Earlier in the summer I decided to trim back the Japanese Dwarf Maple in the Dragon's Spine.
Originally, it had an odd shape where the tree was growing out towards sunlight on one side. I left it alone for years and wanted the tree to do its own thing.
However, this year I decided to shape the tree into a more circular even shape. To do so, I had to remove several large limbs.
In so doing, I created a problem with all the smaller plantings around the tree. There was now an odd gap without plantings in front of the tree. It also threw off the symmetry that I attempted to establish last year when I moved some plants around and added new ones.
So, now with this large open space, I decided to create a uniform consistent look. Given the shade of the area, and the fact that the Maple will probably continue to grow, I decided on Astilbe plants as the solution.
I headed off to the local nursery to look for some on-sale plants. Luckily, I came across a collection of two varieties: Montgomery Japanese Astilbe (Astilbe japonica 'Montgomery') and Rheinland Astilbe (Astilbe japonica 'Rheinland'). I purchased and planted five plants total.
I also moved some of the existing Hosta to try and maintain some symmetry. These made need reworking in the future.
I also moved a Heartleaf Brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla "Jack Frost') to this area near the East Gate. I have not had much luck here this year - something keeps eating everything I place here. Hopefully it won't like this plant.
In time the Astilbe should fill in the are in front of the Maple and make a nice border edge for this bed. If I keep the Maple trimmed and under control (open at the bottom) it should look more balanced. I can't wait to see how it turns out next year when the flowers bloom.
