brubel
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Location: MD

Need Planting Suggestions for Landscaping Project

Hi all. I'm working on redoing a substantial amount of my landscaping. I am working on planning out three small beds. The area is full sun, and I'm in zone 7.

For the first bed, a rectangular 48" x 80" foundation bed, I wanted to plant two dwarf English boxwoods to mirror two that I have down already on the other side of the walkway and I wanted to know how far apart folks would suggest planting these as they get big though they are very slow growers. I have read it suggested 2 - 3 feet and I believe I could definitely do two.

For the second bed, a square 54" x 47" foundation bed, I was debating planting a Jean Dilly dwarf Alberta spruce vs. a dwarf blue Alberta spruce. (Both are smaller versions of a dwarf Alberta spruce.) I'm leaning towards the Jean Dillly; however I'm in zone 7 and I wasn't sure if this would take well. I have seen several write-ups showing this as a zone 4 shrub. Does anybody have any experience?

For the third bed, a semi-circular 95" x 85" x 124 (top of semi-circle), I wanted to plant 6 - 7 varigated liriopes and three small evergreen shrubs. At this point, for the shrubs I'm debating between an emerald gaiety eunonymus, a boxwood elegentissima, and a mops dwarf mugo pine, but I'm open to other suggestions. I want something evergreen that will stay small, take pruning and have a neat appearance. Also desired is a circular or globe shape (mounding) look. Also, would you suggest in that sized bed using 6 or 7 variegated liriopes? As the bed is full sun, I'm told they will get big.

Garden Spider
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Location: Western Washington

For your 3rd bed, I don't know if Liriopes would do well--in your climate they will do better in filtered sun or part shade, I think, but check with a local nursery to be sure.

Dwarf Alberta Spruce are definately hardy in zone 7, but your hot humid summers might do them in. They are also very prone to insect attack. I've given up on them, here in the Pacific NW--they look good for a year or 2, and then the bugs get them. If you want a cone or globular conifer, you might consider a dwarf Oriental Aroborvitae such as "Aurea Nana", or "Bakeri", which is more cone shaped. You might also try a dwarf English Yew or Irish Yew. Junipers might also work--J. chinensis "armstrongii" or "Gold Coast", "Blue Shampaku". Juniperus communis "Compressa" is a nice dwarf, very columnar. It likes conditions on the dry side.

Sorry, no experience with the other plants you mentioned.

Your landscaping project sounds like it will be lovely when finished; are you taking before and after photos? Love to see them, if you are!

brubel
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Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2008 8:17 pm
Location: MD

Garden Spider,

Varigated liriope should be OK for third bed. It's rated for full sun to full shade and is a landscaping fixture because it's so versatile and easy to care for; I've had several landscapers come over and talk to me about the project and I tell each of them about the liriope. The most I've been told is that it will get bigger in my front bed b/c of the full sun the bed where I planted them in the backyard.

I've seen a number of homes with nice-looking DAS here, but I do agree with you that they are prone to bugs (a spider mite). I have seen that write-up several times.

Yes pics. might be in order for helpful folks on the forum like you.

Brubel

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JPlovesflowers
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Location: Northwest Arkansas

Brubel, I have had DAS in Virginia, zone 7, and now in Northwest Arkansas, zone 6, and they have done famously. I will keep my eyes open for the spider mites...also, I have not tried the varieties you were suggesting, so that may make some difference. I have liriope here and we transplanted it while our landscape was being installed. It sat in pots on a builder's lot for 3 weeks after being dug up and then we planted in full sun and it is doing wonderful. While I would probably never have purchased it on my own, I did not want to waste it and have been absolutely impressed with its performance. I too would love to see before and after photos. After having done so many improvements myself, I have always regretted not having the photos of my befores and afters and am trying to do a better job of keeping records. Best of luck to you. :D

brubel
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Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2008 8:17 pm
Location: MD

JPlovesflowers, it looks like I will be planting a small DAS after all, not the Jean Dilly variety. A friend gave it to me over the weekend and I expect it will get planted in the front of the house as part of this project. I'm told with the size it is now it won't be big (10 feet) for 20 years! Even then you are supposed to be able to prune DAS. They get spider mites here (I saw one yesterday which looked great from the front but had damage in the back) in the dry season and I'm told if you blast them with the garden hose and saturate the plant during that period (think powerwashing) it will get rid of the spider mites and save the plant.

I will take pictures but the before will be empty beds, so it may not be as exciting as you'd expected.

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JPlovesflowers
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Location: Northwest Arkansas

I would still love to see your photos. I'm hoping to post some soon, but am waiting for a couple of trees to be replaced. You might want to look into beneficial insects for the DAS. I am hoping to pick up some ladybugs today for my aphid problem and looking for some earthworms if I can find them. I think there is a forum on here that addresses beneficial insects, if not you can google them. I've never had spider mites, so I don't know what the treatment should be. Best of luck to you. :D

brubel
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Location: MD

JPlovesflowers, sure I'll take pictures.

Today I decided on emerald gaiety eunonymous and bought three small shrubs. Since it's variegated, I'll get a non-variegated liriopes to coordinate for that bed in order to avoid too much variegation.

Still have to buy the liriopes (and figure out how many - 6 or 7 should work) and match the two dwarf English boxwoods to my two existing dwarf English boxwoods, but the project is definitely taking shape.

brubel
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Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2008 8:17 pm
Location: MD

Here are some before and after pics. of what I did. I included some pics. of the dwarf English boxwoods I already had that I was trying to match the others I bought to. These are the rounder looking ones next to the dianthus groundcover. Anyway, click here for pics. https://picasaweb.google.com/Bonnie.Rubel/Landscaping508608

The project took a while since we had to switch from using a landscaper to doing things ourselves when said landscaper didn't follow through, but I guess things went relatively well. Also we redid the topsoil in the largest bed and washed and reused the rubber mulch, so these aspects added to the time factor.

Some lessons I learned:

1) Plants are very hard to match. Keep the tag if at all possible. Apparently (and I wasn't told this when I was talking to a landscaper about getting these shrubs matched) there are a number of different varieties of dwarf English boxwoods. The new ones are dwarf English boxwood #5. Sizewise they are a good match for the others--I followed his advice and bought larger ones--but since they are a different variety they look similar but I'm not sure I'll ever get what I was looking for there. At the point I found this out I didn't have the tag anymore from the ones I'd planted five years ago, but it turned out OK. On a related note, I planted a variegated boxwood and likewise, it's variegated boxwood #1 and the plant looks different from another variety I saw at a different garden store.

2) Check your state's invasive plants list before planting. Apparently the emerald gaiety enonymous is on our state's list for some berry problem. I haven't seen any of these get a berry yet and I'm still not sure what they mean but it would have been good to know beforehand. The nursery says they would be on the list because they take over smaller plants. I think since they're in an isolated bed they should be OK. Emerald gaiety enonymous is sold locally at several different nurseries near me. I picked it because it met my size restictions and was a colorful evergreen shrub and because one of the nurseries recommended it. (Go figure!) They also have vinca minor (which I recently planted) on the list. I found out about that through this site.

Garden Spider
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Location: Western Washington

I googled that Euonymus for invasiveness and this is what I found:
The species per se is capable of being invasive & in some places has escaped gardens to compete with native flora. But the variegated cultivars are slow-growing & vastly more restrained. We planted several two-inch-pot tiny starts of 'Emerald Gaiety' two years ago & the spread has been awfully slow, though steady.
That's a Pacific Northwest account, mind. Plants respond differently in different areas of the country. But it sounds as if you have a variety that is less invasive than the species, so you may be okay.

The pics of your garden are lovely. It looks very serene and inviting.

TheLorax
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Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:40 pm
Location: US

brubel is correct. 'Emerald Gaiety' is a cultivar of the straight species which is Euonymus fortunei so if it is formally identified as being a noxious weed or an invasive species, the cultivars pretty much automatically get lumped in with the straight species for obvious reasons.

For Maryland, one can plug in Euonymus fortunei here-
https://www.mdinvasivesp.org/

Here's a more comprehensive site for Maryland-
[url=https://www.nbii.gov/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=894&&PageID=2550&mode=2&in_hi_userid=2&cached=true]Mid Atlantic Geographic Perspectives[/url]

Great that you caught that brubel, many gardeners don't.



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