Good Example or Horrible Warning

Every day at work I’ve made it a point to walk during my half-hour lunch.  My office has no windows and a lot of my job requires sitting at a desk so I need to move my bones and clear my head at least once a day.  Fortunately my office building is located in a fairly residential area so I get to look at other yards and gardens to see what others have planted and how they regard their use of outdoor space.

 

What disappoints me most in looking at these yards, however, is seeing shrubs and trees poorly placed and struggling to thrive under adverse conditions.  I think the shrub that is most often abused in this way is the rhododendron.  On my walk today I used my cell phone to take a few photos of some rhododendrons improperly placed.  Looking at the right photo, this rhododendron, though hard to tell from this photo, is planted three or four inches from the foundation.  This what I would call major mistake number one.  When planting small shrubs you must always adhere to planting guidelines.  Too often people forget that the little shrub now will soon be big. In my basic gardening book it recommends planting a rhododendron 4-10 feet apart depending upon the variety.  I think a 4 foot minimum is a very good guideline.  

To the left is another example of rhododendrons planted far too close to the foundation.  It's double the tragedy as there are two struggling rhododendrons instead of one.  It is not possible to tell how old these two shrubs are, but it is evident that they are not really thriving in their current location.  It could be that the roots are not established due to their tight quarters, or perhaps the amount and quality of sunshine are not adequate.  They do not appear as healthy as the one pictured above which, despite poor placement, seems to be full and the right shade of green (frequent pruning is most likely the cause, can be used to keep a shrub looking more bushy less leggy).

In this last rhododendron photo I think the problem is fairly clear, the type of rhododendron (they come in dwarf varieties as well as woodland sizes) planted on each side was far too large for the space and have overtaken the house and porch.  If privacy is your desired plan, then I guess it's o.k. But this type of overgrowth makes outside house maintenance difficult and gives your home and porch a very uninviting feel.  Consistent pruning would have helped this early on, but now I believe only removal and replanting of some smaller shrubs to be a viable option.  Also, it's always dangerous to plant symmetrically.  Two shrubs of the same type may not grow at the same rate.  If one thrives and the other does not, or if one blooms and the other doesn't, you may end up with an uneven, lopsided effect.  

In this last photo there are no rhododendrons, but primarily a pieris japonica and a yew bush smooshed against the house foundation.  I don't suppose I need to tell you what bothers me about this photo.  A pieris japonica and a yew, like the rhododendron, need space.  Each one has a beautiful, fairly large shape and planting them at this proximity is just plain wrong.  To make matters worse, a deciduous shrub was planted in front of them (I cannot determine the exact name from the distance at which I took the photo) so that it hides them even in winter when evergreens should be most appreciated.  

In my next blog I hope to discuss crimes against the yew bush.