New Plants Around Utility Boxes

I'm no stranger to hiding utility boxes with plants to not only make it more attractive but also make it easier to mow around. Before I did this utility box landscaping my neighbor said he was coming out with scissors to cut the grass in between the power box and internet box in the front yard. 

Here is an After photo from October

At our old house, I had a great utility box combination of feather reedgrass, coneflower, iris, and asters. I wanted to try something a little different here because all of those plants die to the ground in the winter and only do a good job hiding the utility boxes for 7 months out of the year. So I wanted to do something evergreen this time but I didn't want to have to wait years for it to grow either. 

My compromise was to plant one emerald green arborvitae in the front that will eventually get 4 feet wide and hide most of the boxes from the front view, but in the meantime I wanted to hide the boxes from the side so I used one of my favorite ornamental grasses 'Northwind' switchgrass. 

I also got a few drought tolerant flowers called Gaillardia aristata 'Spintop Copper Sun' that won't really get tall enough to hide anything but they are blooming like crazy and don't need a lot of water. 

I started by rounding up the grass in the shape of the bed using a hose as a guide for the shape. I waited about a week for the grass to fully die and added a very thick layer of mulch. I called 811 before the dig to mark the utility lines, but since my mulch was so thick I actually didn't even dig into the ground I just pushed the mulch aside, added topsoil and the plants are all planted above the clay soil in nice mounded topsoil and surrounded by mulch. 

I don't have anything in the back yet and I'd still like to add some coneflower, but for now at least I don't have to mow between the boxes and it looks a little better. The plants are so small that they aren't completely hiding anything really, not yet anyway. 

Summer Views from 2016 Quick Garden Tour and Update

I don't intend to recap every single thing that happened to my yard this year, but I will post a collection of photos in case I want to look back at them during the winter, or have them to compare to future photos. Here are some of the major events:

1. My epic battle with the rabbits continued for months, and I'm trying to make peace with the fact that they will eat some of my plants, and that's okay. (trying to convince myself).

2. My hardy pampas grass grew to record heights, I can't wait to cut it down this winter and get the official measurement.

3. My emerald green arborvitae in the back yard got a weird disease and partially died, had black fronds, then grew back, and actually put on some good growth.

4. I had 2 out of 15 or so Surprise Lillies bloom this year, which was a surprise indeed, I heard they don't like being transplanted.

5. I had a short Japanese beetle scare a few months ago and had to spray my birch trees. The spray seemed to take care of them, I only had to use 1 bottle. 

6. My mail order purple coneflower 'Magnus' came back to life and actually flowered!

Front yard Summer 2016

Emerald green fighting off a disease, it seems to be winning. The mail order phlox around the base is taking well and should be nice in the Spring.

Late summer back bed, not much blooming but things are definitely getting bigger. I'm liking the idea of a back bed that is more filled in with plants touching or overlapping and blooming at different times.

Back bed island earlier this summer. Birch trees put on a lot of healthy growth, can't wait for them to do it again next year, they are super healthy in spite of a Japanese beetle scare a few months ago.

Back bed late summer 2016 - Purple Dome is about to flower, blue fescue is looking good against the pink rock.

Early summer view of the utility box bed, Shasta daisy did great this summer, but the Russian sage is getting a little unruly, I cut a bunch out and replaced it with my first try at Gaura 'Dark Pink' which I'm hoping is hardy in this zone. I moved the PowWow Wildberry cone flower to the back because it's really too short to hide the boxes anyway.

New Shade Additions: Scotch Moss, Rhododendron, and Pieris

It's technically winter, but I was an early bird at Lowe's this weekend snatching up some early arrival plants with sort of an impromptu purchase. I was picking up bags of mulch and dirt to raise the wet side shade bed, and I saw some shade plants I wanted to add. Usually I research the plants I get and put them on my wish list, but this time I just read the tag and went with it. I've been looking for plants that add more year-round form to the bed so it doesn't completely die back to bare ground in winter. I've also been looking for something to hide the air conditioner view from the street (before I just had hostas in front of it).

So without further ado, I present my new wet shade side additions:

Emerald Green Arborvitae - Thuja occidentalis 'Emerald Green' - Okay this one isn't that special, it didn't make the blog post headline, but it was a new purchase. Only $20, about the same size as the one in my backyard. I'm giving it plenty of room to grow in to its new location blocking the AC unit, and raised up a few inches out of the soggy clay soil. I added manure and topsoil to backfill the hole a few inches to plant it high. I'm hoping it gets enough sun to stay alive and slowly grow into a nice 12 foot tall tree - these guys usually prefer full sun. There's plenty of ambient light and 2 hours of direct sun a day here, so not exactly the deep shade.

Scotch Moss - Sagina subulata 'Aurea' - Saw this for less than $3 per pot and grabbed it for the shade side. I've been wanting a moss, or moss looking plant, ever since I moved in. I've tried growing a moss rock, and I've tried slow growing Arenaria 'Wallowa Mountains'. I'm hoping this neon green Scotch Moss adds some bright interest and hopefully grows enough for divisions - then I can plan more dramatic and larger ground cover areas for it.

Rhododendron 'Ramapo' - This dwarf, small leaf, and supposedly less fussy rhododendron will make a nice (possibly evergreen) addition to the wet side yard. It likes moist soil, but not completely wet. I think a raised bed on the damp side is a nice compromise. The only setback is that this guy likes acid soil, so I'll have to further amend the alkaline clay soil. I added topsoil and manure, but I think I'll sprinkle some peat moss around the base to add some acid.

Rhododendron 'Ramapo' gets to be about 2 feet wide and tall

Japanese Andromeda - Pieris japonica 'Passion' - Lily-of-the-Valley - this plant goes by many names, and let's face it, I bought it because it had the word Andromeda in it. It's also a nice blooming shrub that tolerates shade, so that's a win. It will also add some structure to my side yard in winter so everything doesn't die down completely to the ground. Similar to the rhododendron, it likes acid soil so I'll have to sprinkle in some peat moss. I planted it up high and dry on a raised bed in a wet side yard, so it should get the best of both - access to moisture when it wants it, but without wet feet.

These plants, especially the acid lovers, are going to require some TLC this spring and summer, but hopefully will up my shade garden game to a whole new level!

Temp Swings and Restless Plants Ready to Wake Up

I'm seeing an awful lot of green brewing just below the surface. These perennials are poking little tester leaves up before they decide to wake up for the Spring. The crocus' are also a good bit ahead of schedule compared to last year. It's looking like a good week with several days in a row above 60°F in the week ahead.

Salvia sylvestris 'Little Night' putting out little feeler leaves trying to decide if it's time to wake up

Crocus today, March 4, 2016

Crocus coming in ahead of schedule, March 4, 2016

We had about an inch of snow a couple days ago on March 2, hopefully the last snow of the season. I think these two photos below sum up the past week. I'm surprised my plants aren't more confused, because I certainly am.

One more thing I wanted to post, I modified the tiny side bed with the emerald green arborvitae. The rocks weren't high enough to hold up a level mulch bed, so the mulch would slide down the side whenever it rained. I raised the rocks and added a few larger ones. Now it looks like too many rocks, maybe I'll take away some of the smaller ones. Anyway, now the bed is level on top. I noticed a ton of red roots probably from the arborvitae - that thing rooted in better than I thought. I'm hoping it puts on some vertical growth this season. At this rate it'll be years before it provides any kind of privacy.

Noticed a lot of roots as I was adjusting the height of the rocks to level the mulch bed. Mixed feelings about the smaller rocks. We'll see.

Emerald Green Arborvitae One Year Growth Before and After

I got this Thuja occidentalis 'Emerald Green' arborvitae on sale at Lowe's late last summer. It didn't put on any new growth until this Spring. When it did start growing, it really took off (relatively speaking). It's slow growing so it's hard to tell just by looking at it, but looking back to photos from when it was first put in, it's obvious that it has been filling out.

When I got it, the leader at the top was brown so I snipped it off. Using this point as the old 'top' I put the ruler on top of the cut leader, and see that this Emerald Green has put on about 7 inches of vertical growth this year.

I put the ruler on top of the old leader that I cut off, and this shows I have about 7 inches of new stringy growth

The overall shape and color has filled out this summer, so I think it's finally rooted in and growing nicely.

September 21, 2014 (before) to September 6, 2015 (after)

It's so handy to take an obscene number of photos of your own yard, because then when you want to dig one out of the archives to compare a year later, you have it! It is definitely a lot fuller, but it will still be a few years before it actually blocks the view of my neighbor's patio.

I'm still very pleased with the placement, when it's full grown it will just about fill this whole planter - and it's far enough away from the house that it shouldn't knock into the gutter on the roof.

Phlox subulata 'Drummond's Pink'

Chris wanted more color in the backyard, his only comment about landscaping is always "more color, I'm so sick of greeeeen" - so I made an impulse Phlox purchase at Lowe's. I got the brightest of the 3 varieties they had, these are called Drummond's Pink Creeping Phlox [Phlox subulata 'Drummond's Pink'].

I took out my ice plants that were 95% dead (I got them from the sale rack. I put them in late in the fall and they didn't fare so well in the winter).

Phlox subulata 'Drummond's Pink'

I recognize phlox from my parent's garden when I was little. I'd take the little tiny flowers off and hold them up against my nose and suck in to hold them in place. Yeah. Well, anyway, I do remember them forming large mats in the flower bed, and I figured I'd try them out in my teenie tiny mulch bed under my Emerald Green arborvitae [Thuja occidentalis 'Emerald Green'].

After I put them in I realized I probably should have gotten 4 of them. Oh well, I'll see how to do and maybe divide one before the end of the summer. Each plant should spread 20-30 inches or so and completely cover this tiny mulch bed. It will also help keep Katie from grabbing mulch to chew on - this is her favorite mulch bed to pick from.

Phlox in a variety of colors

I've also seen phlox mixed in a variety of colors which makes a nice effect, maybe I could buy a 4th phlox in a different color to add some variety.