In conifer post #5 I changed my direction from just discussing the individual conifers I grow, to showing them in the context of the landscape.
Today I begin with what I call the magnolia circle in the east gardens at Oak Lawn. In this first photo, the Thuja occidentalis 'Pyramidalis' trees which began life in this garden as rooted six inch cuttings, serve a very specific purpose. Magnolias in bloom are tremendously more effective when backed up by a dark evergreen backdrop. Yesterday I mentioned that many of these arborvitae have been damaged by the heavy snow load last week... it is too soon to speculate on whether they will return to their former glory. I should have maintained them as single trunk specimens by cutting back any would be leaders over the years and allowing only one main leader. What happens with multiple trunks is that the inner foliage dies out, making the each trunk unbalanced in terms of weight. When there is a heavy snow load, they lean or bend badly and are pretty much frozen into that shape until warmth returns (unfortunately, they may not return to vertical). This pruning is a lot of work when one has a couple hundred or so arborvitae in the gardens and often gets shoved to the proverbial back burner. These trees serve many purposes for me, including creating wind protection, dividing space, and the visual aspect mentioned previously. To remedy the problem, my first line of defense will be to tie the stems to each other come spring and where necessary... as noted last post, old nylons cut into strips work well for this. However, probably the better choice this year will be to cut back the trees by a quarter to a third... tie the individual trunks together (foliage will hide the ties) and the trees will throw new vertical growth above the cuts. By doing this, I will be committing myself to this endeavor every few years as this will create even more multiple stems in the upper levels of the tree.
There are about a dozen individual magnolias in the 'magnolia circle' . The earlier blooming ones are mostly spent in these photos... the second photo below which I have shared in the past is perhaps my favorite view of this section of the gardens... I'm reposting it because it demonstrates how the multiple layers of conifers work in this area...
This brings me to another technique that works well in designing a garden. Most people are familiar with the creation of layers in an individual garden. This is often done in perennial gardens or example, or at the edge of a woodland. If you have the room, this technique can be extended to multiple gardens. By layering various garden areas, one can create a vista where the different gardens actually work together to create a vista. In the meantime, the plants will perform better due to the increased availability of light because of the extra space.
I'll share some photos related to the east gardens from above, and the use of conifers in the design, that demonstrate my point...
In the first photo, the top of a gold juniper and a magnolia Alexandrina are actually part of the frame for the view beyond...
In the next photo the frame is more obvious... of course, it all depends on the viewer's vantage point...
As the viewer changes his vantage point, the scene opens up... in the previous shots the view was from the bottom of the ditch... in the next photo, the view is from the county road level which runs along side this portion of the property. Several conifers keep this area interesting all season. From the left there is a dwarf Picea abies 'mucronata' which I discussed in earlier posts. A bit more forward is a spruce which self-seeded... I'll allow this to develop as I like its placement. Next as well as farthest to the right is Microbiota decussata from the Cupressaceae (cypress) family. These are also known as Russian carpet cypress and they make an excellent groundcover which will expand eventually to six feet or more. With an appearance similar to a juniper, they will take more shade than the junipers. I have lost several when they became very large... my guess is that this area may be too dry for them. Expect a nice foliage color change during the cold months of the year. The gold foliaged semi- prostrate spreader is one of the junipers and this small hillside is the perfect spot for them. During the spring I often just sit at the bottom of this ditch and allow the layers to work their magic in what I see. Behind the microbiota is a small weeping Norway which develops very slowly here because of the dryness of this location thanks to several large Chinese elms that are 'water hogs'. (the unfoliated fastigiate trees are English Oaks which leaf out late each spring)
Here is another view angle on this roadside bed. One of my original goals here was to use a lot of the creeping phloxes including subulata, stolonifera, and divarica. These have languished a bit as the elms take up more moisture the larger they get. In the future I will probably continue to add more junipers that can tolerate the dry conditions... it was been difficult to maintain this area as skunks and raccoons like doing major digs in the spring and the fall looking for insects and grubs. The dwarf and intermediate iris do very well on this little embankment...
I will close this post with these final photos... note that the texture added by the few conifers here makes a big difference in the anchoring of this garden. The conifers take on an even bigger role on the reverse side of this split rail fence and I'll cover that in the next post. The layering concept is also a part of this view, incorporating the larger conifers seen in gardens behind. Perhaps one of the most important aspects of this area has to do with pruning the elms up as high as can be reached so the exposure of the long trunks give an impression of age and permanence. These elms actually aren't all that old... they are (in my opinion) a trash tree and very messy. They are self-seeded (there are two more not seen in this view) and I allowed them to remain because of their fast growth. The exposed trunks do their job well, but after every wind storm I'm often doubting the wisdom of allowing these to develop in the gardens.
I am a strong believer in the 'mixed border' style of gardening as should be obvious in the pictures shared today... until next time, Larry
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