I am obsessed with finishing this series... partially because that's just the nature of this beast (that meaning me), and partially because writing about something is a really good way to consider the subject and how it may be improved upon... I've been doing a lot of research on the conifers I've added in the past year or so... and low and behold... I really need to rethink where some of them are planted. It's seems to be much tougher to make plans that will have some longevity when one doesn't have a blank canvas to work on. One thing that I've been learning for sure is that no matter how well you plan a mostly conifer garden, chances are that somewhere down the road you'll end up having to move some or thin some out. It's probably wise to plan in such a way that the ones you thin out aren't the ones you'd really like to keep. That takes more thought than I first realized when I came up with this scheme. On the other hand, on a visit to a former president of the midwest chapter of the American Conifer Society a couple summers ago, I was amazed at what could be fit into an average sized lot. So... I guess you could say that so far I've done a few things right... through no fault of my own, if you get my drift!
In post #6, I discussed borrowing views from other gardens as a part of my design. Today I will start with the back side of that same roadside garden. This area is separated by a split rail fence which, by the way, I split myself... never again! That was too much like work! It wasn't made any easier by virtue of the fact that I did it in warm weather... apparently the more frozen the cedar is, the better the splitting... knowledge that will never serve me well again as my splitting days are over! This area of the gardens featured a number of the Lights series of azaleas. I am amazed that this is the area they do very well in as it is extremely dry... but they seem to love it.
The area is anchored by a nicely shaped blue spruce that my son brought home from first grade when it was about 8" tall. This is the tree that is just behind and between the blooming White Lights azaleas in the photo below. By the way, the fastigiate Quercus robur (fastigiate English oak in this photo is deceased from the ground up... I cut them back when this happens and they always grow back from the roots... there seems to be a hardiness issue under certain circumstances). To the left and behind this spruce are two weeping white pines (Pinus strobus 'Pendula') grown in two very different shapes. The one in this first photo is short at about 5' before it starts to weep, whereas the one in the 2nd photo had grown much more vertically.
Also obvious in this second photo (above) are a grouping of three Picea abies 'Nidiformis' (Bird's Nest Spruce) and towards the back (or front depending where you're standing) a very nice specimen of Picea omorika 'nana'. If you recall, this starts out as a globe shape, but after many years will become pyramidal in form and reaches a height of close to ten feet so this one is pretty much at maturity.
This part of the gardens also use weeping spruce, multiple Thujopsis dolabrata (not pictured) from the cypress family and Korean maple (Acer pseudosieboldiana)...
There are a few varieties of chamaecyparis ( ayellow tred variety and a green gracilis I believe) in this bed as well. Two are shown in the next two pictures... I usually get overwhelmed trying to keep track of the many cultivars of chamaecyparis, and I need to make a commitment to getting their names straight in my mind... they are nice additions to the gardens, but not always hardy here. I apologize that I had not yet cut back the dead oak in this photo. I also use pagoda dogwood in this area and the second photo has a variegated juniper towards the back.. also a 'named misplaced' variety I'm afraid...
That's it for this portion of the gardens and #7 in my series... until next time, Larry
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