My first new garden ornament - Mr. Frog |
Looking back at these pictures, it is amazing to me how much things can change over just a few growing seasons. I have since moved the creeping phlox that was next to the garage wall (it did not like all that shade) and replaced it with another Green Velvet Boxwood. The other area of creeping phlox around the Coral Bark Maple has quadrupled in size and spills over the retaining wall. In fact, almost every plant has grown remarkably more than I remembered. I never could get the Sky Pencil Holly to last for more than a year (I replanted new ones in 2009) so in the fall of 2010 I gave up and planted two Fine Line Buckthorns (Rhamnus frangula) instead. Now before anyone throws a fit, I am aware that some varieties of buckthorns are invasive however the Fine Line is supposed to be a much better behaved variety with little to no seed or fruit production. With that said I have no intention of ever planting them out near the perimeter of my property and if the ones near my foundation begin to behave badly I will tear them out of the yard without a moment’s notice (so let them be forewarned). J All in all I consider this first spring a success. There are still things about this area that I want to change – add a plant here, move another plant there... but with less than a 10 percent death rate I would say it was a good first attempt…now if only the rest of my yard could follow in the same fashion.