Grass

Panicum v. 'Heavy Metal'

So last year I designed a beautiful wall project.  Last week I took some pictures of the job.  These grass are blue in the summer.  But the fall/early winter color is the best.  By next year they should be all grown in.  So it will just be a seamless wave dancing in the wind.  

Ornamental grasses can add life and movement to a hardscape.  Do you like ornamental grass in a landscape design?

Pearson Park & The Garden Club 1

There is a right place to plant Junipers and a wrong place.  The above pictures show the wrong place.  These poor plants got to be to big and had to be hacked back into submissions yearly.  Therefor became.....welllll......ugly.  I understand that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  But I really do think that the natural shape of yesterdays Junipers is FAR superior to the ones pictured above and below.

The Garden Club sought out Moi for some advice in regards to what to plant in the Junipers place.  I came up with three options and crossed my fingers that they would pick my favorite of the three.  And they did.  So the next few posts will show the evolution of a small Garden Club landscape project with big results.

Pearson Park & The Garden Club 2

You remember my hubby's girlfriend right?  The Stihl Farm Boss.....well Hubby always finds a way to get a little action for her.  When Hubby volunteers for a job it's always for projects that involve machinery of some sort....or action for his girl.

All the Junipers are removed from both sides of the walk.  And the roots are dug out.  Now Junipers do not have a really extensive root system.  So you don't have to dig that deep, even for really big plants.

Pearson Park & The Garden Club 3

I take the time to check the PH in a few places along the walk.  Yikes....those hands, scaly skin and gross cuticles.  Farm Girl hands...there is just no helping them.  Anyway...we're looking for PH between 4.5 & 6 for what were going to plant in this area.  PH was a little low here....but when I moved it over a 1' we were right at 5.5 so I was happy overall with the site.

Next step....marking for plant placement.  Now Plants don't grow at the same speed.  And we are going to put in a whole row of the same type of plants (what? really? we just took a row of the same thing out? are you losing it? .... your going to have to trust me....it'll be okay).  My point is that you don't need to agonize over plant placement.  Cause no two are exactly the same even when they are the same species (in other words you don't need engineering specs).  When I measure a job out I use a weird combination of measuring tapes....but it does the trick every time.

We use the water soluble marking paint.  And it's a good thing, cause no matter how careful I am with the can.....I get the stuff everywhere.  On my boots, hands, tape measures, walking wheels.  Everywhere....nothing is sacred.

Orange dots get replaced by holes.

Pearson Park & The Garden Club 4

Ta-Da!  Azeleas are beautiful.  I gave the Garden Club a choice of Boxwood (Buxus) and two forms of Azalea.  They chose.  A hybrid of R. nakhari (The R. standing for Rhododendron....meaning Azeales are a form of Rhodys which is interesting.) developed by Mrs. Polly Hill of Martha's Vineyard, MA who has been messin' around with Japanese azaleas since the 1950's.

The one used here is North Tisbury Alexander.  Which was the one I hoped the Garden Club picked.  It's flowers are a lovely salmon-red blooming late into June.  And it has the most amazing prostrate growing characteristics getting a maximum of 18" high and about 3' wide.  Cold hardy to -10F.

After getting all the Alexander Azalea out of there pots and into the ground.  We then took a spade and edged along the side walk so that when the mulch was put in it would look nice and tidy and most importantly stay put.

See how the mulch lays right up to the sidewalk nice and tidy.

Next to the tools of the trade was this big guy.  And he just was sticking out like a sore thumb.  He had to go.  He was blocking the view of the fallen fire fighters memorial on the other side of the walk.  

That's better.

Pearson Park & The Garden Club 5

So folks....what do you think.  

Did you like the Junipers better or do you approve of the Alexander azalea's?