No More Green Meatballs!
Submitted
for your approval (cue eerie music ala Twilight Zone): Jane Doe, lulled
into a stupor by the winter blahs, steps outside with a bag of seed for the
friendly neighborhood critters. All is quiet and right with the world.
Suddenly, a green sphere appears out of nowhere, then another. Oh no! They have
overtaken the walkway, eaten the front porch and covered up the windows!
Maniacally laughing, the hedge clippers come to life and Jane runs screaming
through suburbia. Could these be alien pods just landed? The attack of the
green meatballs from outer space? No
folks, this is my apocalyptic vision of a winter landscape run amok. Those baby
shrubs look so cute and innocent when first planted, neatly lining your dooryard,
but…they breed! This time of year is when they are most noticeable and must be
dealt with. Whatever shall we do? Can you help us, you ask? But of course! It’s
time to stamp out hedge abuse once and for all!
A
winter garden is the framework of every landscape and sets the stage for the
show the rest of the year. You may have bulbs and azaleas in spring, a riot of
colorful annuals and perennials in summer, and even planned a few well-placed
trees and shrubs for fall leaf color. But what happens there in winter? Throw
away the evil hedge clippers and let’s re-design your garden with winter in
mind.
A
good garden design, whether on a tiny or grand scale, always needs a little
winter interest. Smaller trees and shrubs can provide a skeletal stark beauty
and create structure or “bones” for your garden. Architecture such as fences,
walkways, walls, benches, garden art, even the shape of your house will really
stand out in winter, so use this to your advantage. Clean, angular lines can be
softened with trees and shrubs allowed to follow their natural forms. Some interesting evergreens to consider would
be any of the cryptomerias, hinoki cypress, blue-green sky rocket juniper for
narrower spaces, camellia, weeping yaupon holly or foster holly for beautiful
red berries throughout winter. Fences of any kind could use vines such as
evergreen clematis armandii or confederate jasmine, or the deciduous climbing
hydrangea petiolaris, which has gorgeous tan peeling bark. Several shrubs are
suited to espaliering vine-like against a bare wall or fence. Pyracantha, with
its red-orange berries, camellias, roses, flowering quince, and even dwarf
fruit trees, look striking growing this way. During the growing season, this
takes a little work with the pruners, but is well worth it. Always remember to
plan for maturity height and spread of any plants you use and allow for this.
For example, a blue-gray Deodar cedar or southern magnolia cultivars may look
perfect at 3 or 4 feet high when planted to incorporate into a landscape plan,
but will grow into monsters at 40 or more feet and take over the entire yard
(as well as septic pipes and lines)!
Choose
deciduous trees and shrubs with interesting mottled or peeling bark, such as
smooth-barked crepe myrtle (leave unpruned seed pods for extra winter
interest), river birch, glossy ornamental cherries, and paperbark maple, to
name a few. All dogwoods look beautiful in winter, especially Cornus kousa’s
quilt-like bark or red twig and yellow twig dogwoods. Plant these in full sun
to achieve maximum effect. I have a Cornus florida in my yard upon which a
Virginia creeper decided to grow amongst the branches. Mother nature knew what
she was doing when she decided to pair these and the combination is striking
all year round. The gray bark with the vine growing up it and hanging from the
branches has a neat effect. In fall, they both seem to compete with one another
to see which can produce the showiest red foliage. You may think about pruning
the lower branches of overgrown “green meatballs” bare to a standard tree form.
This gives them a much cooler Zen look. If you want to be the talk of your
neighborhood, a specimen tree with twisting branches puts on the best show of
the year during winter. Try a Corylus ‘contorta’, or Harry Lauder’s Walking
Stick, which grows every direction but straight, for a true conversation piece.
Corkscrew willows have the same tortured effect. Poncirus ‘Flying Dragon’ has
cute little hardy oranges and pretty bright green branches all year, but has
truly evil curved “talons.” Plant this one where it can be enjoyed from afar!
Ornamental
grasses should be left unpruned until spring. Their feathery seed heads and tan
leaves sway and rustle in the slightest breeze. Many perennials look great this
way also, including sedums, solidagos and asters, and eupatoriums. These look
great paired with evergreen perennials such as rosemary, dianthus, lavender,
creeping phlox, heuchera, or perhaps yucca, hardy palm, or prickly pear cactus.
An added bonus is that all these plants are fairly carefree. Shade gardeners
can have great evergreen gardens this time of year also, with evergreen ferns,
helleborus (Perennial of the Year 2005), variegated aucuba, carex or Arum
italicum being some examples.
This
winter, take a leisurely gander at the local arboretums and botanical gardens;
J.C. Raulston and Sarah P. Duke are two wonderful examples with mature specimen
plantings. Pay particular attention to forms, textures, foliage and bark
colors. Get those creative juices flowing. Take pictures and notes, get your
shoes dirty, and enjoy a safe haven from hedge abuse!
Dawn
Leith
Durham
Garden Center