I'm trying to decide between several shrubs to replace the overgrown and ugly boxwood in my front garden that I'm having removed. Here, this is what I'm talking about: I've been haunting my local nursery to get some ideas for what I can replace the hedge with and I've come up with a number of shrubs that I like. But I'm confused by the growth descriptions on each of them. For example, I like the look of the Golden euonymus, which lists its mature size as 4 - 6' tall x 36" wide. Or the English Laurel which grows to 36-48" tall 6 - 8' wide. The boxwood that is currently there is about 3 feet tall and spans an 11 foot long area. So if I want to more or less keep to those general dimensions with the new shrubs, then based on the above growth descriptions, I would need to plant 4 Euonymus, but maybe only 1 English Laurel because it looks like two would end up overgrowing the area? Is that right? And my second question is how long will it take these plants to reach that size? And when they get there, will they just magically stop growing? I realize there aren't any hard and fast answers to these questions, but as a newbie to this kind of gardening (I'm used to very small scale container gardening on my deck) I am, obviously, clueless. :-?
No Ronni, you are not clueless--the questions you ask show you are thinking about the area and possible plants. Plants' "mature size" varies from plant to plant because of sun exposure, soil, amount of water, and sometimes the plant's genetic make-up. Always take the "mature size" with a grain of salt. When planting for a hedge effect, plant at the recommended distance (if a plant gets 3' wide, plant them 3' apart so they will fill in). If you are doing a specimen plant (one that stands alone) give it more room than the maximum width so it will show up better than if crowded with other plants. If the existing boxwood is 3' tall, it seems like you have about 4' before the window sill. Do you want the Golden Euonymus to be above the sill at 6' tall? The Laurel would just about reach the sill, or perhaps grow a bit above it. According to Botanica, the growth rate of the euonymus is "moderate" which is about 18" a year. It also requires regular watering. The Laurel has a "fast" growth rate. reaching mature size in just a few years. Both of these will need shearing/pruning. Do you want to do that?
Not exactly 'clueless,' I would say; anyone with 'sense enough' to ask questions before swinging the ax and shovel is showing good signs of that rare characteristic called 'common sense'!! Welcome to the Stew.. Hank
Ask lots of questions, and google lots too. According to Monrovia English Laurel Prunus laurocerasus " Average landscape size: Fast growing to 12 ft. tall, 8 ft. wide, larger if untrimmed." Ours got to 20' with yearly trimming to 6 feet until we pulled it out. If you like the size of your box wood but just feel it looks rough, you might be able to revitalize it. Try trimming it severely to ground level. If kept watered it should come back from the base, or not. :?: If it does then you can clip it to suit your wants. This does require patience, but you would know by the end of summer. Some box woods are slow growing, others faster. My boxwood is slow growing and I only trim it once a year. Whatever you decide remember they are just plants, and like clothes it is fun to try on different ones. Our laurel hedge gave us a hedge fast and privacy along a property line for a number of years. The privet hedge keeps my dogs out of my garden area. My single boxwood and Alberta Spruce add a bit of structure to the garden in winter. Don't be afraid to think outside the box. For picture ideas try Google images and put in foundation plantings or Pinterest and look at gardens. You are visiting the local garden centers so keep your eyes and imagination open. If you have a locally owned nursery you can often get good information that the big box personnel can't give you. Can't wait to see what you decide. Be sure and keep us posted.
Good advice....thank you. I considered the sill vs plant height, one of the reasons why the Euonymus isn't my first choice, yet the riot of color in the leaves is exactly what I'm looking for. But no, I hadn't thought these would need shearing. I mean I thought about it, but just from the look of the plants in the nursery, and the pictures of the mature plants on the literature, I just.......assumed, I guess........that they wouldn't have to be shaped in any way. Argh! So my continued google searching has produced these possible choices. My search criteria were my growing zone, 4 - 5 foot height, no pruning, and interesting looking, for want of a better term Mignight Marvel hardy hibiscus Katsura lily of the valley And not to be challenging, but the research I did indicated that the English Laurel could be left unpruned/unshaped to good result. I'd prefer your own personal experiences over some random "wisdom" on a google page, so feedback would be welcome.
Although the hibiscus is gorgeous and hardy for your area, won't it still drop it's leaves in the wintertime? That would leave you with no "backdrop" for a few months. I'd go with the Lily of the Valley because it is perennial. Note... I have no experience growing either of these... just my opinion from what I read online.
Pieris japonica 'Katsura' (Lily of the Valley shrub ) is a favorite of mine. I have two varieties of pieris japonica, both a white and a maroon blooming varieties. They do require regular watering. My oldest plant is 30 years old. They are flowering now. I keep mine around 3 feet tall, but only have to trim them (take off a few branches) about every 5 years or fewer. I believe Botanica is a specialty garden/seller.
Ronni, I apologize. I'm so familiar with the book that I forget to explain it. Botanica is a garden encyclopedia with over 10,000 plants described with details about growing, cultivation, and propagation. It weighs a ton, but if you can lift it, it's worth its weight in gold for information. For those into weight-lifting or "heavy" gardening, the ISBN number is 0-7607-1642-0 (the ISBN is assigned at publication and won't be duplicated, so you can be sure if the number matches you are getting the right book since titles can overlap and that is the librarian's lesson of the day!), and it may be available as used on Alibris or Amazon. My copy is 2001 version, but there may be more recent revisions.
Ronni--A variety of shrubs of different colors & textures can be interesting. If you are worried the euonymous will get too tall, there are other chartruese/yellow leaved shrubs. Berberis has a chartreuse cultivar that is short and another that is very tall & thin, like a pencil. Do you like the look of the chartreuse against the brick of your house? If so, I would use that shrub as a specimen (like a highlight) and fill in with more typical green ones, or even one burgundy for contrast. The burgundy might be cool too, given the warm red brick of your house. There's another berberis that is burgundy, and of course there are the miniature cutleaf japanese maples (deciduous though) & the purple sand cherry (also deciduous). I do like the warmth of your brick house. I would be tempted to highlight it with a shrub of the same color family, but in a darker shade. Or a flowering shrub with flowers that would serve the same purpose. The only other advice I have is that I have lived in so many houses where the shrubs were overgrown and enveloped the house. Drastic and semi-annual pruning can get old, so I applaud your efforts to pay attention to ultimate size when selecting shrubs. Good luck & happy planting!
Thanks for the explanation. It sounds like something I need I've set my housemate to the task of finding one on Amazon, he has a Prime membership and gets all kinds of deals, so he's looking for a used one for me. Jewell, I love this shrub! I did a bunch of research and I really think this is the one I want to go with to replace the boxwood. This is the variety I found that I really like: I haven't planned out the rest of the garden yet, but I know I want to incorporate a shrub or two of the Kaleidoscope variety of the Abelia because of the color contrast against the burgundy/deep green of the Lily of the Valley. Plus it's the miniature kind, so it won't grow taller than the Katsura. Plus I want a gardenia plant in there somewhere, and maybe a tall grass plant or two for variety of foliage/texture/color. And I really like the Candy Tuft Snow cone plant as one of many plants that I want to use. And after reading what Cayuga Morning wrote, I'm going to have to check out her suggestions as well, because the colors are intriguing to me. I really want a variety of color and texture to make things interesting and arresting. Several of you suggested I just go look at my local nursery, which was a wonderful idea and thank you! I strolled around there gathering information, then dropped into my local Lowes and Home Depot too, just to see what they had. I'm no longer clueless...on the contrary I have so many idea for what I want to plant that I think I'm going to have to dig several more gardens just to incorporate everything!
Now see.... that's wasn't so hard deciding was it? :-D I like your choices too. Can't wait to see it all come together.
You are becoming a very educated gardener! Your choices make me drool and will look wonderful. Until you are really confident about identifying plants and knowing whether they will thrive in your area, beware of the big box plants. Things get mislabeled by customers inadvertently placing a tag back in the wrong pot, and headquarters sends out plants totally unfit for an area (azaleas are sold here every spring and we have alkaline soil!).
Coppice--I don't know if you are joking or not (what is an anvil pruner?) but I was thinking that Ronni could consider keeping one of the box shrubs, just cutting it back a bit and filling around it with other shrubs/colors/textures.
