As I wait for the leaves to finish falling, and the cleanup to begin in full, I can't help but admire the beauty of the garden even as it transitions from fall to winter.
Even with "little sicky" having dropped all his leaves, the view is still remarkable.
Although it might be time to re-stain this Moon Window panel.
Making the last minute late-fall swing through a number of nurseries led me to purchase some new plants for the viewing garden redo. It's part of my obsession, but when I see nice shrubs on sale for 50% and 75% off, I can't resist.
I also needed to move several plants and shrubs to make way for the fence extension I have planned for the spring.
First I removed the two Yews that were there since 2017. I also dug up two daylily plants I had place here. I never really did much planning for this bed. Over the years I tried several trees, shrubs, and plants, but mostly it was trial and error and a place to dump plants I didn't know with what to do. Only with the planting of the large Scotch Pine Pom Pom (Pinus sylvestris) did I start to have an idea that this area could be improved. The fence plans now dictate some planning and investment. Hence the moving of the Spirea at the viewing area edge and the reworking of the bed edge, and the planting of a small Boxwood at the terminus
The late-fall planning was limited, however, buy what I could get on sale. I started on the right side of the Pine by planting a Blue Feathers Hinoki Cyprus (Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Blue Feathers') and a Crimson Cutie Barberry (Barberis thunbergii).
The Cypress will grow to about 4' in time, but I suspect it will be slow to grow. Additionally, I will be able to prune it and keep its shape and size under control easily. The Barberry is a non-invasive type and will grow to about 2' overall in time. I really like the color of Barberry and think this will break up a lot of the greens that are already here and add some interest and contrast.
On the left side of the Pine, I planted a Magic Carpet Spirea (Spiea japonica 'Walbuma').
This shrub will grow about 3-4' in diameter and likes full sun, of which it will get plenty in this area of the bed. I really like the russet tone its exhibiting at this time, which should make it pop in the fall next season. Again, I can easily control it shape and size over time.
There is a small narrow gap in the bed just to the left of the Spirea. I will have to decide what to do here next Spring. Just to the left of the gap, I placed the existing Mikawa yatsubusa Japanese Maple.
I had to dig it up and mover it a couple of feet to make room for other shrubs and to take advantage of filling in what would otherwise have been a larger gap. I hope the transplant takes, I would hate to lose this tree, it has been doing really well here since 2017 (it was moved once before in 2019).
On the the left of the Mikawa yatsubusa, I planted a Mellow Yellow Spirea (Spiraea thunbergii 'Ogon').
I like the look of this Spirea because it resembles bamboo. It will get plenty of light here and should grow to about 4-5' in time and fill in this area just below the large shrubs. I will prune it to keep it under control.
I then trimmed the existing Rheingold Arborvitea (Thuja occidentalis ‘Rheingold’) that has sat in this bed since at least 2014. It has never done well here due to the poor soil. I decided to trim it into a decent shape then dig it up and move it closer to the Mellow Yellow Spirea. Doing so allows me to plant a Mr. Bolwing Ball Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis 'Bobozam'), a shrub similar to the one across the garden at the entrance to the stroll garden.
Although this shrub is currently small, in time it will grow to a similar size as the existing shrub, helping to frame the view of the entire viewing garden.
It will take a long time, but perhaps I will live long enough to see it.
Given the poor soil of this entire bed, I made sure to amend the soil for each plant. I will do so again in the spring, just before mulching the entire bed. I also removed all of the bark chips I attempted here last year. They looked fine, but made it difficult to rake leaves in the fall.
So, it was a lot of work, but the bed is now ready for the fence.
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