My neighbor got some trees and shrubs for winterinterest but anything else is just full of wildflowers. Each year she just throws some hand full of new seeds on the ground and waters them only this one time. That's it and let me tell you each year it looks spectacular. Whimsical and full of beautiful color from early sommer until well into fall. It doesn't get more low maintance than that , it's dirt cheap and it's the best you can do for the wildlife/pollinators.

I’m so glad you commented on artificial lawns. I do worry for the environment with the current trend of carpeting gardens with green plastic. It also rarely looks good in my opinion. I did wonder what would happen as an artificial lawn reaches the end of its life and yet more plastic going to landfill isn’t great.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

The landfill issue is a problem, I agree.

A very useful episode, thank you! As much as it is pleasing to show a well-kept face to the world, it is also a way to be sociable. Too few houses have front porches anymore, and maybe the television and air conditioning lure us inside too. I have most of my interaction with neighbors though as I am pottering in the front garden as they come out to collect their mail or walk their dogs. This can lead to sharing any surplus of plants when they admire anything in particular. In this way the gardening bug spreads and the whole neighborhood becomes a garden - of plants as well as of friends.

I am so happy that I discovered Alexandra's videos! My gardening life is just starting and she makes it look realistic and manageble. And when it does not work, she is honest. I like it.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

Love your videos, I’m at the stage that as I age my garden decisions have to be thought out carefully. Low maintenance is very important, knees aren’t the same as they once were. Thanks for sharing always appreciated 👍❤️😊

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

I've always loved ivy, and said if I moved to britain I'd love a brick house with ivy growing up it, and was devastated when someone said that ivy destroys the brickwork. It's great to know that's not true (unless the brickwork is already damaged). And the same with trees. So fascinating, really.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you. I think the real problem is that with ivy covering the brickwork you might not notice damage. But everything needs supervision and maintenance so I think keeping a careful eye out should prevent any problems.

@bookllama8158

5 ай бұрын

Ivy does cling to bricks or masonry quite aggressively though. Not all climbers are like that.

Great video, lots of useful information. Interestingly, my husband and I are putting in more trees and shrubs to lower maintenance as we age.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Good idea.

Another lovely video, Alexandra. My front yard is a cottage garden, quite full and expanding around the sides. It is work but not too high maintenance. I'll spend all day in it just because it makes me happy. Aging has prompted more low maintenance perennials but I do enjoy having become the neighborhood "flower lady" and making friends with the dog walkers. I've noticed fewer are allowing their dogs to potty in my yard these days. Your walkway trees are beautiful! I have a curved walkway and through years of storms and pruning, our crabapple arches over the walk to hold hands with the Fire and Ice Hydrangea. It worked out stunningly.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

Ай бұрын

That sounds beautiful

Thank you Alexandra for mentioning the environmental and sustainable side of things. I like to see my garden as a habitat for wildlife that they are welcome to enjoy as much as I do! ☺ Cheers!

Roses and lavender are all over my front yard garden as well! Great tips!

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

They are so amazingly hardy for such beautiful plants, aren't they?

One of the best tips for low maintenance garden ever! I need a very low maintenance container garden with autumn to spring interest as I'm away from home often. This video was extremely useful! Thank you!

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

5 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

I wish I could go back to my 20's knowing what I know now. I had that gardener's disease " one of everything". Over the years I have changed things but I'm hard-pressed to limit ( especially trees ) to 5 or 6 varieties, and I'm thinking you mean 5 or 6 total not 5 or 6 of each. haha Great tips.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you! I still have 'one of everything' but luckily my predecessors didn't when they were planning the front garden.

I love to listen to the sound of your voice so am always happy when you come out with a new video. This is sometimes a problem for me like today, I have a very high maintenance garden, but here I am still watching.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@neverlostforwords

4 жыл бұрын

Gardening Junkie: I have a very high maintenance front garden too. You are not alone. I could write a catalogue with the many plants that are found in it! I am just not a low maintenance gardener.

The gardens are lovely. I particularly like the two trees at the gate.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you, I'm very pleased with them. They also demonstrate how quickly trees grow if they're planted when very young.

@carmentartaglia7133

4 жыл бұрын

What is the name of the trees? Thanks for the great advice.

I just discovered your channel and adore it, but must confess that this is the first video that I have stopped watching not even two minutes in: 5 or so different plants in a front garden? With a property of 50 by 150 feet, my front garden is THE main garden, the one I adore, and you had better believe I will cram as much as I can into it. I don't have "one of this and one of that" for the most part (even I know that doesn't usually work out very well), but I am determined to have a cottage garden with a riot of color and variety, even in such a small space.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

That's great, I love cottage gardens. And I believe it's good to celebrate different gardening styles - both the low maintenance and the gardens of those who love gardening.

Excellent information, thank you very much. This will help as I plan for my new front garden. Previous owners had very little in the front, nearly bare and not welcoming. It will change!!!

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

Thank you for posting these tips. The longer I garden, the more low maintenance I wish my garden to be so I have more time to create more garden beds.

@tatyanacrute274

2 жыл бұрын

😆 so true!

we also have low maintenance trees and shrubs in the front yard. we love our live oaks, magnolias, contorted mulberry, white fringe, and maple trees and the birds love them too! enjoyed the video! those two flowering trees you have in the front are wonderful.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you - they are crab apples (Malus hupehensis)

@katiewilliams6591

Жыл бұрын

Great have only just seen this posting despite having watched lots of your videos which I enjoy. We're also plant trees in our front garden this autumn but will now take a look at this particular crab apple too. Many thanks

Alexandra, as always, a great video. I totally agree with you that we tend to neglect our front garden. Low maintenance front garden is the best solution. Thank you for your video. I always enjoy watching them.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

Thank you for this--good tips all and your front garden is beautiful! My front garden has finally evolved to low maintenance after many years of trial & error. We are in US Zone 6 and deer browse is a huge issue. What I've edited down to are barberry, boxwood, coneflowers, daffodils, a magnolia, and a smoke bush. All untouched by the deer, easy to care for, and simply attractive.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

I love all those plants - I'm very relieved I don't have to deal with deer though as it seems to be quite a challenge for gardeners.

@tatyanacrute274

2 жыл бұрын

I would also add to deer resistant list: camellia, nandina, viburnum, ornamental grasses and most hydrangeas.

@juliewolfe7558

Жыл бұрын

@@tatyanacrute274 Yes to all except the hydrangeas. I love them but so do our deer!

Absolutely love this - thank you Alexandra! Now to find a suitable tree for my tiny front garden.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you

I love the fact that your garden looks like all our gardens. It makes me want to garden. Thank you.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

We do not get heatwaves here in Wales ! When south-east England is hot and sunny, we get cloudy, cool weather with rain, rain., rain ... Thank you for your videos.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

2 жыл бұрын

Every time I mention a heatwave, people from around the world think it's very funny, I don't think what we get in South East England is considered a heatwave anywhere else. I do envy your rain, though, it is so dry here, we are desperate for a bit more rain.

Very good info. I’ve made so many errors in over complicating with some perennials that I didn’t divide with similar issues you had. Thank you!

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Your garden is lovely - especially with the birdsong in the background, such a wonderful sound

Great advice! I must have missed this video when it was published. We were on vacation at the time, perhaps explaining why it escaped me. To the point: I can't do low maintenance anything, unfortunately. I love the thrill of seeing an ever-evolving garden vista and seeing new plants unfold their glory. Plants that are moved on to make way for the new are moved to my children's gardens where they (plants) happily continue their existence. As I am getting older, however, I will have to edit the various gardens, but I may let nature choose those that remain - that is, those that can manage with limited attention.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you! I find that I forget the front garden more than the back garden, so I'm very glad my predecessors planted it in such an easy care way. But like you, I don't think I could ever have managed it myself.

Thanks for some very sensible tips.

I absolutely love that you brought up the downfalls of plastic lawn. Not enough people are talking about how bad they are for local wildlife and ecosystems.

Really enjoyed this! Great ideas 😊

Great tips and, as usual, great visual inspiration.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you! And Happy New Year!

Positively Lovely 🥰 Thank you for sharing, Chris-Raleigh NC

Great tips. Thanks!

Thank you Alexandra another very helpful informative video. You have a beautiful front garden. Natalie 😀

I appreciate the detailed thoughts you voice in your advice, because there are aspects that I have not been considering, because I did not know about them. So for making decisions what to plant these aspects are pretty important to know before you buy and plant as a hobby gardener. Thank you very much for making this really nice video for all of us.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful! Thank you so much.

Thank you, I love your videos and inputs!!

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

Excellent Alexandra, Thanks.

Roses in the front beds is a brilliant idea! I have a hedge of boxwood along each side of my front walk with 24” beds in front of them, and have dotty perennials that are hard to keep up with...so low growing landscape roses may be just the thing! Thanks for the great idea.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

Love your videos ❤️❤️

Thanks for very practical pros and cons.

There are lawn alternatives like dwarf mondo grass , dymondia, and sedges . I’ve used a variety of ground covers like ajuga , sedums, etc. even lippia is a native plant that supports pollinators and insects. Plant selection is important and narrowing down to just 5 is hard. A rule I’ve read is to keep landscape 80% evergreen plants and with drought prevailing now more people are going to native plants. Color palette can also be 4 colors like pinks , white, lavender, grays, shades of green. Grey is a neutral color and also adds contrast . I truly doubt now days people want only one color in the garden . Interesting points made though and I agree with limiting perennials and annuals especially as I age.

Just literally thinking about my front garden this morning! Perfect timing. I really like your videos 😁

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

I love your videos. Please keep making them!

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

thank you Alexandra

These ideas are beautiful. Thank you for sharing, inspiring too.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much! 😊

Thank you very helpful !

What a delightful video! Came upon this completely by chance!

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

I love your vlog!

One of the best useful practical advice. Thank you.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

2 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

You are wonderful and thanks for explaining everything in detail but not dragging on.. everything you say is useful and love learning and getting new take on my old ideas. Thank you.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much!

I love your advice !

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

I really enjoyed watching this video, so much here extremely useful, thanks Alexander

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

Great tips on low maintenance front garden,just what I was looking for and great tips for windy gardens.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

I have recently discovered this channel and have found it to be highly educational. Thank you for your insight I've really enjoyed learning so much you. Keep up the good work.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much!

I have been looking for low maintenance ideas for my front garden for a long time so this is perfect for me. Thank you!

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

You are so welcome!

Great and easy to follow advice! This is so helpful to me in my planning. Thank you!

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

2 жыл бұрын

Thank yu!

Thanks!

Great tutorial

Hello from the southern tip of the U.S. So happy to have found your channel. Your content is thoroughly informative & entertaining with lots of visual eye candy. Thank you for covering topics like low maintenance, dry, & meditteranean gardens. Watched a few of your videos & was instantly compelled to subscribe! Love the quality & content of your channel. You are a fabulous host!

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much and welcome to the Middlesized Garden!

Thank you so much, very informative and exactly what I needed to know Much appreciated

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Hello from hot, sunny Florida. I enjoyed your video very much and hope to see you again soon!

Thank you for the video. You have a lovely front garden!

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you too!

Five plants - great idea! Tearing up the front now to remake it, just what I needed to know.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Subscribed! Great practical clear advice. ❤️

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

Жыл бұрын

Thank you1

This is great. You help new gardeners li!e me. A lot of garden programs like to presume that we have a lot of experience but this isn't always the case. You are very informative. Thank you.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

Loved this episode thank you so much ☺️

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

You are so welcome!

Thank you for these wonderful ideas!! 👏👏🤗💕🌷🌷

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Glad you like them!

Excellent content again. 👍👍

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

Thank you for sharing! #staysafe

Lots of great, practical and pragmatic advice. Excellent channel and content

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

Glad you think so! Thank you

Thank you, a lot of great information!!!!

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Super informative. I love your videos and channel.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much!

Great video!! Thanks for sharing!

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

You are so welcome!

Hello there, advice on low maintenance hedging for the front garden please. Really enjoyed this video. Thank you🌿.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you. I've got a blog post on choosing hedging - I hope that will help. The post is www.themiddlesizedgarden.co.uk/which-hedge-is-right-for-my-garden/ One of the main issues with hedging is that a fast-growing hedge will get to the height you want quickly, but will need more clipping after that. And a slow growing hedge will take years to be the hedge you dream of, but will be low maintenance after that. And instant hedging, planted when it is mature, needs a lot of extra care in its first two years. So there's almost no perfect low maintenance hedge, but I hope the post helps you choose.

@debbiemerryweather528

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the reply. Yes l want a fast-ish growing hedge, that's not going to need cutting back from the footpath next to it, very often. Also one that deters people from cutting across my front lawn. Kind regards Debbie

@neverlostforwords

4 жыл бұрын

@@debbiemerryweather528 I recommend Luma Apiculata. I have recently planted three (to form a very small hedge) in the front garden right next to the fence (slatted metal) and they began growing immediately, with no trouble at all. The leaves are beautiful mid to dark green and I think this could fit the bill for you. Cheers.

Excellent and informative video, thank you

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

I have large Pink & Red Roses in the front, two Red Robins, a Canary Palm, Solanum, American Wisteria, Montana, Cordyline, Jasmine, Ivy, 3/4 Evergreen shrubs & two other shrubs - one flowers White, the other Red. Honeysuckle. Forsythia. Weigela. Alliums, Daffodils & other Bulbs. Two new Rose cuttings I done around Oct last year. A Perennial Geranium. Cosmos plants & seedlings in the ground & in three container pots. Trailing Geraniums in hanging pots. Oh dear guess I have too much. I find the Montana needs regulat attention, with trimming.

This is wonderful - I am new to my house and have been mulling over what I’m doing. I’m in eastern North Carolina in the States, and I’ve put in azaleas, camellias, and a dogwood tree. But I’m looking for ways to hide the daffodil foliage from bulbs that were already there. I’m a rosarian, so I’ll be adding roses. But I’m allowing my lawn to become a meadow, much to my neighbors dismay! It’s a bit of a mess. So, your principles have given me a good template to follow.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

It sounds good, and I'm moving to a wildflower lawn at the front too.

Loved this video ❤

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

Glad you liked it!!

Your front garden is very charming. You have really given me something to think about while I am in the midst of planning a new garden. I am thinking along these lines for the bones of my garden/landscape, but think that including a fenced in smaller area (because I have deer in my woods) would afford me an area "to play in" with perennials and veg beds.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Planning a new garden is always a lovely stage, good luck with it.

I recently experimented with woolly thyme and white thyme, they grow side by side, smell amazing, and because they are in a patch that does not get trampled or walked on, are a good choice. No need for mowing either, they grow very slowly. Personally, I recommend trying them out instead of lawn. Chamomile lawn is another type of lawn I would be curious, but never tried it out. (Roman chamomile, not German)

Great tips! Thank you wish I had found you a couple of months ago!

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

You are so welcome!

Lovely crab apples!

We are in a tremendous drought area in the western us and gravelling the front yard is an idea many here have done and that we considered and decided against. I agree with you that gravel increases heat and it seems a bit of a catch-22. The best remedy does seem to be planting trees that shade everything else. Trees cool everything else down

really appreciate all of your thoughtful ideas. could you consider discussing ideas for low zone ( 3-4) gardens and for the alternate tropical gardens?

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

2 жыл бұрын

I will definitely bear that in mind, but it's worth remembering that many tips are not influenced by zone - all garden design tips and ideas can be carried out equally in any zone, as the zone only matters when buying plants if you want them to survive the winter. There's also a sliding scale as to which plants can be used, because there are many plants that will be fine in a lower zone summer, but won't survive the winter so are treated as annuals in that zone. While if they are grown in a higher zone, they can be treated as perennials - so there's lots of zone overlap with plants. Before I started the KZread channel I did a blog post on exotic/tropical gardens for a cool climate, but I will definitely do a video on that soon, so thank you for reminding me. Here is the blog post, in case that helps: www.themiddlesizedgarden.co.uk/an-unusual-tropical-garden-in-the-kent-countryside/

I love trees 🌳 ❤️ and lavenders

Informative thanks

I love your voice and accent. It is very comforting.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much 🙂

Another wonderful video. I am of the opinion that more is better but that opinion has led me down a more work path. Now that I am 85 I can't work as well as I once did and I need to make the front garden less complicated. Thanks for the encouragement. (The Lasagna Gardener)

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you! I've always thought more was better, but it's definitely more tiring and I always run out of time.

Hi Alexandra, I have just joined your channel and loving it already. I need lots of help and advice as I am very novice in gardening but want to learn. I shall watch all your videos. I find them very relatable. Thank you Anna/ Surrey

Love your videos. Lot’s of good advice, great ideas & video footage, interesting people & gorgeous gardens. Would love it if you could add in written names of plants you mention & show, like in this video, that I am unfamiliar with or cannot make out well enough to look up. You do that in many of your videos, thank you. We are in the mountains of North Carolina, but you show many plants that are cold hardy enough for us, & though our mountainside lot is not conducive to any formal style, we do have a couple of areas in front for a smallish bed of trees, shrubs & flowers that this video had wonderful ideas to try. Also, we have a long, slightly shady area that is difficult for much maintenance, but I was able to find many ideas for trees, shrubs & low maintenance plants that would work for here as well. This was our vacation home that we recently retired to & are just now working to re-do & finish out. Really do love all of your videos I’ve seen so far & look forward to hours of old & new videos when time allows. We all love the UK, & have been a few times as a family & will be in England & Scotland this coming summer. My husband was a golf professional & has been there over 80 times with members, has many members from the UK & is a member of a couple of clubs there. Wish my daughter & I could go as much as has & will in future! We love it there as much as he does. Thanks for all the time you spend making these excellent videos! All the best to you & yours, Lynda

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much, and for reminding me about plant names. Sometimes they're not available - someone has forgotten, for example, but where it's practical I try to include a few.

You are totally right, e.g. the gravel beds need a lot of care, even if many of the professional gardeners tell us that is not the case. we also have a more natural lawn and are rewarded with many flowers, such as scented violets, daisies, and many songbirds that feel comfortable.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

That sounds lovely!

I recently found your channel. Your videos are lovely and so so helpful for me! I moved to a Victorian home and am going all out on an English garden. I have found your videos amazingly educational :D

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much!

@squidsquiddly5970

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheMiddlesizedGarden :)

👌Very helpful

Sending you warmest regards from upper NY. I'm glad that you have been safe in this tumultuous year and I hope you've had an opportunity to be vaccinated. Here is to a happy healthy 2021 full of friends and gardens. Yours Jennie

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you! We're hoping to be vaccinated, if all goes well, by about mid- Feb to early March as we're in the fourth cohort, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it all goes well - all over the world. Happy New Year to you!

all your ideas are excellent ,I feel very much your passion for gardens and the good will to help and guide us to make a lovely gardens I feel in the way the oral way use is like a teacher talking to me and that is a lot to get use to if only the oral message could come more softer and encouragement and soft it will be music to my ears and I will feel like listening and watching your videos no stop as it is deliver in that way I get tired and unfortunately I have to stop periodically

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you, I will bear that in mind.

My front garden is on a slope downwards from the house - have you any tips for low growing shrubs that will go in the lower part? Thanks for your videos they are an inspiration! 😊😊

As usual very good ....My thoughts were that a ll the advice can also be applied to a small low maintenance garden

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

Good point! I think it's slightly harder to be very disciplined in a back garden though because you spend more time in it and there'll always be the tempation to tinker.

I guess we'd have to call my front yard "scruffy"! My neighbor insists on perfection, and is furious when "weeds" intrude - by "weeds", she means clover! I plant clover seeds whenever I have a bare spot.

Wonderful observations, as always. Have you seen Little Gem magnolias used in the UK? The grow as columns so they fit in smaller spaces, unlike the Grandifloras. Thanks for all your videos. I rely on your principles though I have to translate particular plants to Texas alternatives.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you. I don't think I have seen the Little Gem magnolias, they sound interesting. And translating principles is always a good idea, that's what I hope people can do

I am building a house next month and have already spent hrs and hrs dreaming of the front and back yard I want. I will be working with a bare canvas, except my right side rare will gently slope to a small stream bed full of youngish trees, pines. I’m moving from a near tropical zone in South Carolina to a zone 7a or b so maybe now I can grow a Gertrude Jekyll antique rose with success. I have 2 cuttings ready to go! Finally, what I envision for my front yard is four small pots and one large of perennials like coneflower, white impatiens and white geranium; a smattering of boxwood by the house; a Gertrude Jekyll and/or Graham Thomas rose off the small sidewalk; a lawn, and perhaps a birch halfway to the front door, which will be yellow. The house will be a craftsman with hearthstone-coloured siding and stone accents under the white columns. At 67, I’ll be joining my first garden club too to make sure I buy plants for my secluded small backyard that will thrive in my new area close to mountains.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

3 жыл бұрын

That sounds wonderful - great to start with a blank canvas.

I've a corner west-facing lot in an older downtown residential neighborhood in eastern Canada. It had virtually no plantings when I bought it 26 years ago- and yes, I wanted to deter cutting across. About 20 years ago, we put in Japanese hybrid Rose Glow Barbary. It was theoretically to grow to about 5 feet - approximately right, on the shorter side, where an immense maple partly shades it, and steals some of its water. The longer side has settled for 7 feet - with the odd spike needing to be trimmed. Maintenance: When the snow is gone, and leaves are considering opening, I cut out the dead wood. (My goal has never been a manicured hedge. No panic when an area is damaged - the plants will fill it in.) 1 1/2 months later, I again look for & cut out dead wood. (25 bushes, maximum 1 hour. It has a bizarre habit: some - small- branches will start to leaf out, & suddenly, they're dead! The shrub & I move on.) After another 1 1/2 months, an hour or so of trimming excessive new growth on the sidewalk side protects the eyes of bypassers. Spikes trimmed as needed. Guaranteed- no one cuts across.

I live in zone 9b and the previous owners planted 3 queen palm trees. When we moved in I thought, "how lovely!" Six years later, I'm ready to take them out because of the maintenance. The fronds grow too long, die, and have to be cut off. And each tree produces huge quantities of seed pods which make a terrible mess. They either drop to the ground on their own or, when you cut them down, they scatter, even if you've laid down a tarp to catch them, and it's impossible to rake up all of the seeds. I'm getting too old to deal with them, so they are coming out and I'll be planting something far less demanding. And then I'll once again be able to say, "how lovely!"

@21Cauzzie

4 жыл бұрын

I've read that palms really take off after 8 years. I delayed taking two out of my garden and sure enough after eight years they were monsters and I was lucky enough to have a husband who was an expert tree lopper and he cut them down. (he'd asked me to do it two years earlier) I'd say get rid of them sooner then later.

@TheMiddlesizedGarden

4 жыл бұрын

I don't have any experience of palm trees, except when I lived in South America in my childhood, but I think I remember them often looking tatty and a bit sad. It's interesting to see the other comments replying to yours, also saying that palm trees can be tricky to keep looking good.