Crown lifting an established shrub
Spring at last. Well, very cold in the mornings, but at least it’s stopped snowing.
I’m pleased to see some colour in the barn garden. I always forget to plant tulips in this part of the garden. But luckily a few are dotted about lending a bit of interest.
I walk past these plants every day. Many, many times. Plodding along the gravel path to the potting shed.
And this eleagnus which I planted back in 2010 has become a problem.
It’s a great big hulking brute of a structure now.
It has been growing out of proportion to the more delicate plants in the scheme.
Fine when you walk this way as it’s not revealed in all its brooding brutishness.
But coming back down the path you can’t help but think Something Needs To Be Done.
Besides, I need to take my eye off the burnt viburnum on the opposite side of the path.
It’s all about drawing the eye elsewhere when it comes to fire damage. And there is only so much marvelling at the mountain view across the way.
And I actually did a bit of homework for once.
Andrew gave me a garden book about landscapes in the rural gardens. And these were the images that gave me some ideas.
A lot of the topiary is a bit too tight and neat for me.
But I liked that last image enough to have a go with some secateurs, loppers and a saw.
Multi-stemmed. Actually I hacked away at one stem and realised that it was all twisted inside the canopy and left quite an alarming bald patch.
So I’m going to stop now and then have another go in a few weeks when I can see what it looks like.
But I’m thrilled with the change.
It has lightened the whole area. And now the understory of iris and stachys can creep further under the shrub this year and make a more pleasing picture.
And once the birds have stopped nesting in the three viburnums further up the bank, I might have a go at them.
It’s rather fun. And I dread to think what will happen to the garden once I get over confident and really have a go at the shrubs in the shade garden.
10th April 2022 @ 9:39 am
As always, super photos and just the right amount of concise commentary. Thank you again, Lindy! I love the pics of that eleagnus – did much the same to a lumpy lavender jungle the other day. While I agree with you that overly topiary looks out of place in our gardens, a bit of”undercarriage pruning” makes for a nice shape that draws the eye upwards. And the colours are so soothing … you truly have designed a heavenly space … Alice
10th April 2022 @ 9:48 am
It looks great! I think some French gardeners call this “la taille en transparence” and that’s just what it does: allows you to see through. If you get overconfident, think of the huge pile of lovely BRF you’ll be getting as a bonus after a few weeks spent feeding the shredder! Here, after last week-end’s blizzard (the drifts were 1 metre high) and this week’s high winds + rain, we got more snow yesterday but it melted fast. Thank goodness, because I was ready to pack my suitcase and go anywhere warm. Today it’s still cold but very sunny and I feel alive again. Sowing veg and planting shrubs on the menu, but the To Do list is much, much longer.
11th April 2022 @ 8:10 am
I love that phrase ‘la taille en transparence’. I’ll definitely use it! I’m so pleased you can get sowing at last!
11th April 2022 @ 8:11 am
Thank you Alice and undercarriage pruning sounds perfect. Saying the right amount of concise commentary is code for ‘I don’t put enough effort into writing these blogs’ but I’ll take it!