The weeds are coming, there is no getting around it. Have no fear, however, bark/mulch and occasional but routine maintenance makes light work of weeds. This article will provide a good explanation >https://extension.psu.edu/putting-an-end-to-my-landscape-fabric-nightmare Also, take a look at this opinion piece by a professor of Horticulture >The Myth of Landscape Fabric I also read this online somewhere, that puts it into perspective… “I wish the word would get out to all homeowners that weed fabric is a waste of time and money. No part of any garden can ever be “maintenance free”. A thick layer of mulch does the job of suppressing most weeds just fine all by itself. You may occasionally have to pull out a couple weeds, but it’s easy when there’s no fabric. When weed seeds land on top of the fabric, and they will, the weeds will germinate and the roots will anchor nicely in the fabric, making it impossible to pull them out. It’s likely that eventually the fabric will need to be removed, but you’ll be ok with it because the plants will be stunted or dead due to a lack of moisture and you will be sick of looking at the fabric that invariably peeks out from under the mulch, looking like the garbage that it is. It’s not your fault, how would you know? You’ve been duped by an industry that makes and sells an unnecessary and harmful product. You’ve taken the time to do something nice in your garden, but you’ve been set up for failure. I hope you don’t get discouraged, these trial and error exercises are the at the core of the gardening...
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Good Fall trees with narrow, upright habit >> Redpointe Maple – $325/24” box, fast growth rate, 45’ height, possibly 200 year life span Armstrong Maple – $285/24” box, moderate growth rate, 40’ height, possible 200 year life span Chanticleer Pear (essentially same as Cleveland Pear) – $285/24” box, fast growth rate, 40’ height, possibly only 25 year life span; features: abundant white flowers in Spring Redpointe Maple Armstrong Maple Chanticleer Pear, Spring Chanticleer Pear, Fall Some more small form ornamental trees. Just make sure you protect the trunk from the deer as rutting season approaches in Fall. They will scrape the bark off and many times do irreparable damage. Japanese Privot Lemon Bottlebrush Carolina Cherry Laurel Blue Spruce Cedar ‘Horstmann’ Weeping Cherry Wichita Blue Juniper Austrian Black Pine Deodar Cedar ‘Feelin Sunny’ Japanese Maple ‘Bloodgood’ Japanese Maple ‘Coral Bark’ — $200 Pineapple Guava Purple Laceleaf Japanese Maple ‘Crimson Queen’ — $125 Green Laceleaf Japanese Maple ‘Viridis’ Podocarpus ‘Icee Blue’ Maple ‘Armstrong’ Maple ‘Redpointe’ Chanticleer Pear, Spring Chanticleer Pear, Fall Fern Pine Japanese Black Pine Crape Myrtle — $90 Ornamental Plum Thuja ‘Green Giant’ Juniper ‘Wichita Blue’ Blue Spruce ‘Fat Albert’ Blue Spruce ‘Globe’ English Hawthorne Strawberry Tree Pineapple Guava Crepe Myrtle, Black Smoke Bush Japanese Maple “Bloodgood’ Mugo Pine, Dwarf Red Twig...
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These are the “tried and true”, most reliable, most deer resistant, and local climate-hardy plants that you can rely on to bulk up the yard and give you a great foundation to build off of. The plants listed here are all evergreen, not perennials, meaning there will be something to look at all year long. There are many other plants available but these plants will get you started with the best chance of success and the least chance of frustration, and wasted money. Plants are living organisms, so keep in mind that they do take some care for the best results. When your ready to start planting, contact us HERE. GROUNDCOVER (true groundcover, typically 6″ or less) vinca-sterling-silver bacopa st-johns-wort vinca-minor-bowles-mauve SMALL SHRUBS (can be used as accent plants and/or low, spreading groundcover) wintercreeper-sunrise wintercreeper-emerald-n-gold sweet-flag rosemary-creeping manzanita-emerald-carpet manzanita-colorado juniper-green-mound juniper-all-gold heavenly-bamboo-firepower heather-furzey cotoneaster-prostrate cotoneaster-lowfast blue-fescue MEDIUM SHRUBS (can be used as filler and accent plants) boxwood-dwarf acacia-cousin-itt abelia-kaleidoscope salvia-leucantha salvia-hot-lips rosemary-coast lavender-spanish lavender-meerlo lavender-english-hidcote LARGE SHRUBS (primarily used as filler plants to “bulk up” the yard) breath-of-heaven-sunset-gold rosemary lavender-french heavenly-bamboo-standard grevillea-noellii grevillea-canberra-gem bush-germander...
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Are you looking for a little privacy? Maybe you want to block out the sound of that annoying traffic in your backyard. What about that big shed or garage on the side yard, it might be pretty nice to hide that thing from view, huh? The right plant selection is a must and below you will find some ideas. Most of these hedges will need trimming to maintain a desired width or if the space allows plan on them growing as wide as they are tall. Using a trellis or espalier may help when pruning for more vertical growth than horizontal. Most of these are evergreen and several are quite showy at certain times of the year. These plants are most productive on the West Coast due to a more moderate climate. Click HERE to find your climate “zone”, then view/download pictures of these plants along with their key characteristics HERE (following the links in the pdf will direct you online for further information) For more information, click this link to view and/or download the included pdf >> Hedges (click HERE to open pdf) Leave a comment if you have other suggestions or would like to share your experience. 🙂 Taxus Cuspidata – Japanese Yew Grewia Occidentalis – Lavender Star Flower Viburnum Tinus – Viburnum Thuja Occidentalis – Eastern Arborvitae Pyracantha – Firethorn Ligustrum Japonicum – Wax Leaf Privet Pseudosasa Japonica – Arrow Bamboo Nerium Oleander – Oleander Chaenomeles Japonica – Japanese Quince Berberis Thunbergii Atropurpurea – Barberry Abelia Grandiflora – Glossy Abelia Myrica Californica – Pacific Wax Myrtle Pittosporum Tobira ‘Variegatum’ – Variegated Japanese Mock Orange Podocarpus Macrophyllus – Japanese Yew Podocarpus Macrophyllus – Japanese Yew-2 Laurus Nobilis – Sweet Bay Laurel Prunus Laurocerasus – English Laurel Pittosporum Tenuifolium ‘Silver Sheen’ – Pittosporum Podocarpus Gracilior – Fern Podocarpus Ficus Benjamina – Weeping Fig Xylosma Congestum – Shiny...
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