Monticello in Springwww.monticello.orgGreetings from Charlottesville!As a professional landscaping coach, The Green Man wants to advise clients of this sale from respected, Pennsylvania nursery MUSSER. Mix or match 20 shrubs for $20!
Of course, these plant will be small and just getting started in life, but they're ideal for landscaping tough spots and the periphery of the grounds. Quality landscape design and installation IS expensive! That's why today, many homeowners on a budget, are choosing to do their own installation alongside a landscaping coach.
www.musserforests.comOK, before proceeding, The Green Man has selected the items that are
equity-building from those that are not. Hence, get the biggest bang for your buck with these items:
'SHAMROCK' INKBERRY HOLLY (Sun) Perfect for foundations! One of the best!
'MISS KIM' KOREAN LILAC (Sun, no shade) Terrific compact rather than upright-growing lilac!
'ROYAL PURPLE' SMOKEBUSH (Sun) The Green Man suggests this large shrub be pruned as a small ornamental tree. This is a highly-desirable focal point item. Hence, use ONE per site, or, on larger sites, triangulate with THREE, and that's it. You may use TWO in a symmetrical setting, for example a formal walkway entrance.
'GREEN MOUNTAIN' BOXWOOD (Sun) This is a terrific opportunity to get this small boxwood! Use it copiously to border the
potager The Green Man has been telling clients for over two years to create in the Family Living Area. 'Green Mountain' boxwood works well on formal walkways and as a foundation shrub for traditional style houses.
VARIEGATED RED TWIG DOGWOOD (Sun, some moderate shade)
This is a highly-desirable tough site plant. Plant it on ravines, swales, poor soil, wet spots...any part of the site that gets mostly sun where nothing else will prosper. Provides winter interest!
OK, one caveat: Yes, draw a plan, and buy a lot. However, you must
note the MATURE SIZE of the plant and SPACE THEM accordingly!!!
'Miss Kim' Korean lilacFor example, in a sun-baked location, create a massive hedge with 'Miss Kim' Korean lilac. You'll want to keep each plant at about 4' x 6', so plant accordingly with a 6' foot spacing between each plant on the line.
Now, study this re-post! And, if "Microscaping" appeals to you, MUSSER will supply
virtually everything you need. So, after making your designs, stock on sale items, and look at what else MUSSER offers for your site.
www.musserforests.com= The Green Man Gold =
Saturday, March 22, 2008
"INTEGRATED MICROSCAPING" FOR TIGHT BUDGETS
The Green Man wants clients to have the landscaping installation of their dreams. However, the vagaries of the economy often preclude huge expenditures on pricey landscaping materials. The way to resolve the issue is through The Green Man's methodology of "Integrated Microscaping."
The plan is really quite simple and is based on the idea of optimzing what you have to work with and has several basic components.
1. Start with a master landscaping plan
2. Address high-priority landscaping issues with expenditures on large- size trees and shrubs
3. Address low-priority landscaping issues with expenditures on the smallest size trees and shrubs.
4. Spend your landscaping budget on these two priorities in a 1:5 basis. In other words, buy 1 $250 black tupelo and 5 smallest-available-size doublefile viburnums.
Each of the latter will still grow up to be a "Lexus."
5. Invest in fertilzer and GH plant sprays to stimulate rapid growth in the low-priority items. Combine a regimen of fish emulsion and MegaGro spray for explosive growth. DO NOT OVERFEED OR OVERSPRAY! You'll find small plants are like children: fully-grown before you know it.
As you can see, "Integrated Microscaping" allows clients to invest in the landscaping of their heart's desire at a fraction of the cost of using large plants. Next, The Green Man will provide a simple IM example:
High priority: You want to screen off the neighboring property. Pump your big bucks into an arborvitae hedge and 1 or 2 large accent viburnums. Then, MICROSCAPE inside a curvilinear bed in front of the hedge using the smallest sizes of other viburnums, hydrangeas, fothergillas, clethras, chokeberries, hollies, ornamental flowering trees, and conifers you can find. A 6" seedling is OK. It will grow. Place daylilies and perhaps a Japanese silver grass (Use Miscanthus sinenesis 'Morning Light') around them in strategic masses to fill out the space. Remember "Less is more." and empty space balances. The daylilies and clump-forming grasses can be moved easily as the tiny shrubs and trees grow rapidly with the application of fertilzers and GH sprays.
Ironically, watching and assisting your MICROSCAPED installation is ultimately more fun and satisfying than experiencing the curious let-down of perfect "instant landscaping." Moral: Be grateful for what you have to work with and optimize it.
Variegated red twig dogwood in winter. Use it for screening along property lines, sites with some shade, and tough sites that are wet...almost anywhere!
