Why I Oughta...

Shrub exploration post number five (today) focuses on the north side bed that is bordered by the firewood rack on one side and our Dawn Redwood on the other .  This 'thinking out loud' exploration post on shrubs follows on the previous four including the lilac replacement, a mixed evergreen/dwarf hydrangea planting, the base on our espaliered Linden trees and just yesterday, a mixed privacy border by our fire pit area.   Today is a spot that I talked about in my original 'shrubs as my #1 priority' post in March that - per the plan - calls for a series of Chicago Lustre Arrowwood Viburnum .  Looking at that area in the plan, you'll see a row of Viburnum below: What is in this area right now?  Just a couple of trees and a scrub shrub that we inherited.  Orange oval = London Planetree.  Yellow oval = edge of our Dawn Redwood.  Red oval = Contorted Walkingstick tree.  You can see the big, scrub bush there in the middle, too. Knowing that I'm looking to transplant t

Yesterday, I walked through an exploration of an area in one of my beds that calls for a mix of Tardiva Hydrangea and (now) an upright evergreen layer .  That requires the moving/transplanting of four Lilac shrubs that have never taken off due to shade.  My #1 backyard priority for 2022 is a focus on shrubs and being deliberate about buying and planting them - versus say...perennial flowers.  I've talked about buying and adding a series of Arrowwood Viburnum shrubs in various spots, but there's a segment of our landscape plan that is directly adjacent to yesterday's Lilac replacement area that calls for a mix of hydrangeas and evergreens.   Here's a look (below)  at this 18-20' area that is bound on one side by the Kwanzan Flowering Cherry tree and on the other by a large (2nd largest on our property) Northern Red Oak tree.  You can see the tree here in this post showing some winter/snow damage .  That Oak is on the right.  In Yellow is a run of various hostas.