Crazy Bush #1
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| From September 2010 |
And a closer look. Anyone know the name or how to care for it?
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| From September 2010 |
This is a cherry tree I've heard. I've already cleaned it up but just wanted to have the picture. Still, advice is good.
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| From September 2010 |
A little hedge. There are five or six of these.
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| From September 2010 |
If I trim it as much as I want to I'm afraid I'll be looking at a short pile of sticks all winter. Is that okay?
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| From September 2010 |
What are these?
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| From September 2010 |
They're super fun to have in a yard with small, curious boys
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| From September 2010 |
And the hedge from Hades. We've already started whacking at it and filled our yard waste container completely. Any advice for these guys?
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| From September 2010 |
Special advice for Hydrangeas, which I love, btw
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| From September 2010 |
Here's one of my deader looking hostas. Is he okay?
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| From September 2010 |
Well, I'll venture. That first photo looks like a honeysuckle bush. I've never grown one, but that's what those flowers look like. I googled it and came up with this: http://www.naturehills.com/product/dwarf_bush_honeysuckle.aspx
ReplyDeleteThe cherry tree is probably just that. You'll probably want to thin it out even more, but I'd wait until spring.
We had one of those rounded shrubs at the John Adams house. It just grew very big and fat and we eventually took the whole thing out. Didn't like it at all.
The next one, I'm not sure...the name is in my head somewhere, but it has crawed under the pillow at the moment. Maybe I'll get it out later and let you know.
"Hedge from Hades" is Laurel. That's what surrounded my back yard on John Adams. Ken cut it back probably 10 feet a year...it never stops growing. If you want privacy, keep it, but you'll be trimming it maybe twice a year. Otherwise, get it out before it takes over!
Lovely Hydrangea! If it needs shaping, do it in the early spring before it sends out new growth. That's when I cut off the old flower heads. It likes moisture and part shade, and will "burn" if it gets too hot.
Hostas are great! They love shade and moisture, too. They always die down to nothing in the fall and then send up new shoots in the spring. Bait for slugs (who also love them) and keep them watered through the summer.
Max looks like he will be okay. He's having a goofy moment....and will continue to do that off and on throughout his life. :)
Dorothy, thank you so much! Question about the laurel. If it hasn't been trimmed in years, can you hack it from all sides in the winter and have it still turn out okay? I was thinking of doing the back and top (definitely taking out at least two feet each way and then cutting the front right before spring so it won't be too ugly before long. What do you think? And the two times a year that Uncle Ken trimmed it, was that fall and spring?
ReplyDeleteThe Christmasy looking bush is a dwarf Alberta Spruce. It can get 8'x 4' slowly. I have 2 and I topiary them to keep them in bounds. My friend had an A S that died on one side like yours is...fertilize and water and it perked up and came back to life and doesn't need to be replaced like she thought she would have to. You can trim them into any shape you'd like.
ReplyDeleteYou can cut the laurel back as much as you would like. It will start growing like mad in the spring no matter what you do anyway. You can go at it from all sides. Just keep in mind that if you take it waaaaaaaya back, you will look at the bones for winter. Which is no big deal really.
Looks like Dorothy got the rest of them.
DON'T fertilize them now though.
ReplyDeleteAs to that Laurel, no matter how much you cut it, it will try to grow again. Like Patty says, cut it all you want as long as you don't mind looking at a skeleton for a little while. Ken used to hack away at that hedge whenever he was in the mood. (Or it was driving him nuts.) I prefered Spring and Summer because then it greened back up quicker. There were a couple years he didn't do it at all....and we ended up with a 20 foot tall hedge that blocked the sunlight! It took a LOT of work to top them that year, and he never let them get so big again.... :)
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