Rodale's Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening by Fern Marshall Bradley

Author:Fern Marshall Bradley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rodale
Published: 2017-01-30T05:00:00+00:00

Landscape Renovation

If you are starting with an existing landscape rather than a bare lot, you’ll no doubt have trees, shrubs, and other plantings to deal with before you start creating a design. Try to identify the plants already growing in your yard, determine when (and if!) they have flowers or other features, and also evaluate how healthy they are. Common garden wisdom states that you should wait a year, watching what comes up and what flowers when, before making changes. That’s good advice to follow, if you can wait that long. However, there may be features you want to change right away—overgrown hedges, dead or dying trees, or unattractive plantings that are located in the wrong place. In this case, eliminate unwanted plants, and transplant ones that can be moved either to a holding bed or to a final location while you create a design. Here are some other suggestions for dealing with existing plantings.

Cover unattractive shrubs with annual vines for a year while you plan your design.

Reduce the size of overgrown shrubs like forsythias by renewal pruning (which often entails cutting them to the ground after they bloom in spring). Most evergreens will not tolerate renewal pruning, but many flowering shrubs will.

Cut down and dig out overgrown shrubs or trees that block windows and walkways. Or thin out the older stems and cut them back hard to encourage more-attractive growth.

Salvage what you can from weedy, overgrown beds: Dig up remnants of perennials and bulbs you’d like to save for another spot and plant them in a holding bed. Then cut down the remaining growth in the bed and cover everything with a thick layer of newspaper (10 sheets at least) topped with organic mulch. Replant once you have developed a design.

Replace disease- or insect-prone shrubs and trees with more tolerant selections.

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