Tuesday, May 10, 2016

My New Winter Border



Hello, a few more rainy days this week, which gives me a chance to catch up on everyone's blog posts, as well as another of my own.

I finally got everything cleared out of the original section of my North Border, so that on Friday and Saturday I could plant the growing collection of potted evergreen trees and shrubs accumulating at the side of my house. I have just about finished planting all the major trees and shrubs, and I only have to mulch it and plant a few areas of evergreen perennials and pockets of bulbs.

The photo above shows what the border now looks like from my kitchen window. As readers may remember, the North Border used to be a rectangular strip planted with perennial and annual flowers:

The North Border last May.


I was dissatisfied with it, however, because it gave me nothing to look at in wintertime and it was hard to keep such a large border weeded in summertime. So last fall, I removed the grass from a curvy smaller section in front of the original border and this spring I have been moving many of the plants from the back section into the new section, which I might end up calling my Summer Border.


Here is the border now from a similar angle, with the new curvy section in front, and the newly planted original section filled with evergreen trees and shrubs. The three upside-down pots are standing in for the large stones that I am considering placing in the border.


I have used only relatively common trees and shrubs that I was able to purchase locally in reasonable sizes, as most conifers are fairly slow-growing and I am fairly impatient. I tried to find a variety of colors, textures and sizes, although I mostly tried to avoid very dark green conifers, as I was afraid they would not be visible against the backdrop of the large Western Red Cedars of our windbreak.

Also, I tried to avoid the look of a random collection by grouping the trees and shrubs in small groups by color, trying to repeat the motif of groups of three.

I'll show closeups of each part of the border, starting on the right end, listing the cultivars and showing how I tried to form groups and vignettes that I hope will look nice as the trees and shrubs mature.

This picture does not show the shrub on the very end that can be seen in the last photo, a 'Gold Mops' Sawara Falsecypress that was planted behind my house in my Yellow Garden (I think it will be happier -- and gold-er -- in this sunnier spot). At the far right is the twisty form of a large Bruns Weeping Serbian Spruce that I stumbled across at Costco a few weeks ago and improbably was able to just fit into my Toyota Corolla to get home. To the left of that is a group of three 'Skyrocket' Junipers in front of a 'Saybrook Gold' Juniper that I hope will make the 'Skyrocket' group more visible by contrast, and in front of them is a group of five 'Angelina' Sedums. There is an 'Emerald & Green' Euonymous behind and just to the right of the Dwarf Alberta Spruce in the center of the photo, and the Dwarf Alberta Spruce is part of a group of three green-colored plants including a Bird's Nest Spruce and Mugo Pine at front. Behind these is a '4Ever Gold' Arborvitae, at left is an 'Emerald Gaity' Euonymous, with a 'Moonglow' Juniper at far left.

Continuing on, the 'Moonglow' Juniper can been seen toward the right of this photo, next to the similar blue foliage of a large clump of Dianthus that I moved from the edge of the border. A Juniper procumbens 'Nana' in front looks similar in color to the Weeping Alaska Cedar at center. A group of three boxwoods that I already had is just in front of another 'Saybrook Gold' Juniper and an  'Emerald Green' Arborvitae.

The 'Emerald Green' Arborvitae forms a group of three with two other green plants, a Bird's Nest Spruce and a 'Manhattan' Euonymous that I may trim the lower leaves from as it gets bigger, to expose the branched lower trunk in a Japanese style. To the left is a 'Fat Albert' Spruce and a 'Blue Star' Juniper at bottom (I will probably plant some more blue-foliaged Dianthus near this group too, to make another group of three). There is still a space behind 'Fat Albert' in which I could plant one or two other shrubs.

Just to the left of the space near 'Fat Albert' is another group of three boxwoods, and another 'Emerald & Gold' Euonymous, '4Ever Gold' Arborvitae, as well as a 'Manger's Sunshine' Falsecypress, for a group of three gold-foliage plants. A Chionoides Rhododendron, 'Boule de Neige' Rhododendron and 'Red Head' Pieris are planted in front of  two holly shrubs, 'Castle Spire' and Castle Wall' in this west end of the border that receives afternoon shade. (There is a small patch of weeds that still needs to be removed in the front of this end of the border, after which I might plant a couple more shrubs or evergreen perennials.)


This is the same photo as at the beginning, to show the Winter Border in its entirety to conclude.


I think I've made a good start on designing and planting my Winter Border. I didn't actually plan it out before planting, I just bought a selection of contrasting shrubs and trees and then laid them out and moved things around until it looked right, before beginning to plant from right to left.

There's still a bit more to be done: mulching, and I'll still add a few more groups of perennials that remain evergreen here in Iowa (a pretty short list, to be truthful). I'll also put in a few pockets of early bulbs such as daffodils, crocus, winter aconite and maybe some early tulips. And I also want to add a group of three rocks, and perhaps a statue, if I find a suitable one.

It feels good to have finished the major part of this project that I've been thinking about for the past half a year, and I'm looking forward to putting the last finishing touches on it and then seeing how the trees and shrubs grow over the next five to ten years.

Hope your own projects are progressing well this spring. Thanks for reading! -Beth

20 comments:

  1. Beth, I bet it's just going to be beautiful in a few years! It's already very attractive, even in it's immature state. What fun to watch it grow over the years! _Janice

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    1. Hi Janice, Yes, I hope it will look better and better as it matures. Thanks for reading! -Beth

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  2. Wow.... you have been busy Beth! I may have missed it in your post, but have you considered some controllable ground covers in this border.... for example, I'm using Hakonechloa 'All Gold' in some of my conifer areas....in the process at the moment but we got a lot of beautiful rain so project is on hold.... I've been trying to organize some of the 4000 (guestimate) pictures I've taken in the past couple weeks so I can do a post. Our spring was the most beautiful in so many years and the weather was super for the two open gardens.... so appreciative of the opportunity to meet other gardeners.... trying to keep my mind on other things as I await results of a biopsy for what the dermatologist believes may be melanoma as I noted in a FB post... I'm at peace about it for the most part but hoping for the best.... take care, Larry

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    1. Larry, I'm so glad that you latest post disclosed that your biopsy was normal! I hope you have many years to enjoy your beautiful gardens. And I have considered groundcovers, but I guess I'm worried that weeds will grow in them and require more hand-weeding than mulch. I'll be interested to see how yours work. Thanks for reading! Take care, -Beth

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  3. Love your border - great job, Beth! It will be great for winter interest - as well as during the other 3 seasons.

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    1. Thanks, Beth -- I'm so glad you stopped by! -Beth

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  4. I love trees. You are fortunate to have space for such a beautiful variety and clever to plants those that you find locally. Prevents heartbreak when they are not successful. Ilook forward to their progress.

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    1. Thanks, Jane -- I'm glad you approve! So glad you visited. :-) -Beth

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  5. I can see you've been busy since I last visited working on the different areas on your land. The new border is looking good. I like the curved shape of the border and the grouping of the different evergreens. I'm sure you can picture in your mind how it will look in a few years time. Gardeners need that vision at the start of a new project. All the best with all your garden design work.

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    1. Thanks, Linda, I'm glad you think it looks OK. Yes, keeping in mind the big picture in 5-10 years is difficult but crucial. Thanks for stopping by! -Beth

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  6. Very smart to add shrubs! They offer so much structure and permanence that isn't replicated by perennials. Mixed borders of shrubs and perennials are wonderful and much more interesting than just flowers alone.

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    1. Thanks, Casa! I'm glad you approve -- thanks for reading! -Beth

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  7. Wow that is different, and lots of hard work....it will be a wonderful spot to loo at in winter and the critters will love it too.

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    1. Thanks, Donna -- I'm glad you like it. Thanks for reading! -Beth

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  8. Hi Beth, I like the idea of having a winter border and I'm sure it will look great in winter with snow on the plants. I also like the curves of the border. It looks beautiful and harmonic.

    If you look there every day - what about Helleborus, so you have blooms also in winter ?

    Greetings from Birgit

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    1. Hi Birgit, I'm so glad you like the curvy edge -- that's a nice word for it, "harmonic." I do have some Hellbores in my gardens, but they don't actually bloom in winter for us here, more like early spring, unlike in warmer areas. :-( But they're still nice when they do bloom! Thanks for the suggestion, and for stopping by. Take care, -Beth

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  9. Well done, it is going to look great. I have a winter garden too because I don' t want to have nothing to look at for months on end. What about a Witch Hazel, Hamamelis?

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    1. Hi Chloris, I thought about some early-blooming shrubs, but here they don't bloom or leaf out until March, and they just look denuded of leaves for most of the winter, so I decided against them, choosing instead plants that will hold their leaves all winter. Thanks for the suggestions -- I can use all the advice I can get! Best, -Beth

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  10. Beth, you blow me away by how industrious and hardworking you are in your garden! This border looks so good and I think you are really going to enjoy watching it grow and mature over the next few years. I loved all the different evergreens you were able to find locally. You certainly have a lot of choice there and even in the snow their structure is going to look really pretty. Well done!
    - Kate xx

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    1. Thanks, Kate -- I'm so glad you like the way it looks! Thanks for your kind words, and for stopping by. Best, -Beth

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