Landscape/Garden Design

[Phred]

I thought bamboo was horribly invasive.

There are running bamboos and clumping bamboos... the Fargesia we're talking about are clumping.

 

[Linus_Cello]

“Running” bamboo can be invasive. “Clumping” bamboo generally is not invasive.

Phred- were your bamboos from
http://bamboogarden.com/

 

[Phred]

“Running” bamboo can be invasive. “Clumping” bamboo generally is not invasive.

Phred- were your bamboos from
http://bamboogarden.com/

No... I got them from various nurseries in MA

 

[southernbelle]

Good to know.

 

[PeteM]

Very impressed. Thanks for sharing. I can see how this level of organization and neatness transfers over to your orchid culture just by looking at your orchid pictures. I need to find a way to harness these super powers.

 

[Phred]

The next stage was deciding what kind of material I wanted to use for the ‘patio’. I decided to use deck and dug out the area so it was level with the driveway. I built the joist system to fill in the area to be decked.

 

[Tom-DE]

Phred, this is very inspiring as spring is just around the corner here.
It is very generous of you to show us all of your gardens and the process of making them. Thank you.

 

[Phred]

My favorite thing about gardening is sharing ideas and info... “freely you have received freely give”.

 

[Tom-DE]

My favorite thing about gardening is sharing ideas and info... “freely you have received freely give”.

So true!

 

[Phred]

Here’s the area after I decked it... still had to trim up the edges of the decking.

 

[Tom-DE]

Beautiful!
Love those rocks! I don't know how expensive those boulders are in MA but it will cost a fortune in southern Delaware(we have no mountain, no rocks but beaches and sands)
What are your top five favorite conifer plants in this garden?

 

[Phred]

Beautiful!
Love those rocks! I don't know how expensive those boulders are in MA but it will cost a fortune in southern Delaware(we have no mountain, no rocks but beaches and sands)
What are your top five favorite conifer plants in this garden?

I’m not sure... there were 80 different ones I put in. I do love the dwarf Japanese white pines... Pinus parviflora. I had ‘Adcocks Dwarf’, ‘Arnold Arboretum’ and ‘Fuku Zu Mi’. I was also pretty fond of the Pinus densiflora ‘Oculus Draconis’ (Dragon’s Eye Pine) on the top of the berm in the last photo. I had several Cryptomeria also and the miniatures are very cool.

 

[Tom-DE]

I love Japanese white pine(P. parviflora) also. I had one in my old house and it was a spectacular specimen with 3 nice branches/multi trunks. The Japanese umbrella pine(Sciadopitys verticillata) is another favorite of mine. I had to leave both of them behind when we sold that house...I finally added the umbrella pine to my current garden two years ago...I am still trying to find a good Japanese white pine locally.
Another conifer that I really like is the Hinoki Cypress(Cham. obtusa) and I have a few varieties in my garden.

 

[Phred]

I love Japanese white pine(P. parviflora) also. I had one in my old house and it was a spectacular specimen with 3 nice branches/multi trunks. The Japanese umbrella pine(Sciadopitys verticillata) is another favorite of mine. I had to leave both of them behind when we sold that house...I finally added the umbrella pine to my current garden two years ago...I am still trying to find a good Japanese white pine locally.
Another conifer that I really like is the Hinoki Cypress(Cham. obtusa) and I have a few varieties in my garden.

Hi Tom-DE
I haven’t personally owned a Japanese Umbrella Pine but I do like them. I had a few Hinoki Cypress in this garden though... they’re a great conifer and ‘Nana’ is one of my favorites. I got a Hinoki that was part of a hedge row. It was a twin trunk about 11’ tall when I got it. Below is what I did to it... in 2015 I cleaned it up and the Denver Botanic Garden purchased it from me and it’s still on display in there Japanese garden as far as I know.

 

[Tom-DE]

Nicely done with the Bonsais, Phred. It takes patience and skills!
I only have one large form of Hinoki Cypress, the rest of them are miniatures (mostly from the Nana selection). About 15 years ago, I planted quite a few conifers for my current house, some expensive ones and some common ones...slowly, I lost most of them due to the wet clay/drainage problem in winter, except the Hinoki Cypress--they all live and do quite okay.
I love fir trees, especially the Korean fir. I want one but I think the climate here is a bit too hot for it.

 

[Tom-DE]

Hi, Phred, Just saw a southern magnolia(assuming) in your landscape. Is it truly hardy in MA.? (not sure what agriculture zone you were in MA).

 

[Phred]

Hi, Phred, Just saw a southern magnolia(assuming) in your landscape. Is it truly hardy in MA.? (not sure what agriculture zone you were in MA).

Yes... the Southern Magnolia is hardy where I was. A couple years after that photo we had a very heavy wet snow that broke it off just above the ground and I never got around to planting another.

 

[Tom-DE]

That is amazing!
I saw a few southern magnolias in Staten Island, NY and I thought that was quite remarkable...never imagined they could grow further north than NYC.
I have 4 southern magnolias(medium or small varieties) in my yard. A few years ago, an ice storm+wet snow broke off the top or branches, they all have recovered from the damages now.

 

[Phred]

The next photos are of this area once it was completed. The plant material is filling in and maturing. You may notice that in some of these photos I have removed the Bamboo hedge and replaced it with Emerald Green Arborvitae. The last two photos are the most recent of them all... and voila privacy. Remember how close the neighbors house was?

 

[Tom-DE]

Wow! Just Wow!

I think it was a good idea to replace the bamboo hedge.