less dense...more deliberate...
this is a garden that just needs some tweaking...
the plantings are wonderful and well suited to the site; however, they've become so full and so dense that things looks crowded and accidental
our goal is to thin out the existing liriope, otto luyken cherry laurels, knock out roses and daylilies
with a little more breathing room, the overall feel will remain full and lush, but not crowded or overgrown...
first, the liriope around the dogwood...
the plantings are wonderful and well suited to the site; however, they've become so full and so dense that things looks crowded and accidental
our goal is to thin out the existing liriope, otto luyken cherry laurels, knock out roses and daylilies
with a little more breathing room, the overall feel will remain full and lush, but not crowded or overgrown...
first, the liriope around the dogwood...
each clump of liriope was split into four new plants and replanted...it'll fill in nicely over time
its more subtle in these photos than in real life, but the above pictures show the laurels and roses "before" and "after" their selective pruning...
the laurels in particular needed the selective (hand) pruning b/c the prior pruning had been done with electric shears (insert an "UGH!")...
now they look more natural and less like a hedge...air will circulate better now too
there is still much to do, like dig, split and replant the liriope above!
the laurels in particular needed the selective (hand) pruning b/c the prior pruning had been done with electric shears (insert an "UGH!")...
now they look more natural and less like a hedge...air will circulate better now too
there is still much to do, like dig, split and replant the liriope above!
day two...
today was more of the same...dividing existing liriope and re-planting it...
more hand-pruning of the cherry laurels
also began the thinning out of the blooming lilies...why keep them all together when you can spread the wealth?!
more hand-pruning of the cherry laurels
also began the thinning out of the blooming lilies...why keep them all together when you can spread the wealth?!
above, giant clumps were removed, split into 4 and re-planted...also planted the newly divided liriope around the side of the garden and added two blooming lilies from the other side of the yard...
camera angle is messed up but i added liriope to this "hole"
removed huge clumps of liriope, divided and replanted...notice the pretty yellow lily :)
attack of the lilies! you nearly miss the architectural beauty of the japanese maple because of the mass of lilies...you can see above that we are going to "organize" it a bit...remove the front tier of lilies, replace them with existing liriope to develop a sense of continuity but also to keep things in scale...more of that tomorrow!
day three...
same space...before and after existing plants were split and added...now the "pop" of the lilies surrounds the space instead of overwhelming one area
the maple was lost in a sea of day lilies...the day lilies were thinned out, existing liriope was added and some light pruning was done to accentuate the structure of the japanese maple...now it is a feature!
heading out front...
it's still day three but it's time to move to the front gardens...move over deer!
out front we'll be relocating several existing plantings and added a bunch of new ones...
i feel like the front porch is lost behind an overgrown nandina and some grasses...furthermore, i think the mahonia along the walkway (a prickly thing) is unwelcoming...we'll find a better spot for it...
we need to be uber-conscious of the deer...i saw three next door just today...the back gardens are fenced off, but the front gardens will be a deer feeding ground if we are not careful -- i like deer, don't get me wrong...
here are some "before" pics...
out front we'll be relocating several existing plantings and added a bunch of new ones...
i feel like the front porch is lost behind an overgrown nandina and some grasses...furthermore, i think the mahonia along the walkway (a prickly thing) is unwelcoming...we'll find a better spot for it...
we need to be uber-conscious of the deer...i saw three next door just today...the back gardens are fenced off, but the front gardens will be a deer feeding ground if we are not careful -- i like deer, don't get me wrong...
here are some "before" pics...
just to get the juices flowing, i spent some time pruning and digging...tomorrow i hope to arrive on the scene with some new plantings...their presence will help me finalize the placement of what i dug up today...but here are some pics to show the basic outline of my thoughts...
day four...
before you see the pics from day four, let's review what this space USED to look like...
BEFORE:
BEFORE:
not terribly inspired...
UNTIL...
(can you hear the drum roll?)...
UNTIL...
(can you hear the drum roll?)...
how satisfying! we re-used the ferns that had been there before, but now they are staggered into the space with many other deer-resistant perennials
we also transplanted some nandina from the other side of the front garden (we'll be in that space next week)...the nandina are a nice addition to the existing otto luyken cherry laurel and the existing larger varieties of nandina that flank the space
we'll have to monitor the health of at least one of the laurels...a white fungus is trying to undermine us! too much moisture and not enough air circulation...a visit from the plumber (for the leaky spigot) and a visit with my hand pruners will mitigate that!
an additional otto luyken was planted to help round out garden as it approaches the driveway...i planted it slightly in front of the others to soften that straight line and incorporate the existing boxwood better...
having tripped over the shallow steps, i decided to have the garden provide a visual cue that you need to step up/down...to do that, i affected the grade just a bit and added some stones that i found around the yard...the garden is now slightly "terraced" at each step...we can always add more rocks to our terrace...i saw some more i might grab :)
we also transplanted some nandina from the other side of the front garden (we'll be in that space next week)...the nandina are a nice addition to the existing otto luyken cherry laurel and the existing larger varieties of nandina that flank the space
we'll have to monitor the health of at least one of the laurels...a white fungus is trying to undermine us! too much moisture and not enough air circulation...a visit from the plumber (for the leaky spigot) and a visit with my hand pruners will mitigate that!
an additional otto luyken was planted to help round out garden as it approaches the driveway...i planted it slightly in front of the others to soften that straight line and incorporate the existing boxwood better...
having tripped over the shallow steps, i decided to have the garden provide a visual cue that you need to step up/down...to do that, i affected the grade just a bit and added some stones that i found around the yard...the garden is now slightly "terraced" at each step...we can always add more rocks to our terrace...i saw some more i might grab :)