Swimpy's Landscaping Thread

The catch is the power lines that come into the house on the right side. I may have to keep the tree farther tho the left than I want.

I should try to get a photo that shows the whole front of the property. Our property line is about 95' across the front. Your only seeing about 50 in that photo. We have more huge trees on the other side of the garage. I'm not going to touch them.

I got my plants. Well at least most of them. For starters I went with the Prairiefire crab. I also got one called Profusion. The Coralburst was just too pricey.

For the backyard I got the following: 3 rhododendrons 1-PJM Blue Barron and 2-Purple Gem; 3-Barberry Crimson Pygmy; 3 spireas 1-goldflame and 2- Gold Sunrise; 3 Viburnum Newport; 3- holly and 1 Winterberry mystery bush.

I still need a few more rhodies, but I couldn't afford to get them all at this garden center they were too pricey. I'll get the rest at Lowes.

I think the bed's going to look a little sparse at first, but I can always add more plants over time.

I see only one problem - the winterberry. You'll need both a female and a male version or youwon't get any berries. Unless a neighbor has one....

I was typing from the receipt, but I'm pretty sure I got two winterberries. I may not have paid for two, but I'm pretty sure I got a male and a female.

http://www.evergreengardenworks.com/malus.htm (ignore the evergreen name, they carry deciduous)

Looks like they're still two different heights, which I like myself.

Yea, I think I will like the two heights, too. Although they are teeny tiny right now.

you can always start extra bushes with cuttings from the ones you have - then either use the new young shrubs yourself or trade them for something else at a local garden club or with neighbours

(I find spirea are popular 'traders' around here)

They both have vertical form. I might foster some of the more spreading branches on the smaller one, or think about doing that, kind of try it out.

Do you know about pruning? If I thought there was a heaven, I'd plan on being given pruning shears when I entered..
If you don't, now would be a good time to read up and start to notice well pruned trees around town. If you will not end up doing it yourself, you can develop an idea what kind of pruning you like so you don't get a tough surprise from a garden helper. A good nursery might have some specific tree pruners (it's an art) to give names of, to check out their work. (I tend to think it's a good job if you don't really notice the pruning of a tree - except perhaps immediately after pruning - but do notice what a nice form the tree has.)

They may actually be sold as one unit.....?

They told me to wait until spring to prune it. I assume they mean after flowering has past. I don't want to go hog wild with trying to shape it. Just want to prevent branches from crossing and keep a relatively open interior. Right now they are just sticks. They both have a pretty straight main trunk. The prairiefire has a lot of smal horizontal branches that will need some attention but the profusion has more upward growing side branches. We'll see.

There were two of them. One had berries. One did not. They were in the bargain bin, 50% off. They had both lost their tags. I decided to take a chance on them.

They've been tearing up the yard all day. I hope I survive this. It's a mess right now.

You'll survive and you'll love it next spring.

I'm glad you checked in K. How close together do the male and female winterberries need to be? I also got dwarf hollies. Male and female are in the same pot. should they be planted like that?

They need to be in the same yard - I wouldn't put one in the front and one in the back. There's only one reason to keep them close like they are in the pot and that's to hide the little guy. Male winterberries aren't all that attractive.

So should I separate the male and female hollies?

I would. If you leave them together, it'll seem like half of the plant doesn't have berries (it'd be easier to say if I was looking at the potted pair).

If separating the two means a lot of damage to the roots, I'd just go ahead and plant them together. If you go that route, prune the male so that it stays smaller than the female and so that his branches are threaded throughout the females branches.

Thanks. I'll see what they look like once they are out of the pot. They may be pretty intertwined.

RE: winterberries. I think I told you that I don't know what variety they are. They could be small and compact or grow to 15'. I'm thinking of planting the female front and center as a specimen. The male can go toward the end where it won't be too conspicuous.

Yep, that's the idea. Tuck the male (if you can separate them) into the edge or back of the planting. If you can't separate them, turn the whole set so that the male is in the back.

Well it's all but done. The only thing left is seeding the yard with grass. They really tore things up. I'll post some pictures soon. It looks really good.