Why I Oughta...

Yesterday, I showed the location of three upright evergreens - Green Giant Thujas - that work in part shade for our backyard.   Those were in what I'm calling the " Lilac Replacement " slice of the south bed.  Today, I'm showing the *approximate* placement of the three other that I bought:  these go on the northside mixed bed behind the London Plane tree .  There currently is a scrub shrub that I've left (for now), but requires pruning to get these two close to their spots.  Below is where I'm (currently) thinking of putting these down.  Now...tree roots may have me moving them a bit, but this is MOSTLY their locations: They'll be 'fronted' by four lilacs that I'll transplant here - in purple.  The Nocture on the left (they're shorter) and the common on the right (they get taller).  As I mentioned yesterday, it seems that planting THESE three is the first in a series of dominos that can fall:  clean up tree above/scrub shrub --> plant th

Welp, I did it:  I pulled the trigger and bought some Green Giant Arborvitae - Thuja standishii x plicata and brought them home.  I mentioned these a few times in the past month or so - including how I found these at one of the local Big Box nurseries near me - and how there were a few sizes (large and smaller).   In my summary list, I ended up thinking that I need nine upright evergreens - a combination of Thujas and Yews - with the first three of those nine going into the "Lilac Replacement" project .   I wanted to buy six right away - before they sell out - so I opted for the smaller (less expensive ones).  But, they're NOT *that* small -about four feet tall.  I put the nursery containers out in that " Lilac replacement " area and you can see them in the photo below: That's the approximate space that I'm intending to plant them.  First thing, though....dig up and transplant the four lilacs that are in that spot along the fence.   Also, a few of the H

Last week, I wandered around the shrub section over at Hinsdale Nursery to figure out what they were going to be carrying this season in terms of hydrangeas, viburnum, various evergreens and even a fothergilla that I spotted at the Morton Arboretum .  As part of the various backyard bed 'slices' and the 'explorations' that I did a few weeks back, I ended up with a shopping list of sorts that included upright evergreens and a bunch of flowering shrubs.  On that list was four Chicago Lustre Arrowwood Viburnum - two along the north fence, two along the back .  They would go along with the two that I planted last year .   While at the nursery, I found a whole bunch of Viburum that I found interesting and decided that I should think about using some alternatives.  One of the varities that really captured my interest was this (below) Doublefile Viburnum - Viburnum Plicatum Tomentosum 'Mariesii'.   The listing calls out a few features:  tiered, horizontal, 'layered

Last season, I bought a 1# Bird's Nest Spruce for $5 (50% off) and decided to stick it in the ground in the nursery container that it came in from the Big Box nursery .  My thinking - at the time - was that I wanted to treat that as a sort-of 'pre-bonsai' specimen.  Buy small (for $5), grow on my own property and then in a few years, I'd have something INTERESTING (and more mature) to try to prune. This past Winter, the tips were all enjoyed by those dang rabbits who reduced it to this tiny conifer shrub you see in the center of the photo below: I've come to the conclusion that I'm better served by getting this small evergreen shrub planted in the ground - so it can root - and grow into an interesting contrast shrub.  I'm not terribly unhappy with the current placement, so maybe this is just a simple:  pop the can up, shake out, and stick back in the ground project.  Something I'll do early this Spring.

The tour of conifer trees that I spotted at the Big Box nursery continues today with a look at the third tree that I've come to know: the Slender Hinoki Cypress.  Earlier this week, I posted the hardship of seeing a Japanese White Pine .  And then about my mixed and uncertain feelings about seeing a columnar Norway Spruce .  Today?  Another tree that I 'dreamed' about back in 2019:  The Slender Hinoki Cypress .  You can see the label below:  Hinoki False Cypress - Chameacyparis obtusa 'Gracilis'. I posted about this species in 2019 and talked about how the features (columnar/narrow, the movement, the needles) scratched me right where I itch .  Last Fall, I invoked this particular tree in talking about how I have an affinity for the wood box-planter with upright conifer on top .   Of the three that I've recently posted (White Pine, Columnar Norway Spruce and this Slender Hinkoki Cypress), this one is THE ONE THAT MAKES THE MOST SENSE.   If I'm going to buy on

We have a bed that lives *right* on the property line in the IB2DWs area that has never had a real, proper edge other than the one that we dug with a spade.  The issue is that there's a little bit of elevation change - by design - between the two properties.  My plan for this season is to make that bed feel a little bit MORE finished by removing some sod, shaping the bed a little bit and edging it along the property line in some way.  This bed runs up against a tiny strip of grass next to my neighbor's driveway, so I'd like SOMETHING to keep the mulch from running/floating over onto their driveway. I've thought about using the green metal edging that I used for our gravel paths.  But, Nat doesn't love it.  She wants something that works with the existing gravel, so I decided to start to keep my eyes open for edging that works to divide mulch beds from gravel and hard surfaces.  It wasn't long until I saw something like this below: And, then...something similar l

Yesterday, I posted a photo and took a HUGE, deep breath and walked past a second Japanese White Pine tree that I saw at the big box nursery .  Why did I have to take a breath?  Because, I *really* wanted one of those trees.  Why did I walk past it?  Because I bought one last year.  And it seems to have failed this Winter.  But, what else did I see on that VERY SAME visit?    A tree that - like the Japanese White Pine - is also something that I've lusted after for a while.  In fact, I even posted an entire "Tree Dreaming" post about this species on the blog back in 2018.   What's that tree?  It is a columnar Norway Spruce - Picea abies 'Cupressina'.  Here's that post from 2018 .  Here - below - is the tag on one of these that I saw at the big box nursery showing the $99 price tag. Back in 2018, I said that there was A LOT to like about this tree: columnar, vertical, fast(ish) and unique.  At the time, I also said that it could withstand snow loads, but a