Sunday, January 27, 2013

Making a List...

January is almost over and I'm already itching to get out in the garden again.  In a way I'm relieved.  Most years I'm chomping at the bit relatively early but every so often I come out of the winter with little interest in gardening.  Fortunately years like those are few and far between and once I start seeing green again I always snap out of it.

What scares me is when I think about what would happen if I decided I no longer wanted to garden or if something happened to me that would prevent me from gardening.  Most likely only a matter of months would pass before my entire property would become an impenetrable jungle, a poster property for blight ordinance enforcement.  Does anybody else ever worry about this?

For the past week it's been colder than a witches...brew around here.  Even with sunny blue skies daytime highs have been struggling to get to the mid 20s F and nights have been hovering in the single digits to low teens.  An ever present wind chill is making it feel 10-20 degrees colder crushing any plans I have to get out and get the stink off. 

So...since I can't actually get out and work in the garden, I started making lists.  On one of my lists are plants that, for a variety of reasons need to be moved.  I make a list like this every year.  Some years the list is longer than others.  Rarely do I actually move every plant on the list.  Either the window of opportunity for moving plants closes, I get side tracked with other projects or I just get lazy.  Still, the list gets me thinking about areas of my garden that need work and where I might have openings for some of the new acquisitions I've been lusting after on websites and in catalogs.




Until I get outside for a walk around, the list will not be complete.  In fact, it will never be complete.  At some point when the perennials begin to emerge, I may just start the big shuffle and disregard the list completely.  Aren't lists made to be ignored?  Ideally I prefer to move perennials in the fall when the siting and/or design problems are fresh in my mind and I can judge sizes better but as you can see from the list that doesn't always happen.  In my experience shrubs move better in late winter or early spring while they're still dormant.

Notice I have a section for plants to be removed.  That move would be to the big nursery in the sky.  For now I've decided to put only woody plants on that list even though I have a plethora of perennials that likely won't live to languish through the 2013 season.  Until recently I rarely hoicked a plant.  Usually if something wasn't working I would just move it to a less visible part of the garden.  But in the past few years, with limited garden space and a desire to spend less time on maintenance and more on having a life, I've become more ruthless.  If my choices surprise you, allow me to explain.





Corylus avellana 'Red Majestic'

Honestly I hate to have to get rid of this shrub.  If sited correctly it's got a winning combination of colorful foliage and winter interest.  However I didn't site it well and now it's too big to move.  It grew much larger and faster than I expected and I didn't give it enough room.  In an attempt to make it work in the space I've been pruning it for the past few years which has ruined the form.  Last year some of the branches on the north side and underneath started dying out.  I'm not sure if that is due to too little sun or some weakness.  I guess it doesn't matter.  Negatives include suckering  from below the graft and occasional Japanese beetle damage.  If I ever get a larger, sunnier garden this shrub will be at the top of the list.

Viburnum opulus 'Nana'

One of the oldest shrubs in my garden.  Despite living in the deep shade of the nasty front yard Sycamore it was always a reliable bloomer and heavy producer of berries.  A few years ago the leaves started getting some sort of fungus causing them to dry up and drop off in late summer.  Maybe anthracnose from the Sycamore?  Could be but it's now a moot point.  During the freak snow storm in October 2011, the entire shrub was crushed under the weight of a falling Sycamore branch.  Last spring I pruned it back to the ground but it never really recovered.  It will be replaced with an Eleutherococcus sieboldianus 'Variegatus' currently planted too close to the property line.  Variegated foliage will brighten up the spot and my neighbor will no longer get raked with thorns when mowing his lawn.

Rosa 'Carefree Sunshine'

Over the years I've shovel pruned more roses than I care to count.  Shadows from buildings, mature trees and other plants allow for few of the true full sun opportunities in my garden that roses prefer.  Toss in my zero tolerance for blackspot with my reluctance to fuss with sprays and other nonsense and you find very few roses making their way to my garden.  'Carefree Sunshine' has always made the cut.  A few years ago I moved it from too much shade to what I thought was a better spot in the patio garden.  Since then it has languished and produced few flowers.  If I can find a spot where I think it will flourish again, I'll move it.  Otherwise it's sayonara baby!

Although I haven't indicated it on the list, one of plants to be moved may end up also being removed.





Sambucus nigra 'Black Lace'

For a foliage nut, Sambucus appears to have it all-texture, color, dramatic presence and for us northern gardeners, hardiness.  Unfortunately for me it's been a dud.  Every spring it taunts and seduces me with dark ferny new growth.  Oh how I love purple foliage plants!  Within a month or two though all of those new shoots wilt away and die.  I've had the same issue with Sambucus racemosa 'Sutherland Gold' and it's frustrating to say the least.  'Black Lace' has been languishing out of sight in a poor soil area of my garden for years.  Last year I read a post on Karla Dalley's blog, Gardendaze indicating that Sambucus wilt is caused by borers.  A hard prune in early spring is recommended to rid the stems of the overwintering little buggers.  Usually I do hard prune mine but this spring I'm going to prune it down to nothing, move it to a more hospitable spot and cross my fingers and toes.  If that doesn't work, I will sadly bid it farewell.

So there you have it.  If you've gotten this far without having your eyes glaze over, I applaud your stamina.  If you have experience with any of the plants on my list I'd love to hear about it.  In the meantime, hang in there northern gardeners-spring is right around the corner!

Sue~

20 comments:

  1. Maybe you can leave the plants you've removed (with the exception of the diseased Viburnum) on the curb with a "free to good home" note. When we moved into our current house, I found a number of perfectly nice fruit trees (really saplings) placed in areas they didn't belong. I was able to give away all we couldn't find other places for, assuaging my guilt over their removal. Good luck with the re-do in any case and best wishes for an early spring.

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    1. Plant swaps can also be great ways to get off unwanted plants on others. For many years I attended one in both spring and fall organized by some people on the Gardenweb New England forum. At the height of it we also had a pot luck lunch and great fun. Even though it was a CT swap, people were coming from NY, MA and RI. I'll have to mosey on over to Gardenweb one of these days and see if the swap is still a regular event.

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  2. I'm a list maker too. I usually make my list in the fall when everything is full grown and I can see the mistakes. I'm also at that point sick of deadheading something or really sick of a certain plants crappy foliage. I have has a 'Majestic' for a few years but it really is a slow grower for me. So far a great shrub. Sambucus - 'Sutherland Gold' is a huge dud. 'Black Lace' is a vigourous grower that I cut to about 2' each year. I never have any issues with it. It looks great against our white house.

    I too have years where I'm not as enthused with the upcoming gardening season, this year being one of them, but when it starts greening up I get excited again. I don't envy having to move all those shrubs though. It'll be a great workout for you.

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    1. Karla indicated in her blog that her 'Black Lace' didn't start having problems until it was four or five years old. Mine had issues right away but it is currently planted in a dry garden area. Maybe your winters are too cold for the borers to winter over?

      I find shrubs easier to dig out in the very early season. Perhaps it's because the new roots haven't started growing. Both the Corylus and Viburnum may require the pick axe but I'm ready to face the challenge :).

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  3. No, no, no, my eyes definitely don't glaze over -- this is exactly the kind of post I find fascinating. Of course that's because I do exactly the same thing with lists and moves and eliminations, and I like to read how others make their plans. Yours are interesting since your garden is mature but changing.

    (I loved a small viburnum opulus nanum -- is that the same as nana? -- that I had but it got attacked by something like yours did (nothing fell on mine, though). It's gone now, but I wish I still had it.)

    Most of my lists get ignored by the time I can get back outside, and then, as I walk around, I make random moves, dig things up without any forethought, and abandon all my written plans. But how I love the exercise of making lists of plant moves & redesigns in winter.

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    1. I'm sure it's the same plant, Laurrie. In fact I should probably edit the blog.

      Whatever was attacking 'Nanum' was also going after my Viburnum sargentii 'Onondaga'. Last year when I "degardened" part of the front yard I gave that one to a friend. It will be interesting to see how it behaves in her garden.

      For me, the fun in gardening is the design/creation. Now that I'm out of space for new gardens, containers satisfy much of desire to create. To fill in the gaps, I continuously tinker with existing gardens and I don't see a day when that won't be the case.

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  4. Wow, Sue you are so much more organized than I am. I don't make lists but maybe I should. Sambucus has always been a problem for me and I don't grow any anymore. I said sayonara to my 'Sutherland Gold' about four years ago now and replaced with C. 'Golden Spirit' and that was one of the better things I've done. I'm not keeping anything that fails to live up to my expectations. I'm thinking of getting rid of the whole rose garden in the front of the breezeway.... We'll see, I say that every year and then June rolls around and they wow me..

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    1. Dig out the roses in March while they still look like crap :).

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  5. I have a spiral notebook for my lists; I looked at it tonight after reading your post and had to laugh since 90 percent of it deals with either moving or deleting plants. I've dug up so many things since fall I wonder how they all fit in here in the first place.

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    1. I suppose the lesson to be learned is to not buy any new plant unless you have a spot selected in advance. But what fun would that be?

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  6. Reading this was a little odd in that you had entire sentences that I could have written! Like "what scares me is when I think about what would happen if I decided I no longer wanted to garden or if something happened to me that would prevent me from gardening"...

    I make lists like yours too, only electronically because they they are easier to adjust. Some of them I even eventually do! But certainly not all.

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    1. Usually I do everything in excel but sometimes I just like to doodle on paper.

      I had my entire plant database in an excel spreadsheet on my laptop a couple of years ago. The hard drive crashed and I lost everything including a couple of years of pictures. One of these days I'll try bringing the old laptop somewhere to see if the data can be recovered. In the meantime I ought to put the purchase of an external storage drive on my to-do list.

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  7. I also have Sambucus 'Southerland Gold' and the foliage color has been underwhelming, possibly because of too much shade.

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    1. Too much shade or too little shade seems to be the story of my life, Jason :). In general I find plants with chartreuse foliage prefer more sun than shade.

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  8. Holy cow, you're either very organized, or really itching to get out in the garden. I have a hydrangea I have to move myself...and I'm dreading it. I absolutely love it and am afraid I'll damage it. Been putting it off for a few years now. But this year is THE year. I hope.

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    1. Certain species of Hydrangea can actually be divided when moved and all the pieces can be replanted together or individually. They're hard to kill.

      Winter is wearing on me this year. If all goes as planned, I will be heading to the Chowderfest on Sunday with some friends. Looking forward to it!

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    2. Great to hear! If I could get two beautiful bushes out of the move - it would be worth it! Hope to see you at ChowdaFest!

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  9. I am a fanatical garden list maker and every year change the same Word document to either Sprig reminders or Fall reminders. Last fall's document was 10 pages long. I highlight certain sections, yell at myself, and write in all caps NOT TO CHANGE MY MIND! As I finish a task, I delete it. If these plants are bugging you and are weak performers, give 'em the ax! Love this post. :o)

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  10. Sue, I am also a "bean counter" and my January's are so overloaded with yearend reporting, etc. Allowing my mind to do fantasy gardening helps me to keep my sanity. I love this post!

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  11. Sue, I'm just back from Edmonton where I was delayed for 3 days... but I have skimmed this post and see that Ligularia Britt Marie Crawford is scheduled for a move. I did this 2 years ago and with success beyond my wildest expectations! It is in a fairly sunny spot now and doing splendidly. Just so you know~!

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