Wanted to document this shot as the “before” and would also love to start getting some input from you all.
This is my front bed along the garage wall. This bed faces North so gets morning sun only.
On each end of the photo are Arborvitae ‘Emerald Green’. I know these are everywhere but I like the pyramidal shape, the texture and the height it will give me pretty quickly. The deer never venture here either so I’m safe. I’m OK with these for now … I think.
Under each window are Ilex Glabra ‘Shamrock’. The conditions are ideal – part sun, consistently moist acidic soil. I like that it’s evergreen and the shape is supposed to be appealing BUT I don’t like the legginess as the lower leaves have fallen off a bit. I can’t just get rid of these but they are on a short leash.
Between the windows is an Ilex Crenata ‘Chesapeake’. Again, I think the conditions are ideal but I’ll need to give this some time to mature. I like the ultimate shape so I will actually stay patient with this one.
There is an Endless Summer Hydrangea there which was transplanted last Spring. We’ll see what color flowers I end up with in this location. Previously it was up against my foundation on the other side of my walkway and the color was a light lavender. May push it to be more pink eventually but we’ll let it play out for now.
You can’t see them but there are also 3 Chasmanthium Latifolium (Northern Sea Oats) in front of the Ilex Glabra on the left. I just planted these last Summer (I know not the right time but I still do it year after year – yell at me so I stop) so anxious to watch them grow from Spring through Fall. They can handle some shade, have an interesting texture and Fall interest so I’m pumped. They apparently re-seed easily but I’ll believe it when I see it in my wet clay.
Finally, along the front of the bed are a bunch of Nepeta ‘Walker’s Low’ (Catmint) which I love as an edger. The foliage is outstanding, blooms for a long time and takes well to a drastic pruning for a second bloom later in the season. Only complaint is that they get a lot bigger than is typically stated on the tags. Actually had to remove every other one of these as they grew the first season.
That is all for now. Feel free to criticize or provide your thoughts. Hopefully the “after” will be impressive. And I promise I will change my plans a number of times before the “after” is documented.
I think it very good. I like the different heights.
It looks and sounds good to me. I love catmints. Some years they get larger than others it seems. I have the sea oats seed themselves here, and my soil is pretty clayey. The are fairly easy to pull out when small, though.
Thanks for visiting my blog. I forgot to mention that Larry went in before KJ and me, and took Heidi with him because he said it was too messy out there.
A fine collection of plants, but it looks too symmetrical height-wise. Try groupings of 3-5 of plants, and think of adding one or two rather high plants. Maybe some tree ferns? That might be nice with the hydrangea.