We have been living in our ‘new’ home now for quite a few years and have watched our yard change and struggle through some challenges. Big, heavy tree limbs, sent toppling down by several wind storms, damaging and scarring the grass and garden below. The turf along much of the back perimeter of our yard has been throttled as fences were rebuilt. Moss has taken hold as a consequence, in part, to new neighbors mistakenly draining their overwintered pool into our yard. Simply put, it is time to focus on landscaping!
It is spring and at no time, at least in recent memory, have I ever been so delighted to be outside in our yard enjoying the sunshine. This quarantine thing has blown through my last nerve, so seeing the vibrancy and new life that comes with the season is particularly dear to me. It is especially gratifying to see how well our new garden, planted a year ago, is doing. Join me as I take you through the first stage of our landscaping journey; our southwest sunshine garden. Who knows, maybe it will inspire the Gertrude Jekyll in you.
Should They Stay or Should They Go
When we purchased our home, the juniper bushes in our front yard were huge and overgrown. My husband was ready to pull them out straight away, but I wasn’t sure and didn’t know what we would want to plant in their place.
After several years of tolerating these gnarly, unruly mess makers, David heeded my pleas, (though unable to resist a barely audible, “I told you so”), he went to work pulling them all out in the fall of 2018. Stumps were all that remained where the shrubs once were.
I spent a good part of the ensuing winter stewing about what would look best, (and would grow successfully), where the shrubs had been. Eventually, spring 2019 came around and I was still no closer to a landscape solution, though I did have a few ideas.
The Plan
I knew that I most definitely wanted a burning bush. I have enjoyed them in my yard before with their vibrant red leaves in the fall and their ease of care. I also LOVE lilacs and since this garden enjoys a lot of sunshine, it seemed to me that a lilac bush should do really well there. So now all that was left to determine was a focal point; maybe a Dogwood, Hawthorn or a Flowering Cherry?
As luck would have it, our friends were also doing some landscaping in their yard and had decided on a lovely flowering tree from a nursery in the Spokane Valley. Eleanor began to describe their fantastic find to me and as soon as she uttered the words “Golden Chain”, it was like I could hear angels singing in the heavens! I absolutely loved the Golden Chain tree that we had at our last home and I now know where I can find one for our new garden. It will be the perfect focal point I have been looking for. Off we went to the nursery in the Spokane Valley.
Once we planted our beautiful new tree and shrubs, we went to work spreading beauty bark and planting annuals around the yard. David focused on pruning what was left of the remaining branches of the juniper while I moved to the back yard, cleaning beds, spreading bark and planting pots. When I returned to the front, I could see that David had been very effective with the saw–a huge limb that once was, was no more. A big gaping space was staring back at me as I puzzled what to do now.
The next day, I decided to drive to a large nursery on our side of town to come up with a solution to this new conundrum. I started by browsing through the massive inventory and making myself a pest with all sorts of questions for the nursery staff who were roaming about. After a couple of painstaking hours of serious shopping, I picked up our last (very heavy) plant, a Burkwood Viburnum, and with pride and purpose, made my way to the cash register. I brought it home, dug a huge hole, amended the soil with all of the right stuff, set it in with all of the roots spreading out the way I was instructed and finished with a thorough watering. Our Southwest Sunshine Garden was now complete and ready to be presented to the world!
Dwarf Burning Bush
Euonymus alatus ‘Compactus’
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Fall Color
- Extreme Cold Hardiness
- Easy Care
- Dwarf Plant
- Birds
Reaches 6 to 8 feet tall, 8 to 10 feet wide. Deciduous. Rich green leaves spring through summer, intense scarlet red fall coloring.
Golden Chain Tree
Labumum x watereri “Vossii”
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Fragrant
- Showy Flowers
- Deer Resistant
- Birds
A moderate grower– up to 20 feet tall and 15 feet wide. Deciduous. Spectacular color from long, drooping clusters of fragrant, bright yellow flowers.
Charles Joly Lilac
Syringa vulgaris “Charles Joly”
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Cut Flowers
- Fragrant
- Showy Flowers
- Rabbit Resistant
- Deer Resistant
- Easy Care
Moderate growing; reaches 8 to 10 feet tall and 6 feet wide. Has an upright, open-branched habit and bright green foliage. Gorgeous, deep wine red, double flower clusters are highly fragrant.
Burkwood Viburnum
Viburnum x burkwoodii
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Fragrant
- Showy Flowers
- Year Round Interest
- Ornamental Berries
- Deer Resistant
- Birds
A moderate grower– reaches 6 to 12 feet tall and 4 to 5 feet wide. Prized for its stunning clusters of pinkish white spring flowers with a wonderful spicy-sweet fragrance and beautiful, lustrous, dark green foliage. Evergreen to semi-evergreen.
They all survived the winter and seem to be happy and thriving. The Viburnam, (which has become my favorite plant of all), is in it’s full glory right now and the lilacs are within days of ‘popping’ full of fragrance and that amazing dark purple I love so much. It will be so fun to watch this garden grow and fill in. NOW! I am think’n maybe a rose bush or two? ….
Until next time,
enjoy Entertaining An Idea!
