Today we are back in the garden in the front yard where the large ornamental grass lived for several years. As I told you yesterday, we dug out the large grass and planted it in three sections in large pots which are situated between Crest Avenue and the neighboring property. They look smashing in their new location. So, moving on to what we did with this barren space after removing the grass.
As I was removing the grass I was formulating a new plan in my head for how I wanted this garden to look. At first I thought just boxwood and three Italian Cypress. Then I thought several arborvitae with English Boxwood as a border. I made my list of plants to purchase. Then I threw it away. I already had all the plants for this area. They just needed to be moved from other locations. So I started with the China Boy and China Girl Holly.
China Boy and China Girl were introduced to the landscape trade in 1979 and have remained an excellent and popular choice for use in many areas of the country. The male does not produce berries, but is needed for pollination of the female hollies. The female trees/shrubs produce the red holly berries that hollies are best known for. The best match for China Boy is, of course, China Girl holly. However, China Boy will also pollinate other female holly varieties as well. China Boy can pollinate up to 8-10 female hollies provided they are planted within 50 feet of the female hollies.
The next plant we moved to this garden was pyracantha. I love the showy white blooms on these plants. And the beautiful orange berries that appear in late summer/early fall. These remind me of home. My Altman grandparents had them in their yard. I will forewarn you that the stems are heavily armed with 1/2 to 3/4 inch thorns that may cause a reaction in people with sensitive skin. I evidently am one of those people. I wore short sleeves the day I was moving these and I received a prick. At first I thought I was bitten and, in a way, I was. By a pyracantha! These are beautiful shrubs which are worth the added aggravation for what they bring to the landscape. One other quick note. Because of their thorny protrusions, these shrubs are sometimes used as foundation plants to ward off possible intruders. No burglar is going to try and make his way through a pyracantha hedge in order to gain access to your home. So, beauty and security all in one hedge plant. You've got to love that.
Next up, soft mound compact hollies. These are lovely little hollies that grow only two - three feet in height. They are great foundation plants, but I thought they would work well in this garden. These are quite small in comparison to China Boy and China Girl which can grow to eight to ten feet in height and width and pyracantha which can grow to twenty feet in height. The leaves are very small and soft to the touch unlike traditional holly plants. These will be a wonderful addition to the garden when they mature.
I used the spade shovel to dig holes for the China Boy and China Girl hollies because their root systems were large. But for everything else, I used a post hole digger, which worked perfectly. I was able to dig the holes deep enough, and wide enough to accommodate the root systems which means I expect all of the transplants to take without any problems.
A few additional pictures of the final planting. Here in the back of the garden, two pyracantha. I placed these smaller, less showy ones in the back and the the more fully formed ones in the front. These will eventually fill in and be quite beautiful.
More pyracantha. I planted them among the China Boy and China Girl hollies. So there isn't a section of this type of plant, then a section of this type of plant, and then another and another. I tried to mix them all together so we will end up with a beautiful combination of texture and color.
More pyracantha mixed among the China hollies. Things are a little sparse in some areas of this garden right now. But that will all change in a couple seasons. All we need to do is pay attention to the watering and supply an ample amount of fertilizer and in a couple years this will be spectacular.
One final shot, which I was hoping would show how well the colors and leaf textures are working together. I don't know that it is evident in this photo, but believe me, this looks very nice.
We were lucky with our plant choice for this garden. We took from mature stock which was already in the landscape. And we were able to do that because we will be extending the patio this year and these plants had to be moved in order for us to complete that project. Maybe you are looking to upgrade your landscape this year. Take a walk around the yard and see what you've got. You may want to switch things up a bit and you may have what you need already in stock.
As I was removing the grass I was formulating a new plan in my head for how I wanted this garden to look. At first I thought just boxwood and three Italian Cypress. Then I thought several arborvitae with English Boxwood as a border. I made my list of plants to purchase. Then I threw it away. I already had all the plants for this area. They just needed to be moved from other locations. So I started with the China Boy and China Girl Holly.
China Boy and China Girl were introduced to the landscape trade in 1979 and have remained an excellent and popular choice for use in many areas of the country. The male does not produce berries, but is needed for pollination of the female hollies. The female trees/shrubs produce the red holly berries that hollies are best known for. The best match for China Boy is, of course, China Girl holly. However, China Boy will also pollinate other female holly varieties as well. China Boy can pollinate up to 8-10 female hollies provided they are planted within 50 feet of the female hollies.
The next plant we moved to this garden was pyracantha. I love the showy white blooms on these plants. And the beautiful orange berries that appear in late summer/early fall. These remind me of home. My Altman grandparents had them in their yard. I will forewarn you that the stems are heavily armed with 1/2 to 3/4 inch thorns that may cause a reaction in people with sensitive skin. I evidently am one of those people. I wore short sleeves the day I was moving these and I received a prick. At first I thought I was bitten and, in a way, I was. By a pyracantha! These are beautiful shrubs which are worth the added aggravation for what they bring to the landscape. One other quick note. Because of their thorny protrusions, these shrubs are sometimes used as foundation plants to ward off possible intruders. No burglar is going to try and make his way through a pyracantha hedge in order to gain access to your home. So, beauty and security all in one hedge plant. You've got to love that.
Next up, soft mound compact hollies. These are lovely little hollies that grow only two - three feet in height. They are great foundation plants, but I thought they would work well in this garden. These are quite small in comparison to China Boy and China Girl which can grow to eight to ten feet in height and width and pyracantha which can grow to twenty feet in height. The leaves are very small and soft to the touch unlike traditional holly plants. These will be a wonderful addition to the garden when they mature.
I used the spade shovel to dig holes for the China Boy and China Girl hollies because their root systems were large. But for everything else, I used a post hole digger, which worked perfectly. I was able to dig the holes deep enough, and wide enough to accommodate the root systems which means I expect all of the transplants to take without any problems.
A few additional pictures of the final planting. Here in the back of the garden, two pyracantha. I placed these smaller, less showy ones in the back and the the more fully formed ones in the front. These will eventually fill in and be quite beautiful.
More pyracantha. I planted them among the China Boy and China Girl hollies. So there isn't a section of this type of plant, then a section of this type of plant, and then another and another. I tried to mix them all together so we will end up with a beautiful combination of texture and color.
More pyracantha mixed among the China hollies. Things are a little sparse in some areas of this garden right now. But that will all change in a couple seasons. All we need to do is pay attention to the watering and supply an ample amount of fertilizer and in a couple years this will be spectacular.
One final shot, which I was hoping would show how well the colors and leaf textures are working together. I don't know that it is evident in this photo, but believe me, this looks very nice.
We were lucky with our plant choice for this garden. We took from mature stock which was already in the landscape. And we were able to do that because we will be extending the patio this year and these plants had to be moved in order for us to complete that project. Maybe you are looking to upgrade your landscape this year. Take a walk around the yard and see what you've got. You may want to switch things up a bit and you may have what you need already in stock.
