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

by year three the perennials and grasses should make quite a respectable showing. I can always fill in any glaring gaps with annuals or more containers.

The permanent residents of the bed will grow a lot more slowly, but as they mature, we can start removing these temporary boarders creating sufficient room for the final product.

The Pleasures of Patience
And meanwhile, this year, I can take pleasure in a few things, not the least of which is that the hated mustache is finally gone.

I finally found a way to indulge my love of specimen trees in an interesting way.

And the sheer joy of going out to see all that potential, all looking healthy and happy in their new home is, to my gardener's mind, gratification enough for the time being. Happy and healthy is a good sign that potential will in fact one day become reality.

So the final bonus is that I am learning patience. It only took 56 years!

The Quickie Version
Evergreen hedges can be interesting if you think beyond that usual straight line of uniform shrubbery. Just follow a few simple guidelines.

• Choose shrubs that will not grow so large that they overwhelm the house when they mature.
• Choose shrubs that offer a contract in color, shape and texture and combine them so that they contrast with each other. (Remember - tall goes to the back!)
• Select some that are cone shaped, some mounded and a few prostate "rug" types for an interesting mix.
• Stagger your colors - mix gold with blue and then green. Shrubs are big, so a single one constitutes a "drift" once they mature.
• You can also find evergreens with white variegations, and even some bi-color blue and green, green and gold, etc. Check around and open your eyes to the available varieties.
• Pay attention to spacing. You don't want them crowding the house or each other once they really get growing.
• Don't beggar yourself. Buy the size you can afford. You can fill in temporarily with annuals, perennials and containers, removing these as the shrubs grow.
• If it looks impossibly tiny, stop worrying about what the neighbors think and enjoy looking forward to the day when the garden in front matches the picture in your mind. Remember - it's YOUR front garden!

• Finally - don't forget to water well until your new shrubs are well established. That should speed things us by a decade or two. ;-)

Go To Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic