SCREENING PLANTS FOR SHADIER SPOTS

I've been considering the entrance to our house lately. It's not pretty. We have a longish driveway so landscaping the areas that we don't regularly look at ourselves has not been high on the priority list. We also live on a private road shared with our neighbors so curb appeal is not a high priority.

But not making the entrance to the property look pretty because few people see it is a little like not having a nice bedroom because only you see it. At some point pride of ownership comes into play.

We're currently considering removing a few trees that are within a couple feet of the power lines. These are very large spruces that are generally unhealthy and not that good looking because they've been sheared on one side by the power company. It's not pretty, but it's better than weeds. What would be even better is a low-maintenance, deer-resistant garden that would look nice from the road and provide some screening so we don't have to see the cars drive by.

The area on the right side of the picture is where we are considering removing the tree with the yellow tape and planting some screening to make the entrance look nicer and the block to the view to (and from) the house a bit.

But this area is part sun, at best. And therein lies the problem. Because almost anyone can suggest evergreen screening plants for full sun, but when you get to shadier spots, the options decrease. And if you add in another requirement, like deer resistance, then you're really limited. And when you get to a situation like very dry shade, perhaps under a large tree, you're probably better off thinking about a fence or containers.

This is the view as you enter our driveway. Not exactly the most welcoming. The shed belongs to our neighbors and right now it's the focal point of the entrance (along with the scrubby looking tree). Removing the tree would allow us to make a small garden area with screening plants and a few other deer-resistant perennials to make it look a little more welcoming.

The other problem with choosing evergreens is that they never really stop growing, it's just a matter of how fast they grow. Most tags on evergreens list the size as "X feet in 10 years." Which means you can probably expect it to be double that in 20 years. And if you're looking for screening, you're looking for rapid growth, but it might not take long before your screen is too tall and you have to start from scratch.

In some cases, optimal conditions for a shrub or tree might not be possible, but you might still be able to grow it, so long as you understand it won't fully live up to its potential.

Here are a few evergreen trees and shrubs that can work for that most challenging of spots:

BOXWOOD

When it comes to screening, boxwoods have so many attributes in the "pro" column. Their dense, finely-texture foliage is beautiful and will provide a total block of whatever is behind it. They are also distasteful to even to hungriest and dumbest deer, and they are happy in part shade to full sun.

Sadly, though, the "con" list is equally long. In areas where very hardy varieties are required, even the largest varieties—'Green Mountain' and 'Winter Gem' to name a couple—only get to about 5 or 6 feet tall, so for screening they only work for unpleasantness that's lower to the ground (unless you plant them on a berm). Gardeners in warmer zones in which the B. sempervirens varieties will thrive can grow others that are said to get to 10 feet tall in 25 years, which is great but that's a long wait! They are also challenging on the budget, particularly if you choose large specimens, which isn't a bad idea because they aren't the fastest growers. To get a mature, tall boxwood, you're probably looking at spending hundreds of dollars. And there's one more issue with boxwoods: boxwood blight. This fungal disease is spreading through the U.S. (after decimating hedges across England) and how far it will spread is unknown.

There are many varieties, with varying characteristics, but they can be found hardy from zone 4 to 8.

YEW

'Viridis' yew

Yews have a bad reputation for turning into giant green blobs that eat houses, but don't hold them all accountable for that bad behavior. There are many yews available that can provide screening without becoming shapeless behemoths and a bit of pruning certainly helps as well.

Taxus x media 'Hicksii' (zone 4-7) is a columnar form of yew that can reach about 20 feet tall in 20 years, which is a nice height for screening without blocking too much light. More typically you'll see them in the 9- to 12-foot range. Although can grow happily in low-light conditions, they won't tolerate wet soil, so good drainage is a must.

Taxus x media 'Viridis' is very columnar, getting about 10 feet tall but only two feet wide, which can work for some partial screening, or screening as part of a larger planting.

Yews are generally not tasty to deer (and in fact some parts are said to be toxic), but don't count on that being a certainty. I've seen plenty of yews in our area chewed to nubs during winter when there's less food available for our local, hungry herd of deer.

HEMLOCK

'Geneva' hemlock

Hemlocks will be much happier in cooler climates, so those in zone 7 or warmer may want to consider something else. They are happy without afternoon sun beating on them, so a partly shaded spot is perfect. Tsuga canadensis can get enormous, so unless you're looking for that, a better option is some of the smaller-growing cultivars, including 'Geneva', which gets 8 to 15 feet high and wide. It does have a center leader but can often end up a bit more blobbish, which might be just fine.

This is another one that is said to be deer resistant, but take that with a grain of salt.

ARBORVITAE

You won't find a lot of Arborvitaes that claim to grow in part shade, but they will. Now, that doesn't mean they'll grow as quickly (one of the main reasons people like them) as they might in sun, but they do grow.

The main problem with them, as far as I'm concerned, is that they are irresistible to deer. Although some varieties like 'Green Giant' claim to be deer resistant no one has informed the deer of that and within a few days I've seen them turn nicely shaped trees into lollipops. That might not be so bad. You could always plant some truly deer resistant low shrubs and perennials to cover the bare legs of an Arborvitae and just plan on having the tree's foliage start at about the 6- or 7-foot mark, and there's plenty of this going on in my neighborhood. I've also seen people ressurect trees that have been decimated by deer browsing by protecting them with fencing in winter and giving them a few years to recover.

If there's a knock against Arborvitae other than the deer, it may be that it grows too fast. They can quickly shoot up to 40 feet, and then you may be back where you started from.

FIR

Some fir trees will do well in part shade, including Abies concolor. I've never grown this tree but in reading about it, it sounds finicky to me. Here's some information about conditions it prefers from the Missouri Botanical Garden: "Best grown in rich, medium moisture, slightly acidic, sandy/gravelly, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade." Oh, is that all? I thought maybe it would like me to bring it a cup of coffee every morning precisely at 7 a.m. too.

Still, they are beautiful trees, hardy in zones 4 to 7, and slowly growing to quite a large size, so it might be a consideration. Said to be deer resistant in most cases as well.

SPRUCE

Picea glauca 'Conica'

Many spruces will not tolerate anything less than full sun, but white spruce, Picea glauca (zone 3 to 6, generally), is more tolerant of less than full sun. I rate spruces high on the list of good trees to grow in my zone 5 because my property is full of them (one sure way to know that something will grow where you live is to look around and see what's been there for a long time) and I know the deer don't touch them.

But some spruces have that problem that is particularly challenging for an impatient gardener like myself: They tend to grow slowly (some only 2 to 4 inches a year). That means that you have to buy a pretty big specimen to get the screening you desire, and of course that's expensive, more challenging for the tree to get established and, frankly, a bigger hole to dig. These are another tree that will grow better in cooler locations and won't be happy in hot summers.

There are many great cultivars available, too many to list here.

There just isn't a perfect plant for this kind of tricky spot. That's why I like the idea of a mixed hedge of sorts, incorporating evergreen screening, with tough shrubs and perennials. Working with a variety of plant types can help make up for the shortcomings of less-than-perfect options.

WHAT'S KILLING MY BOXWOOD? MYSTERY SOLVED

As you know, I've been working on the circle garden. I've not showed you much progress lately, but I hope to finish up the planting this weekend and I'll be able to show you some real progress.

I have, however been planting bits of it, including the first thing that went in: a centerpiece boxwood in each section.

Almost immediately, they started declining instead of thriving. The foliage turned brown, there was no noticeable new growth and they may have actually been getting smaller.

Boxwoods in various stages of ill health after I dug them up. They were just planted a few weeks ago.

So I went through all the usual checks in my head: Did I water enough? Was there something wrong with the soil? Was there a cold snap that affected them?

And nothing added up.

And then one morning the mystery was solved.

Want to take a guess as to what was going on?

I'll give you a hint. Here's the culprit.

Odin showing off his "handiwork." 

Yep. It appears that Odin, who is funny, usually cute (although he's badly in need of a bath and trim at the moment), good-natured and generally a very good dog, had been helping with the watering of my boxwood. And from what I can find online, it's not unusual for dogs to have this kind of attraction to boxwood.

Odin, like all our dogs, has been trained to stay out of the garden, but that only works when it looks like a garden. Since the boxwoods went in first, I think to Odin that looked like a bathroom surrounded by soil. Now that there are other plants growing there I've not noticed him even venturing close to the area.

So, as much as it pained me (boxwoods are not cheap), I went out and bought four new boxwoods and replaced them all. I'm putting so much work into this garden this year that I just won't be able to stand looking at half dead boxwoods there.

There's hope for the original boxwoods. I think they'll probably come back, but it will be quite a while. I've replanted them elsewhere in the yard for now.

HEELING IN PLANTS: A FALL TRADITION THAT BUYS SOME TIME

On Sunday I cut what I think will probably be the last bouquet of flowers from the garden this year. I thought it seemed late, so I looked back at last year and noticed that our first frost was on October 18. We haven't had one yet and the forecast for tomorrow is 70 degrees. I think the flowers are just pooped out from producing for so long.

The Cafe au Lait dahlias have all been shades of cream since the weather turned cooler. The foliage is Bergaarten sage, which I grew as a foliage plant in the patio bed this summer. 

We set the clocks back this coming weekend in what is becoming a completely ridiculous tradition of daylight savings time (or the end of daylight savings time ... I never know when we're on it and when we're not). I was very aware of the impending afternoon darkness (although some sun in the morning will sure make getting up easier) when I was working in the garden over the weekend. I feel like there is so much to be done but I'm feeling no enthusiasm for any of it. I don't find the garden chores that must be done in autumn to be at all joyful. 

One of my fall garden chores has become something of a tradition: heeling in pots for winter. In the beginning I had to do this because I had plants sitting around that hadn't yet found a home. These days I mostly deal with plants that I'm intentionally growing out in pots until they get big enough to plant out or perennials I've divided and potted up for our master gardener plant sale next spring. This year I am heeling in about 30 one-gallon or larger pots.

There's nothing fancy about heeling in plants in pots: dig a hole and stick them in. A little more soil should be added and then the whole thing will be topped off with a thick layer of mulched leaves.

The fenced-in raised vegetable garden is perfect for this. The beds have been cleaned out and I won't need them again until it's time to unearth the pots. And I won't have to worry about hungry deer browsing on any exposed stems thanks to the fence.

Walking onions, hostas, boxwood and willow are all spending the winter in pots. 

There's no science to this. For me it's a quick and dirty job: dig a trench, put pots in, push back soil and repeat. Next weekend I'll mulch leaves and cover the entire bed in a very thick layer of finely chopped leaves. These can be moved to the compost or just mixed into the beds in spring. 

The fenced-in raised veggie garden is the perfect spot to overwinter all of these plants in progress.

It's rare that I lose a plant using this process, which I most certainly would if I just left them unprotected in their pots. And it's become a bit of a spring ritual to unearth the pots. And that's a project I enjoy much more. 

A BEFORE AND AFTER 3 YEARS IN THE MAKING

I'm not one to draw projects out. When I get set on doing something I like to focus on it like a laser and pound it out until it's finished. I'd rather wait until I can do all of it exactly the way I want to than take it by bits and pieces or settle for something I don't really love because what I really, really want isn't in the budget at that time.

But for various reasons, that approach wouldn't have worked when it came to dealing with our garage. Never a very good looking building, we toyed with the idea of tearing it down completely for a time. But when it became clear that really wasn't in the budget, we set to improving it little by little over the past few years.

Last week we put what is hopefully the last major finishing touch on the garage that has helped take it from a pretty pathetic looking structure that you'd be hesitant to park your car in, to something that I think looks far more charming than it really is.

October 2013

 

It all started three years ago almost to the day when out of seemingly nowhere, I decided I was sick of looking at a wreck of a garage, especially after we did so much work to renovate the house.

April 2014

The following spring very little progress had been made, but I satisfied my urge to do well, anything, by painting the door Benjamin Moore Wythe Blue, a color I'd been dying to use somewhere.

Later that spring we had the garage reroofed (which I can find no photos of) and that helped the look of the whole thing tremendously. We also got the driveway paved, which wasn't really on my radar but was something that Mr. Much Patient had pushed for for a long time (and in retrospect it was a good call).

July 2014

A few months later we hired a painter to paint the garage. At first I wasn't sure I loved the color (Benjamin Moore Ozark Shadows with Simply White trim), but you great blog readers encouraged me to live with it a little and that's a good thing because now I quite like it. At this point I was feeling like it was looking much better but still a bit plain.

July 2014

Then we stuck a new light on it. A really small change but certainly another little improvement.

April 2015

It sat like that for several months until the following spring when we built a small pergola on it to match the pergola on our deck. Of course Mr. Much More Patient still doesn't understand what the point of it is (answer: to look pretty, obviously), but I love it.

July 2015

Later last summer I decided that the Wythe Blue was never really right and I repainted the door Benjamin Moore New York State of Mind. Ah ... that's much better.

July 2016

This spring I bought a new planter for near the garage and slid the boxwood between the doors.

And then last week we finally did what I've been waiting ages for: We replaced those ugly, dented garage doors. I'll write a full post about that process (we did not install them ourselves) soon. For now, I'm just basking in the beauty of a garage that somehow went from pretty horrible, to pretty darn good. Fixing it up over three years never would have been my choice, but it actually worked out OK, and by spreading the cost over several years it doesn't seem like nearly such a big hit.

It's funny, since it took so long to get to this point it doesn't feel like it really changed that much, but check out this before and after.

Yep, that looks just a little better. And having two garage doors that work isn't so bad either.

GREAT NEW PLANTS FOR 2016: SHRUBS EDITION

A couple weeks ago, I shared some new annuals for 2016, and today I'm sharing new shrubs that look interesting.

Some affiliate links have been used.

1. Petite Pillar Dwarf Boxwood: Plant producers are smart to be working on new boxwood introductions because I still think it's the single hottest shrub of the moment. This one grows in a naturally columnar shape, topping out at 2 to 3 feet. Buxus microphylla 'MonAlex': Zones 5-9, full to part sun, 2-3 feet tall x 2 feet wide.

2. At Last Rose: This apricot beauty is said to have the disease resistance and low-maintenance needs of popular landscape roses such as Oso Easy and Knockout roses, but unlike others, doesn't lack the rose scent. It has a lot of petals so it takes on an old rose look. I'll admit, I'm wary of scent descriptions, but if this one is all it is cracked up to be, it'll have a spot in my garden. Rosa x 'Horcogjil': Zones 5-9, full sun, 30-36 inches tall and wide.

3. Loropetalum Jazz Hands Dwarf Pink: I can't grow this little dark-foliage beauty, but I sure wish I could. What more could you want in a plant: gorgeous purple foliage, hot pink dainty flowers and all in a package that can fit in a container or at the front of the border. Loropetalum chinese 'Kurenai': Zones 7b-9b, full to part sun, 1-3 feet tall x 3 feet wide.

4. Lil' Ditty Witherod Viburnum: So many shrubs are being downsized these days, which makes sense as the popularity of small-space gardening grows. This diminutive viburnum is another front-of-the-border charmer with fluffy white flowers that can grow a healthy crop of fruit so long as a pollinating plant is nearby (Viburnum nudum 'Brandywine' is one). It's super hardy and, like most viburnums, a cinch to grow. Viburnum cassinoides 'SMVCDD': Zones 3-8, part sun, 1-2 feet tall and wide

5. Moonlight Parfait Winter Daphne: Foliage shrubs are way too often overlooked, but they are so important in a garden. The amazing variegated foliage on this daphne will brighten up any partially shaded corner. It does get sweet-smelling pink flowers, but honestly they are an afterthought when the foliage is this pretty. Daphne odora 'Monstrik': Zones 7-9, full shade to partial sun, 3-4 feet tall and wide.

6. Gatsby Pink Oakleaf Hydrangea: You are probably impressed that I managed to get through this list with just one hydrangea on it. Gatsby Pink was my pick to win Shrub Madness and I was really wrong. It was out in the second round, but I still think it's a phenomenal plant. First of all, oak-leaf hydrangeas are lovely. They have interesting foliage that usually gets a nice color change in fall. The long flowers look like a combination of a paniculata hydrangea and a lacecap, and start white but quickly turn pink. Hydrangea quercifolia 'JoAnn': Zones 5-9, part sun, 6-8 feet tall and wide.


What new shrubs are you hoping to add to your garden this year?

HOW TO PRUNE A MEATBALL BOXWOOD

My affinity for meatball boxwoods is no secret. In my very informal garden, they are one of the few nods I give to formality and I like the structure they provide.

I usually prune boxwoods toward the end of June, but this year was a little behind weather-wise and then I left for awhile so I didn't get to them until this weekend. That's probably a tad on the late side, but I think they'll be OK. You want to prune them after the big flush of new growth, but not so late that the growth that is spurred by pruning doesn't have adequate time to harden off before winter.

I'm no master pruner, but my meatball technique gets better with practice. When I first started pruning boxwood, I would use a hand pruners and cut back to a leaf node, which is how you are supposed to do every other kind of pruning. That never led to a very nice look, though, so I switched to hedge shears, which look like giant scissors. Those are fine, but they lack a certainly ability to make detailed cuts. A couple years ago I switched to sheep shears. These are a hand killer, but give you so much more control over your cuts.

I now have four meatball boxwoods in the garden, the largest of which is probably 10 years old now. Here's what it looked like before pruning.

When you prune shrubs, you're never supposed to go in at the bottom, shading the bottom branches, but I do it anyway. Boxwood are resilient and I so prefer a globe shape over a straight-sided dome. I do it entirely by eyeballing it; I'm not sure if there are other, more technical, ways to prune meatballs. I start but trimming a few inches in each hemisphere, all the way around the shrub, sort of dividing it into eighths. Then I add in another "band" of pruning horizontally along the top quarter. After that, I just fill in the gaps. I also use a hand pruner to cut out any dead wood (like in that bottom righthand corner).

There's a lot of standing back and looking at it from afar and from different angles and going back and snipping a little more. I don't take off a lot of material because I'm happy with the size of this shrub. I would guess I end up taking off about half of the new growth, and a little more in some areas (for instance, you can see the lighter green area in the front that for some reason grew more than other areas).

And here's the finished meatball. It's not super tight, like some boxwoods at formal gardens, but it's too my liking. AfterI took this picture, I actually went back and took off a little more on that upper left hand corner because it felt like it was standing a little proud to me.

And here's a little before and after gif to easily show the difference.

What do you think about meatball plants? I know some people abhor them. I just can't help myself ... little round balls of plants make me happy.

GET OUT OF YOUR GARDEN (AND INTO SOMEONE ELSE'S)

Garden tours are such a great way to give your own garden a dose of inspiration. A lot of times I poo-poo going on them because I'm busy, or it's hot, or it's buggy, or it's rainy or I've seen the gardens on the tour before, but a couple Saturdays ago I was reminded of how important it is to get out of your own gardens to be in others.

My mom and I wandered around our city's garden tour for a couple hours in the morning. Although there were five gardens on the tour, there was only one that really blew me away. It's not that the other gardens weren't nice because they were and I give huge credit to anyone who is willing to open up their garden to the public for viewing because I can only imagine how scary and how much work that is. It's just that we started at the garden we knew would be great (we've been there before and the homeowners are probably among the most active and best gardeners in the area) and well, nothing else really compared after that.

This couple gardens on a large city lot that is home to one of the city's oldest and most well-known houses. I was last there seven years ago and it's amazing how they've expanded the garden since then. Every part of it was stunning.

It sits along one of the busiest streets in the city, but they do a great job of making the entrance inviting while screening some of the noise and views of the street.

When you walk in, much of the front yard is shaded by mature trees. The gardeners here do a lovely job of underplanting, but interestingly they leave more space between plants than I often do. It's different than what I usually go for, but I quite like it.

To the right of the entrance is a lovely garden full of lavender, which is notoriously difficult to grow here. Fortunately the gardener here also writes the weekly gardening column in the local newspaper and this spring she wrote that she plants her lavender entirely in bark mulch (no soil). I'm doing the same thing with the 'Phenomenal' lavender plants I ordered this year. I hope I have as much success with mine as she does with hers.

There are several small ponds on the property. I think I counted at least four of them. I'm not big on water features, but these were all lovely additions to the garden.

I loved the ferns that lined the large pond. The homeowners said they had no idea what kind they were and suspected that some spores came in on the back of a passing duck. I think I love the story even more than the ferns. They said I was welcome to have some as they were pulling them out by the handful, but anytime a gardeners is that willing to give a plant away, I tend to get a little wary.

I took this next photo just to show what attention to detail was paid around the garden. The clematis flower floating in the bird bath was a charming touch for the tour.

These gardeners are not afraid of containers. They sprinkle plants in containers throughout the garden including several large trees including this lovely Japanese maple.

On the large sunny patio, they grow dozens of fruits and vegetables. Everything in containers is moved into the garage during winter and I have to think they have machinery to move the giant pots.

Some fruits, like this giant espalier tree (unfortunately I don't know what kind it is), are grown in the grown. If you look closely you can see baggies on the tree. Here's why.

As you walk around to the west side of the house, which is very shady thanks to several mature spruces on the lot line, it's impossible not to be impressed by the enormous climbing hydrangea that covers the entire side of the house. This is one plant. The homeowners were quick to warn guests that it is trying hard to rip the brick off the house, so be wary when planting one of these against your house.

Then you turn to see a gorgeous Cornus 'Golden Shadows'. I've been trying to grow one of these for four years and mine is still three feet tall so I have no idea how theirs is so tall and lovely, but seeing this one is enough to make me persist in attempting  to grow one.

Since we stopped back at my mom's house, I thought I'd snag a few pictures since, in my opinion, her garden deserves to be on a tour.

You can see that my mom subscribes to the "jam it full" philosophy of gardening. I think this area is just stunning, with all its shades of green punctuated by the neons raised baskets of impatients.

She has a climbing hydrangea that is not quite as impressive as the one on the tour house, but pretty stunning nonetheless.

This bed is just two years old and already looks so lovely.

At the front entrance of their mid-century modern house, things are a bit more formal. I like the look.

There is so much to be gained by getting into another garden. You never know where inspiration will come from. Plus, sometimes you just have to put down the trowel and enjoy the beauty of the garden.