Wanting to do a better job of hiding the foundation along the Zen garden pathway, I decided to make some changes to the Guanyin bed.
I removed the large Variegated Japanese Forest Grass that has resided in the location for the last few years.
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| Forest Grass - bottom right |
It had become large and was beautiful, but due to some issues with the grass beneath the meter-lantern, I decided to chop it into four pieces and use it to replenish the base of the lantern box.
Over the winter, a lot of the existing grass simply did not return. In addition, after the building of the porch last summer, the old curved bed below the lantern box was no longer semi-circular. So, I decreased its width to give it a more balanced look while using grass from the Guanyin bed to replenish what had failed to grow back.
It will take some time, but as summer arrives the entire bed should fill in with grass.
As a result of the move, a large open space became available along the Guanyin bed. Wanting to hide the foundation, I opted for two shrubs. First I planted a Cora Louise Itoh Peony (Paeonia x 'Cora Louise') with a large white flower. The Peony should grow to about 3 x 3', but I will need to keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't overtake this location. I am hoping it gets enough light.
I also added a Crimson Pygmy Barberry (Berberis thunbergii var. atropurpurea "Crismon Pygmy'). The Barberry should only grow to about 2 x 2' and will eventually hide the foundation without the shrub becoming too large.
I am concerned that this location will not have enough sunlight for the Barberry. This bed is the brightest location in the Zen garden, but shade has slowly been increasing each year with the wood lot behind the garden continuing to grow. Hopefully, both these shrubs will be ok.
If everything works out, Guanyin will have a more lovely bed in which to rest.
