Landscape Demolition and Update on First Demo

Well- we're at it again.  This is the south side of the house- very plain and heavily shaded.  This is the utility end with the electric meter, gas line and cable tv.  20 years ago when we the addition was added to the front of the house they dug my shrubs and laid them off to the side with a pile of dirt on them to cover the roots.  The next spring I re-planted and these two double file viburnum ended up over here.  With virtually no sunlight they did not fare well.  I have no idea why I've waited so long to do anything about it but we've finally put an idea in motion.

If you can spot it you can see a very large hosta on the back corner of the house.  There are various hostas in my landscape that I plan to dig, split and replant over on this side.  It's a good time to do this at this time of year since the days and nights are cooler and the plants will be less stressed out.  

On the other side of the house is the driveway.  We have a small turnaround spot and some Ninebark shrubs that haven't done well.  There is a garden mum that came back from last year and we transplanted a very small red Japanese maple that you can just see on the right side.  That got moved when we made the change by the side of the house and added new shrubs as shown "here".  Normally you would never transplant a tree or shrub in mid summer but we did and for some reason it never skipped a beat and is doing quite well.  (The best time to transplant trees and shrubs is in the fall when they are ready to go into dormancy or early spring before they are leafing out.)

Like before when we did our landscape renewal in late July out front as seen "here" Dan used our little John Deere tractor with it's front bucket to remove the shrubs.  It saves a lot of back breaking stress as well as for the legs and knees!  

Now I have a fairly blank slate.  I scratched some ideas on paper and am currently working on giving this area a new look.  It will be mostly plants that die back for the season.  I also plan on transplanting a few things from the yard over here during this process.

When we did the foundation landscape renewal (first demo) I planted two knock-out roses.  They had a couple of flowers at that time and seemed to stall out on flowering for a bit.  Suddenly they exploded with flowers and I am so delighted!

Now the real test will be next spring.  Hoping to see them come back with no problems!

The big Japanese Maple we put in is doing very well too as well as the two arborvitaes on the sides of the chimney.  Compared to what I had before this is so much better looking.  

I just had to share this.  The big limelight has started to turn to the pink color.  I opened the window from the living room and snapped a couple of shots.

Isn't it pretty- I wish it would stay this way!  Eventually they all turn brown, but that won't happen for a little while yet.

Joining:

Between Naps on the Porch

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Metamorphosis Monday 

Tickled Pink!

I'm so happy I'm tickled  pink!

 My Pinky Winky Hydrangea has actually turned pink for the first time!

I guess it is either just right conditions this year or more likely it just needed to get established.  I was lazy this year and didn't even fertilize. 

 This was it when I first planted it in 2010 

Little things like this make me so happy!

These Limelights are so huge this year.  They're so soft and fluffy!

 Last of the Blackeyed Susans -

Rudbeckia

These are ready for drying.  They'll be brown before I know it.

All the rain has greened up the drying grass and the Rose Of Sharon is blooming better than ever.  Last year I gave it a good trim to re-shape it. 

This has been a rewarding summer!  

 This is a video I took in July of the bumblebees collecting pollen from the 

Annabelle Hydrangeas

 

 For some reason the quality isn't as good as it should be but I don't know how to fix it.

Late Summer Gardens

 Boy time is flying past too quickly.

 I just love these Cone Flowers (Echinacea) These are called Secret Affiar from the Secret Series.  There are similar versions by other suppliers but I happen to think this one is  the best I've seen.  They have an added bonus of a light scent too!  The yellow flowers are a Heliopsis called Tuscan Sun.  The white flowers are another variety of Cone Flowers.  

This is from 2014 when I planted these.

The lilacs have gotten a lot bigger and I've lost all the lilies you can see on the right.

This is it in 2016

The Cones on the right are weak mainly because of the big blue spruce nearby that creates too much shade for them.  The Russian Sage struggles too looking for more sun.  There is a Helenium plant (Sneezeweed) on the left that's just about done blooming.  I was ready to dig all this out and forget it because it looked pretty crappy early on this summer.  We gave it more attention with the sprinkler and it kicked right in gear and got going.  

 I refer to this as my "forgotten garden" because it is hidden by the big blue spruce.  

 There is a small plant growing by the spruce that I'm convinced I planted many years ago and has come back from extinction.   If you recognize the leaf and know what it is let me know!

This hibiscus- Rose of Sharon is blooming a little bit earlier than previous years.  I looked back at a couple of older posts and it showed it blooming as late as September 12th.  It will look a little fuller in the coming week.

 I cut this Limelight Hydrangea back quite severely last year because it had become quite wide and interfered with getting by it when Dan mows the lawn.  I wasn't sure how it would react but as you can see it did great.  The center seems to have grown tall and left a middle area with few blooms.  

It was very sunny and I used the spruce tree to get away from the glare but it made for a darker shot of the hydrangeas.  This one gets a fair amount of sun as compared to the ones out back.

I'm going to cut a bunch of these blocking the path and send my daughter home with them when she visits this weekend.  

In November of 2011 I purchased this little Christmas Cactus.

It's done a lot of growing and I decided it needs to be transplanted it into a larger pot.  I ordered the pot on-line and it's quite a bit larger.  I am going to re-pot it right away so it can get comfortable before it comes back in the house.  I've kept it outdoors all summer in the shade and it's healthy as can be.  The planter is a bit large but the plant should be able to survive in it for many years to come.

These are the last of the hostas that are flowering.  The hummingbirds enjoy them so I let them grow.  I took this in the evening.

 Everything is kind of shaggy now.  The plants are at their fullest.  The Annabelle hydrangeas have turned green and are just about perfect to cut and dry.  The boots found a new spot to hang out. 

You'll find me sitting here in the evenings relaxing and watching the sprinkler watering the plants.  It's been a wonderful summer here.  We've had a fair amount of hot days and warm nights but no complaints!  

Walk Around The Yard and Gardens

I did a walk around the gardens and snapped a few photos.

 My Dwarf Korean lilac topiary tree continued blooming and since it was the best I've ever seen it I just couldn't resist taking lots of pictures.

The fragrance has been amazing.  Butterflies have been visiting it and I'm very thankful to have enjoyed it's beauty this year!

On the side of our driveway where I planted things to create an alcove of privacy these  Donald Wyman Lilacs have done their job.  They're a very late bloomer and have a nice fragrance but only if you come up to them closely to smell.

These Summer Wine Ninebark shrubs are coming up very poorly this year. We had a somewhat dry spring early on but these have been here for 3 years and they're supposed to be somewhat drought tolerant.  

 The island out front.  These are some spirea (Lemon Princess or Gold Mound) are a great filler next to the Limelight Hydrangea. I cut that down severely last fall and crossed my fingers that it would come back okay.  So far it has leafed out nicely so I'm hoping for the best!

 The peonies are ripe!

These hardy geraniums (Max Frei-Cranesbill) are the best- so reliable and not fussy.

 There are daisies coming and the purple salvia has started to bloom.

The Zagreb Coreopsis are getting larger every year which I love.  I think it will be a few weeks before they're in full bloom.

This hosta is called Orange Marmalade.  It's been a slow grower but always looks nice.  

The columbine are blooming.  

Butterfly weed will be blooming and the Stella D'Oro Lilies that outline part of the island are coming along nicely.  The blue oat grass is always reliable.

The giant blue delphinium is coming along nicely but a ways off before blooms.

This weigela was getting very unattractive with it's shape so last summer I really shaped it up after it was done blooming.  It's not loaded with blooms this year but it's shape is far more attractive.

The iris have been blooming very nicely too.

Nearby my frog planter is filling out nicely.  This guy makes me smile!!

Out back I re-arranged this area a bit.  The old wagon got moved to the right side and the garden bench that we finally had re-finished is now sitting by the maple tree. 

We had it sand blasted, welded back together and powder coated so the finish should stay good for a long time now.  This is a cameo back garden bench circa 1910-1920.

The impatiens are just starting to grow and so is the ivy.  Should be looking good before long.

I'll give your eyes a rest and end this here though I have more pictures to come!

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