, Hi New Hedge: The Optimist's Garden

Our tallest shrub at the moment may reach 18" or so. The effect is distinctly underwhelming. And will remain so for many years to come.

Still, even if we had been unable to locate larger shrubs, we probably wouldn't have wanted to pay for them. Instead we developed a contingency plan for dealing with all that bare dirt.

Filling Space - Tricks and Tips
Since there is lots of space between what (now that I've actually listed them) looks like a huge list of trees, we started with some ornamental grasses - dwarf fountain grass, Miscanthus sinensis 'Morning Light' and a purple miscanthus. These will grow a lot faster than the evergreens and so should add some dignity to the planting at least by next season. Grasses are a lot easier to dig up and remove than are shrubs, so we consider these as temporary filler. And since most grow fairly upright they won't flop over and hide the baby shrubs - simply provide something more visible among them.

I raided the other gardens to find hostas that would tolerate morning sun (those with gold or chartreuse leaves are always good bets) and planted a border of these - also quite tiny now, but which will have filled out respectably next year. And then, to continue the somewhat "native" feeling of the temporary garden, echinaceas and rudbeckias filled out (or will, when they grow up) the remaining temporarily vacant space. Since these reseed plentifully and seem to fill out to respectable looking clumps fairly quickly, I have every hope that next summer we'll have a nice front garden, even if it is only a disguise for the garden that will eventually mature there.

Containers are also nice for filling gaps in the garden anywhere. At the moment I've parked one of our brugmansias dead center in the bed. It is flowering and those long fragrant trumpets can be a real traffic-stopper. I forlornly hope that this will distract from all that bare space surrounding it. Perhaps not. But perhaps some people know potential when they see it. I shall drag a few more containers out the next time my husband has the wagon hitched to the lawn tractor.

So, this year the new garden is no great shakes. It is pure potential - thus our nicknaming it the Optimist's Garden. Next year it will look better, and by

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