Goodbye Yews All - Front Yard Garden Opportunities
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- Juju57
- Kirk_Johnson
- Carol Wallace
- Carol Wallace
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» Juju57 - I have a similar situation!
Hey Carol! Well, we're here, finally, moved in to our new home. I can relate to what you said in this article: "And an entire new universe of planting possibilities has opened up before me."And:
"And so if any of you have any intriguing ideas about plantings for a steeply sloped front yard with a long porch I will be glad to listen. Inspire me – or confuse me. Better to suffer from over-choice than to leap too soon at the only meager ideas I have when suddenly confronted with this new opportunity."
I'm faced with pretty much the same situation. Once I get my PC up (the monitor blew a few weeks ago. The new one arrived today, and I'll try to get it going tomorrow), I'll put up some digital pix of our front yard. I'm using the laptop right now and the pics are on the PC.
My mother-in-law wants to give us a couple of boxwoods, but they aren't really my "style." And I don't think they'd do well in our mostly-sandy soil. Maybe bayberry?!
I have to do something, 'cause we got some pretty conservative neighbors here, too! It was so rainy since last fall that we only just got the exterior of our house painted this past weekend! Still need to do the front porch, then I can plant. But what????? The area gets a lot of sun, and there is no shade at all in the front. And the yard is pretty big. I'll get some pics up soon, and maybe y'all would have some great suggestions for me!
Sorry to be a stranger for so long, but it has been an interesting experience the past year or so! I look forward to getting back into the garden sites and books and getting inspired!
-- posted by Juju57
» Kirk_Johnson - Pruning Yews
I realize that you probably don't want to save your yews, but I have read that the English restore their formal yew hedges by pruning back one side to bare wood and then, once that side has recovered, they do the same with the other side. Apparently yews are one of the few conifers that will put forth new buds from bare wood.-- posted by Kirk_Johnson
» Carol Wallace - Re: Pruning Yews
In response to message posted by Kirk_Johnson:Please don't tell my husband, Kirk. ;-) Actually, I'm guessing that those yews are able to regenerate because they are getting some energy through the leaves remaining on the other half. These have very few leaves with green. About 8 flimsy branches shared among the 6 yews.
I actually offered him the option of pruning to save them by cutting out half and leaving half. Only since the back side is firmly against the front of the house, it would have meant half a bush on the left was tall and the right very short. A kind of sawtooth look - they would look odd, but certainly no worse than they did - and certainly better than they do now. But that took too much patience. We'll see. They can sit for the rest of the summer and if they don't do anything our consciences are clear, they get chainsawed off at the base, and I can start planning a fall planting spree.
-- posted by Carol Wallace
» Carol Wallace - Re: I have a similar situation!
In response to message posted by Juju57:Hey Julie! So you FINALLY got to move in and start gardening for real!!
Let me ask this - and think about it seriously. Do you really need shrubbery at all? The main reason foundation plantings with shrubs began at all was because the house itself was elevated from the ground and there was an area under the porch that was bare and ugly. Which is what we have. Actually, somewhere in the barn we have some beutiful lattice grates that fit into the openings, and which I plan to paint and put back. And I think they are attractive enough that they don't need to be hidden.
But if youu don't need shrubs for camouflage, why not go for perennials, or a mix of ornamental grasses and perennials instead. No hedge shearing and constant pruning to keep things tidy.
I suspect bayberry would work for you, though. We have one that is planted on top of our stone wall where it lives in mostly fill dirt over rubble - drainage that is perhaps even sharper than sandy soil. Magnolias also seem happy there and develop very interesting winter time silhouettes - or there are always evergreen magnolias for people in warmer climates than mine. And of course I'm a big fan of the dogwoods with colored twigs, which are attractive in summer but also make a colorful display in wintertime when those twigs turn bright.
-- posted by Carol Wallace
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