Friday, May 30, 2014

The (former) privet-lands, now…

This week's blog posts have all featured small bits of what I will always think of as “the privet-lands,” so it's high time we look at the big picture right? Yes, I think it is…but first a reminder…

The photo above was taken right before the guys showed up to remove the privet, the one below right after they completed the fence.

And here is a series of three images showing what that area looks like now, under slightly stormy (yet sunny) skies...

Did you notice the loquat I moved (and posted about here) is gone? It just kept looking worse until I finally came to terms with the fact it wasn’t going to pull through without a trip to the intensive care unit. Here’s how it was looking the day I dug it out…

I potted it up in some rich potting soil, gave it a dose of fertilizer and adopted it out to my neighbor who is keeping it watered and in the shade until it grows some new feeder roots and can once again be planted out, in her garden. Then I planted this in its spot…

It’s a Daphniphyllum macropodum v. humile and was a gift from the kind Mr. Hogan at Cistus Nursery. He’s probably wincing looking at that photo because he’d encouraged me to give it a careful pruning, but I like its crazy Dr. Seuss look! What you can’t see (but I was trying to show you in the photo below) is how blue the undersides of the leaves are.

And look at all that growth at the base just ready to explode! This plant had been their propagation plant for years (producing lots of cuttings, hence its odd shape), I hope it will be happy living out the rest of its life here in my garden.

Speaking of gifts there’s another loquat! This one came from my friend Peter (the Outlaw). It had been kicking around his garden in a nursery pot for a while and he assured me it needed to find a happy place in the soil. Don’t worry it’s not quite as close to the fence(s) as it looks in this photo…

My long suffering Sambucus nigra 'Black Lace' finally has the light it wants (believe it or not it was planted under the privet in that top photo, not in this same spot though).

I couldn’t resist planting my new Acacia dealbata in front of it, the foliage combo was just too good. Its eventual size says I’m crazy but we’ll deal with that when/if it happens.

And while we’re talking crazy I planted a Paulownia tomentosa (Empress tree) too! Why? Because the words "FAST GROWER" Kept appearing when I looked it up, and after all I've got that view to hide.

How much do I love my pair of Azara microphylla? So very much...

As do I love the Ajuga reptans 'Black Scallop' shared with me by Alison, and now I understand why she kept telling me I'd have more in no time...

Persicaria 'Brushstrokes'

Astelia 'Red Devil' was in the speckled container next to Mr. Big but it didn't seem happy in the container so in the ground it went.

Check out the intense new foliage on my Rhododendron 'Ebony Pearl'...

And it just gets better!

Another Persicaria, this one P. runcinata 'Purple Majesty' via Scott.

Here are a couple of plants I've previously blogged about the variegated Daphniphyllum and Quercus dentata 'Pinnatifida' joined by a unknown hebe (big, green, bottom of photo).

Grevillea australis

Close-up

And a view new to me, I looked up after taking that last photo and liked what I saw.

Sean (Cistus) also made sure I had a couple of Pittosporum illicioides 'Strappy' to work in here and there. Behind the one below is an orange blooming crocosmia, from Scott. Are you getting the idea a lot of these plants came from my friends? Indeed! I am lucky to know so many generous gardeners and nursery owners.

Speaking of, a variegated ginkgo also from Peter, a gift when he first visited my garden years ago. This poor tree had been in a container on the patio, it's finally in the ground now!

The potted collection continues to evolve. L-R is Pseudopanax ferox, a new Puya coerulea var. coerulea and of course Mr. Big.

Close-up...

This is Maytenus boaria 'Green Showers'...

And this is what it will look like in a few years, with those long weeping green branches (photo taken at Cistus).

I'd threatened to put my Acacia baileyana 'Purpurea' in the ground but instead just planted it up into a larger pot and now it's hanging out behind the tank pond, leaning over and mingling with the water plants.

So all of those fabulous plants and even I can almost forget the nightmare above of the former privet-lands...the new view! I've planted the area with the goal of things growing up and hiding the view. Luckily some of the plants in the upper garden area are destined to provide screening as well.

The plant just to the right of the Yucca rostrata (Lil' Sanford) is Stachyurus salicifolius, which can reach 8ft tall...

And the other loquat (every garden needs two, right?) is just ready to explode with growth now that it's out from under the privet cover, eventual size could be 20ft tall and 15ft wide.

And besides all the new planting space there is another upside to the new view, more sky and a view of tall trees in the distance...

All material © 2009-2014 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

39 comments:

  1. Wow, your plant selections for the new area look so good. I'd already forgotten just how much that privet needed to go. It doesn't look like you'll need too much patience as things are already growing in nicely.

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    1. I hope you're right Shirley as I don't have much...(patience that is).

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  2. I love that you rescued all of those plants. I'm a sucker for helpless plants as well. I've been taking home throw away mother plants since I started working at a nursery. I just can't say no...
    Those loquats are going to be pretty amazing in a few years.

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    1. Well rescued makes is sound like they were going to be tossed, it's really more a case of having kind friends who share.

      I can't wait to see what the loquats do!

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  3. Oooh! Oooh! That looks great, what a lovely transformation!

    You know I started looking at your post on my phone, but as soon as I started scrolling through it I knew that I had to review the photos in more detail on my laptop.

    It's interesting to see how the plants that were there before the transformation have responded to the new light levels. They seem a lot happier.

    I have a Daphniphyllum macropodum v. humile, but it is quite different to yours as it is a much shorter and squatter small shrub and the leaf petioles and newish branches are a blodd red colour. Anyway, yours looks lovely and I can imagine it will romp away.

    Paulownia tomentosa are fun trees! I have one that has been in my garden for almost 11 years now. I take it you will be leaving it for a season or two and stooling it hard to get the big leaves? Up here the growing season is short and I only get 3 feet of growth per bud whereas guys down in the south of England can get 7 or 8 feet. As a result I keep extending the stump up each year and it is now about 6 feet tall and I let 5 buds grow away.

    Have a great weekend and thanks for the Friday photo shoot :)

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    1. Last winter cause a lot of death in the upper planting area, under the privet, but yes the things that remained have never looked better! As for the red petoiles I've been watching and it really is "redding up" I wonder if the greenhouse life it was living just was a little to cush for the red to develop? And yes, I'll definitely be "stooling it hard" (the Paulownia) I have no desire for blooms or for it to really get crazy tree big.

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  4. That looks fantastic and lots of inspiration for my garden

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    1. Yay! Inspiration is always a good thing.

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  5. You've replaced your Privet eyesore with a garden gallery, Loree. The fence and the gravel mulch create great backdrops for your wonderful collection. It would be difficult to pick a favorite from the mix, although I love that Sambucus nigra (which I can't grow here) and both Persicaria (which I have trouble finding here).

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    1. I bought that Sambucus in July of 2009, it was in a container for a couple of years and then stuck in the privet-lands as a dark leaf contrast. It struggled on but just barely surviving. I'm so glad I dug it out before they pulled all the vegetation out of that area! I cut it back hard before I planted it and it's put on so much growth already it's incredible. Plus it's nice to know I can continue to cut it back as needed to keep it happy and looking good in that area. I wish you could grow it!

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  6. Looove it! It makes your backyard look so much bigger. Sure, you've lost some privacy, but look at all you've gained. The stock tank is fantastic in this spot. I can't wait to see it all in person in July.

    P.S. We have two Sambucus nigra 'Black Lace' and they are crazy fast growers once established, but eminently prunable.

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    1. It really does make the back garden feel so much bigger too. Sitting on the patio and having all that sky above is an entirely new feeling. The evening light that part of the garden gets now is pretty wonderful too.

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  7. Well, I want all those reddish-purplish leaved things especially the rhody. Sigh. I will just have to settle for looking at your pretty pictures.

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    1. I am sucker for that reddish purple foliage and lucky to have so many options here.

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  8. Your garden looks fabulous as always! What a big change in the privet lands! It was wonderful to see it in person and I look forward to seeing the growth that a few weeks brings (A month and a half is a few weeks, right?)

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    1. Yes definitely! As in "thank god we still have a few weeks to pull together all the loose ends for the Fling"...

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  9. It looks great and it is going to look great in a few years! and wow, I din´t realize there was so much space occupied by the privet!

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    1. 11 feet by 25 feet...a big chunk of real estate!

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  10. Just to echo what Gerhard has said, you may have lost some privacy for now but just look at what you gained! Looking great already and it'll just get better!

    Loads of choice plants as always and speaking of the rhododendron it caught my eye almost instantly in one of your first photos of the area.

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    1. Isn't that Rhody just amazing? I love it!

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  11. I considered a Paulownia for my front garden, because of the whole fast growing, big leaves thing, but finally decided on a combination of new conifers and plants I had already (a money-saving move). I really appreciated seeing your garden, and the former privet-lands especially, in person a couple of weeks ago. I wish we could have stayed longer. There were so many plants I didn't know, and I felt like I didn't even know enough to start asking questions.

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    1. Funny the Paulownia was a spur of the moment purchase only because it was so cheap ($15 I believe). You are welcome to come back any time Alison, I wish I had time to arrange the containers and mulch before you were here, so that you could have seen it looking a little better.

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  12. Wow....just wow. Looks incredible - don't look back, too good to look back on privet lands!

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  13. plant design envy. acute. looks amazing, Ms. Danger.

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    1. Thank you PC, if all else fails just stuff it full of cool plants...that's my motto.

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  14. Freaking fabulous. I can't wait to see it in person!

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    1. You're welcome to come by anytime Heather...

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  15. Looks great, and it will just get better every year!

    (You may regret the Paulownia tomentosa though for messiness and seedling frenzy.)

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    1. Nah I doubt it, I'm not going to let it get big enough to flower, it will be cut back hard every other year or so. I just want the big leaves and maybe a little size until the other plants around it grow up a bit. This one isn't going to be allowed to become a tree.

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  16. My ebony pearl bloomed this year and it's wonderful to see the new growth adjacent to the amazing blooms! Hoping the big leaf maple doesn't drop another huge branch next winter (one took out half the plant a few years back when it was a youngster).

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    1. Yikes! Falling branches are dangerous, hope you don't experience that again. I'm not looking forward to mine blooming...why do they have to be pink flowers? Yellow would be so much nicer.

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  17. So many amazing plants in that space now! My, that's bright new growth on that 'Ebony Pearl'!

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    1. I know it's a little shocking how pink it is. Ah well, as long as it gets darker...

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  18. AnonymousJune 02, 2014

    The Paulownia won't disappoint you. I keep reading something about it getting "too big" (not sure what that means, it's not in my vocabulary) in which case you can stool it and then it gets even bigger. Win/win there.

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  19. I really like the container and stock tank cluster in the new area. But I think over time you might regret including the Mayten in that densely planted bed. Their lacy canopy often seems like the ideal ceiling for a bed of garden gems but their dense net of surface roots will frustrate you later when they begin to suck the garden bed dry of moisture and nutrients. Then when replanting needs to be done, the hacking needed to make new holes will encourage the mayten to sucker.
    I have made this mistake twice, still love the tree, but won't plant it except over pavement.

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    1. Good to know! I did some research before planting and read deep infrequent watering to establish helps to send those roots deep and thus create less of a net of surface roots, who knows if it will work but I'm trying it. Also I situated it in an area where I won't be planting around the base (behind the stock tank) so I won't be disturbing the roots. At least not for a good 6 feet outwards maybe more. We'll see though, if it becomes an issue out it comes!

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  20. Feeling a little more empowered to remove the Japanese ligustrum out front now! Now I need to get a chainsaw and the wife's approval. The multiple trunks are actually pretty now but I know they'll just get bigger...

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