Tag: Shrubs & Hedges

Jake Hobson’s Garden: A Tour of the Niwaki Founder’s Mini-Forest Backyard

Jake Hobson is a master pruner. He’s written two books on pruning: Niwaki: Pruning, Training, and Shaping Trees the Japanese Way and The Art of Creative Pruning: Inventive Ideas for Shaping Trees and Shrubs. And he’s the founder of Niwaki, a Japanese-inspired garden tool company headquartered in England. So, it should come as no surprise that his home landscape in Dorset is full of artfully shaped, precisely pruned shrubs and trees. But it isn’t your usual English garden with clipped hedges—nor is it a replica of Japanese gardens.

“Everything I do is inspired by Japan, but I’m deliberately not making it all Japanese,” explains Hobson. “There’s no koi pond or red bridges.” Not only does Hobson eschew any decorative Japanese elements, he avoids ornaments altogether. “For me, a Japanese garden is creating a sense of a landscape—an idealized landscape—within the plot. If you bring in ornaments, you ruin the magic of scale. Whereas, if all you’ve got is plants, you can create a sense (if you squint and after a couple of drinks) that maybe you’re looking out into a deep forest.”

Hobson has successfully created this illusion of landscape within his small space. Looking out the windows of the home he shares with his wife, Keiko, and their son, or gazing at photographs of Hobson’s green, layered garden, it’s hard to believe that it’s not much bigger than a tennis court.

When Hobson and his wife bought the house, the backyard had four sheds, a mismatched bunch of overgrown conifers, and a ton of concrete paths. They ripped it all out, leaving just the evergreen hedge that blocks the view from a neighboring building. Hobson commissioned a local carpenter to build a single new shed inspired by a Japanese “summer house” at the back of the plot. Then he planted dozens of evergreen and coniferous shrubs and trees that he has been training and pruning for the last fourteen years. The result is a garden that feels like its own miniature world, full of living sculptures.

Let’s take a tour of Hobson’s garden, which he photographed himself. (You can follow him on Instagram @niwakijake.)

Above: Every year Hobson lets the grass grow long and mows a new path through it. “Zigzagging through the garden is a really Japanese thing,” he notes. “You never just go straight into a house.” At right are some of Hobson’s undulating boxwood and a Phillyrea latifolia, which Hobson calls a “cloud-pruned tree.” (He had been growing it for years at his parents home before moving it to the garden.)

Source link

November 18, 2025
Fall Gardening: Can You Stop Watering Now? (And 5 Other Burning Questions) – Gardenista

Ah, fall: when cozy sweaters come out, the air crisps up, a kaleidoscope of colorful leaves decorate sidewalks, and it’s a struggle to decide which pumpkin-flavored drink to buy at the local coffee shop. In the garden, grasses turn tawny, flowers transform to seed heads, and it’s a struggle (as you sip your pumpkin-spiced latte) to decide what needs to be done and how to prepare plants for the coming sleepy, cold months.

You’re on your own picking your hot beverage of choice, but we can help you figure out your fall gardening chores. Below, six burning questions you may have about autumn gardening.

Featured photograph by Christin Geall, from Flower Design: A Week at the Cambo Estate in Scotland.

Do you still need to weed?

Above: Photograph by Justine Hand, from Landscaping 101: A Garden Arsenal to Fight Weeds.

Yes. (And sorry!) We may not always see weeds, but trust me, they’re there, quietly resting below the soil surface, waiting for us (or creatures) to disturb the soil so that they can get some sun and a drink of water—and then KABOOM! Total weed invasion. Fall is definitely a time when weed seeds are storing food for winter, or they are exploding as they dry up. My advice: don’t procrastinate. The best way to get ahead of a spring weed invasion is to get a hold of the situation in the fall. And the most important thing you can do right now is prevent weeds from going to seed. How? Remove the weeds you see. And to ensure a successful eradication, determine what weeds you have and how they reproduce. Do they spread by seed, by rhizome, or re-sprout with a deep taproot? Once you know your culprits and how they make more of themselves, then you can learn how to successfully attack them. (See Weed Wisdom: What 10 Common Weeds Are Trying to Tell You.)

Here’s an idea to prevent weeds from taking over your world: lay down a 3-inch thick layer of mulch to bury newly dropped weed seeds and prevent light from reaching them. For large weedy areas, consider the sheet mulching method where you lay down flattened cardboard or newspaper first and then pile a thick layer of mulch on top. For individual weeds, consider pouring undiluted vinegar directly on the weed. Whatever method you do choose, manage weeds as naturally and as non toxic as possible. (See Landscaping 101: Pros and Cons of Homemade Weed Killer.)

When can you stop watering plants?

Above: In the Cranford Rose Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Photograph by Marie Viljoen.

Bottom line: don’t stop watering yet, because plants still need water—just not as much as in the hot summer. After plants spend the summer devoting time and energy into leaf and flower growth, they move on to fruit and seed production, and then they take advantage of the fall season to get busy growing their roots. This means if we have a non-rainy fall, plant roots can dehydrate and plants become stressed; they will need continued drinks of water to keep them healthy. This is especially true for sunnier south-facing areas, and not so much for north-facing areas where the moisture will stay longer. Also, remember that plants under solid eaves don’t benefit from rainfall and can remain dry as a bone so you will need to hand water these areas.

Pro Tip: Newly installed or transplanted plants definitely need regular watering through the fall.

Above: Our editor Meredith uses a galvanized watering can to thoroughly soak the plants in her window boxes in San Francisco. Photograph by Liesa Johannssen for Gardenista, from Container Gardens: 5 Tips for a Perfect Window Box.

When winter finally creeps in, it also brings along its own set of dry, damaging conditions. When plants are packed under snow and ice, roots still get thirsty. The solution is to super hydrate plant roots before winter, and before the ground freezes, this means giving your plants long, deep soaks of water. When temperatures start to drop below 40 degrees F, you can wind down the water. If you’re in a warmer climate, the soil may not freeze at all, and if it doesn’t rain for a few weeks, your plants will still need a weekly dose of H2O.

Source link

November 6, 2025
Quick Takes With: Michael P. Gibson – Gardenista

Recently, we published a story on the trend toward more naturalistic-looking shrubs in garden design, but Michael P. Gibson’s Seussian topiary art may singlehandedly stem that tide. Michael is a renowned topiarist based in Columbia, SC, who has an undeniable way with shrubs, mostly evergreens, which he shears and prunes into delightfully otherworldly forms. The son of a hairstylist (his mom) and an artist (his dad), he seems to have inherited their talents, alchemizing them into a skillset that’s entirely his own.

Michael and his work, particularly his role in restoring Pearl Fryar’s Topiary Garden, have been featured in the New York Times, Garden and Gun, Magnolia and Moonshine, as well as podcasts. He was even a contestant on HGTV’s topiary competition reality show Clipped, with Martha Stewart as a host. “I have many projects coming up, but one I’m really excited about is next spring with The Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston, MA, creating topiary sculptures from existing mature boxwoods,” he tells us. “I’m also in the process of working on my first book.”

While you wait for that book to be released, here’s a peek into his topiary-obsessed brain.

Photography courtesy of Michael P. Gibson.

Your first garden memory:

My first garden memory is, when I was around five, being fascinated watching my dad meticulously trim the shrubs around the yard into perfect geometric shapes. I was determined to learn and started clipping by age seven.

Garden-related book you return to time and again:

The Art Of Creative Pruning by Jake Hobson is a game-changer, highlighting pruning styles from around the world. The Night Gardener by Devin and Terry Fan (my kids love this children’s book). Topiary by Twigs Way.

Instagram account that inspires you:

Anyone posting about topiary! @topiarycatblack always has creative ideas. @amir_topiary_vrn is doing amazing work. And @hedgelover_ does a great job at showcasing topiary inspiration from around the world.

Describe in three words your garden aesthetic.

Refined. Imaginative. Peaceful.

Plant that makes you swoon:

Ilex aquifolium ‘Argentea Marginata is a gorgeous, variegated holly with creamy yellowish green leaves. The new growth emerges with pinkish margins. A beauty in any landscape.

Plant that makes you want to run the other way:

That’s easy: Berberis thunbergii. Not a fan of the thorns. Although I’ve created some interesting shapes, I would not recommend for topiary. This was actually the very first shrub I clipped.

Favorite go-to plant:

Evergreens make the best topiary, so I tend to stick to Ilex varieties, with Ilex vomitoria being one of my favorites. Grows nice and dense and can be sculpted like stone.

Hardest gardening lesson you’ve learned:

Always follow the vein of the branch when doing inner pruning to make sure you make the right cut and not pruning away a large amount of foliage. Also, avoid pruning in the rain or even after heavy rain, branches will be weighed down and will spring up when dry, potentially messing up your design.

Unpopular gardening opinion:

You can get a smoother, more refined look to hedges by avoiding swaying the hedge trimmer back and forth and just brush in one direction. Just like brushing hair. Changing directions in the right areas will make it look like shadows or shading.

Gardening or design trend that needs to go:

Planting the wrong shrub or tree too close to a building structure. Do research on the plant before planting to understand growth habits.

Old wives’ tale gardening trick that actually works:

Pinching buds will actually help encourage the side shoots to grow, allowing a denser plant.

Favorite gardening hack:

Pruning up a tree can add not only more space, but also prevent anyone from hiding behind it. That’s called the 3-6 rule. Keep smaller shrubs below three feet, and limb up branches to at least six feet on taller trees.

Favorite way to bring the outdoors in.

During the holidays, I find rosemary, lavender, or lemon Cypress shrubs from a local nursery that are around a foot in height and clip them into small table-top topiaries like spirals to have around the house.

Every garden needs a…

Focal point to draw visitors in. Consider topiary, a living sculpture that will enhance any space and continue to impress as it matures. Every garden should have at least one topiary.

Tool you can’t live without:

Tobisho Topiary Clippers allow me to use hand shears like a pencil. Feels like Edward Scissorhands, or a barber adding the final details.

Go-to gardening outfit:

Moisture wicking pants and long sleeve shirt, a safari hat, Gamecock neck gaiter, nitrile gloves, and Sketcher boots.

Favorite nursery, plant shop, or seed company:

Reese’s Plants in Columbia, SC, is my go-to nursery. A unique plant shop I recently visited was Elizabeth Stuart in Charleston, SC, which has a little bit of everything in their showroom and nursery.

On your wishlist:

Tobisho Shears from Niwaki.

Not-to-be-missed public garden/park/botanical garden:

Fellows Riverside Garden in Youngstown, OH; Earlewood Park in Columbia, SC; Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, MI; and Wave Hill Public Garden & Cultural Center in Bronx, NY.

The REAL reason you garden:

Incredibly therapeutic to work in nature daily, especially for someone that grew up with ADHD. I have a true passion for beautifying public spaces with topiary and creating peaceful more loving spaces for all.

Thanks so much, Michael! (You can follow him on Instagram @gibby_siz.)

For our full archive of Quick Takes, head here.

(Visited 18 times, 18 visits today)

Source link

October 12, 2025
The Low-Impact Garden: Fiona Brockhoff’s Nature-Based Garden on the Mornington Peninsula

In just two weeks, Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden lands in bookstores! We are so appreciative of all the interest the book has already generated. As a thank-you, our publisher is offering a 20-percent discount when you pre-order our book from their site (use code: GARDENISTA20) before October 14.

And if you need further enticement, here’s another sneak peek from the book: a tour of an inspired residential garden in Australia that takes its cues from the coastal national park right next door.

Fiona Brockhoff grew to love the Mornington Peninsula’s wild ocean landscape as a child on vacation. When the renowned landscape designer built her family home here, the style was a nod to 1950s beach shacks—powered by solar panels and rainwater. Her garden is rooted in ecological resilience.

Fiona’s love of native plants stems from long acquaintance, aided by her love of bush walking (or hiking) and camping. The house, named Karkalla after an indigenous coastal plant, and which she shares with her partner and extended family, sits on a strip of land that has the ocean on one side and Port Phillip Bay on the other. “It’s quite a harsh environment—it’s very windy and the soil is sandy,” explains Fiona. “The decisions we made were not just about the layout of the garden and the hard landscape elements. A lot of the plants that I chose were those I’d seen when I’d been walking in the Mornington Peninsula National Park, adjacent to our property.”

The provenance of materials is as local as the plants: “The gravel comes from a nearby quarry, and a lot of the timbers are from a jetty that was renovated when we were building the garden.” Walls of regional limestone anchor the house and garden and are the continuing work of stonemason David Swann, Fiona’s partner, whom she met on the build.

Fiona focuses on “appropriate planting” rather than lecturing people on the rights and wrongs of natives versus non-natives. When a client asks for bamboo and miniature maples to go in a Japanese-style garden, she asks them to go back a step and think about what it is about a Japanese garden that attracts them. Is it the simplicity and the restricted number of plants and elements in that kind of garden? If so, she suggests creating that feeling using local, indigenous plants.

City people on the Mornington Peninsula can bring with them a Melbourne mentality, thinking that constant vigilance is required in watering and general fussing over plants. Fiona tells clients that unless they are growing vegetables, this is not necessary. “It’s more about allowing those plants to be themselves. They don’t require a lot of maintenance because they’re mainly indigenous, or they’re a good ecological fit. Yes, there’s some pruning, and the gravel needs a bit of raking, but on the whole, it’s about working with nature.”

Photography by Caitlin Atkinson.

Above: Sea box (Alyxia buxifolia, foreground) is found in native coastal scrub, but Fiona shapes it like ordinary boxwood. Behind the table is a clipped Melaleuca lanceolata, which in the wild would grow into a large tree. Says Fiona: “We’ve pruned boxwood, roses, and lavender. Why weren’t we pruning Australian plants?” The main barrier is perception, she suggests. “People say to me, ‘Is that really a native garden? But—it’s so beautiful.’”

Source link

October 1, 2025
Garden Visit: Charlotte Molesworth’s Topiaries at Balmoral Cottage

When Donald and Charlotte Molesworth first arrived at their small Kent cottage more than three decades ago, there was a derelict house and an almost totally blank canvas. The plot had once been the kitchen garden of an estate that belonged to “Cherry” Ingram, the great Victorian plant hunter. It may have looked like a wasteland, but it was one with fertile soil that had been improved over centuries.

What the couple have created since then is nothing short of extraordinary: a flourishing garden that centers around Charlotte’s awe-inspiring topiary and a cluster of small buildings (including a holiday cottage to rent) in the beautiful Kent landscape. On a rainy day we joined Charlotte for a tour of Balmoral Cottage:

Photography by Clare Coulson for Gardenista.

Above: The house and garden is almost entirely hidden from view, which makes the magical entrance under an arch of hornbeam and down a path of ball-topped boxwood, even more tantalizing.

Balmoral Cottage is down an unmade track and tucked away behind St George’s church in the picture-postcard village of Benenden. Charlotte insists there was no masterplan when they began the garden. They requested yew seedlings as their wedding gifts and they planted them all before transplanting them at a later date.

Above: All the boxwood in the garden (and there are many varieties) was also grown from seedlings, many collected on Charlotte’s travels.

Charlotte’s horticultural talent is in her blood. Her father was a farmer on the nearby North Downs and her mother was a plantswoman who grew and sold primulas and had a love of yew. It was her aunt, another talented gardener, who first planted the seed, of training topiary. Charlotte’s skills and her garden have grown organically.

Above: Charlotte’s advice for those starting a garden is to think vertically: “When you start a garden, I think it’s the one thing that you often don’t think about, yet it’s this structure that is so valuable in the garden.”

Almost everything here has been grown, recycled, or rescued (“We are great scavengers,” admits Charlotte). The greenhouses have been built using unwanted materials destined for the scrap heap; the polytunnels were rescued. Even some of the garden’s most beautiful trees (including some stunning Malus Huphensis) were picked up as tiny seedlings on walks through the next-door estate many years ago. The large Pinus radiata and Scot’s pine that edge the garden also contribute to a wonderful borrowed landscape.

Above: The central walk of the garden is lined with box and towering topiary which leads down to a large pond. While the couple share gardening duties, Charlotte admits that she can be quite possessive over her hedging and topiary.

She’s very picky about plant hygiene as her garden is currently untouched by the ravages of box blight. She uses an organic treatment of effective microorganisms to keep the plants healthy and she is fanatical when pruning, sterilizing tools as she trims with a bleach solution. When she works on other people’s gardens, she will not only sterilize all her tools when she gets home, she will also wash all her clothes and take a shower, to ensure that no disease or harmful blight spores can travel with her.

Source link

September 26, 2025
Jake Hobson: An Interview with the Founder of Niwaki

Today’s featured guest submitted the most succinct bio we’ve had the pleasure of receiving so far: “I studied sculpture / went to Japan / discovered gardens and tree pruning / founded Niwaki.” To that we add: became a master of and missionary for cloud pruning (the art of Japanese topiary); introduced Japanese tools, including the iconic tripod ladder, to Western gardeners; and grew a brand that has, since its founding in 2007, become synonymous with Japanese craftsmanship and style.

Contrary to the Quick Takes spirit, we asked Jake Hobson to elaborate on his answer: “When I first got interested in shaping and pruning I was in Japan. I kept seeing these amazing trees that looked so different to ours, and it took me a while to realise that it wasn’t because they were different species, but because they’d been pruned that way. Pruned to look like trees! I think that’s a very Japanese thing, refining something natural, reducing it to its essence. Since then, my passion has grown beyond the conceptual, to the practical. I love the physical side of pruning, both the immediacy of clipping—being in the moment—and the longterm consequences of what a single decision or cut can do. Generally, I’m quite impatient, but when it comes to plants, I love the sense of time involved.”

Read on for Jake’s thoughts on good conifers versus bad conifers, his favorite and least favorite plants (both begin with “ph”), and more.

Photography by Jake Hobson, unless otherwise noted.

Above: Jake at work in his own garden. Photograph by Jake’s son, Digby Hobson.

Your first garden memory:

Playing in the sandpit with a huge spade. I grew up in Hampshire [in the UK] and actually have more memories of the woods than the garden. Campfires. The smell of wild garlic amongst coppiced hazel. The dark stillness of ivy covered understory beneath beech and yews.

Garden-related book you return to time and again:

Woody Plants of Japan, published by Yama Kei. It’s in Japanese and lists every tree and shrub imaginable. Would make a good partner to The Hillier Manual of Trees and Shrubs.

Describe in three words your garden aesthetic.

Above: My mother’s old garden, with clipped Phillyrea, Rhamnus, bay laurel and boxwood, sitting with Eleagnus, Eriobotrya and yucca. “She planted, I pruned and shaped over 20 years,” he shares.

Sculpture. Nature. Jaketure.

Plant that makes you swoon:

Anything laden with ripe fruit. Wineberries in particular, and figs.

Plant that makes you want to run the other way:

Red phormiums.

Favorite go-to plant:

Phillyrea latifolia. Left alone it makes the most beautiful small evergreen tree. Fiddled with, it’s brilliant for topiary, cloud pruning, and clipped shapes.

Hardest gardening lesson you’ve learned:

I’m still learning it: Soil prep really does matter.

Unpopular gardening opinion:

Above: “We recently built a new office extending out into the garden, so this view is only one year old, using one of my favourite trees, Cryptomeria japonica, pruned in the Daisugi style (you can learn about them in our upcoming Niwaki Field Report). They need a year or two to adjust to their new home, the box on the bank needs to settle in and fill out (newly planted box often looks poorly for the first year), but a pick and mix of seeds from Sarah Raven makes it all look nice.

Conifers are great. Just get the right ones. We moved into a house that was called “Conifers.” I cut down all sorts of classic, ’70s style conifers and promptly replanted with all my favourites. Cryptomeria japonica, Pines thunbergii, Podocarpus macrophyllus—proper tree forms.

Gardening or design trend that needs to go:

The mess outside new housing developments. Photinias, phormiums, spirals, and worst of all, chestnut cleft fences.

Source link

August 31, 2024
‘Shrouded in Light’: A New Book by Kevin Williams and Michael Guidi Makes the Case for Shrubs

Has there ever been a less rock ‘n’ roll category of plant than shrubs, subshrubs, and bushes? A new book, Shrouded in Light: Naturalistic Planting Inspired by Wild Shrublands, makes the case that woody plant communities have some important answers for gardeners trying to figure out how to design naturalistic landscapes in a changing world. Authors Kevin Philip Williams (gardener) and Michael Guidi (ecologist), argue that in the rush to embrace prairies and perennials, shrubs have fallen from grace—and our idea of a bush bears no relation to anything in the wild.

Above: At the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Maine, fallow fields are converted into early successional shrubland habitat, through planting shrubs and initial mowing. They are crucial to the survival of dozens of animal species. Photograph by Michael Guidi.

In his excellent essay in the book’s foreword, Nigel Dunnett suggests that shrubland is closer to a natural landscape than prairie grasslands, which remain in an early successional state with grazing and fire. Neglected by us and not much grazed, the year-round, three-dimensional structure of shrubs is appreciated by the creatures that shelter in them, and the smaller plants that they shade and protect.

Above: “Atomic age junipers, neglected and thriving outside an abandoned mid-century modern structure in Denver, Colorado.” Photograph by Kevin Williams.

The cultural journey of clipped shrubs, from Sissinghurst Castle and Versailles to suburban gardens and parking lots the world over, gives them a kitsch appeal that the authors have fun with. “As society advances into post-capitalism and our hastily produced infrastructure crumbles and is abandoned, the outlines of shrubs with which we have surrounded our homes will flourish and spread, creating shrubdivisions and shruburbs,” they write.

Above: More persuasive captioning: “On wide open dunes, shrubs act as refugia, creating microclimates and windbreaks, stabilizing surfaces and depositing organic matter.” Photograph by Kevin Williams.

Dunes and dune marsh-elder (Iva imricata), make a genuinely stunning combination. Shrubs are caretakers of ecosystems, and the dune marsh-elder is a dune protector, growing close to the tideline on much of the North American Atlantic coastline.

Above: Exciting, under-subjugated patterns in the mountains of Oregon. Photograph by Sean Hogan.

Thriving in places that do not respond to a plough, and generally “under-subjugated” by people, shrublands make their own arrangements of form, color and texture, in the kind of visual patterns that we would do well to try to follow. This one, including Cascade blueberry, western azalea and hoary manzanita, occurs in Josephine County, Oregon.

Above: A dry montane shrubland in Colorado, where a desert bioregion transitions into cooler, higher mountain conditions. Photograph by Michael Guidi.

Source link

June 5, 2024
Landscaping 101: Boxed in by Boxwood? 5 Shrubs to Try Instead – Gardenista

Just when we were learning to live with box blight, the box tree caterpillar is laying waste to the remains. On the Royal Horticultural Society’s web page ‘Box: Problems’ it is clear that there are many other sap-sucking insects queuing up to destroy anyone’s dream of an English country garden.

The solution, unsurprisingly, is to plant something else. There is no consensus on what this should be: Ilex crenata, a boxwood lookalike, is often put forward, though it is less easygoing about soil conditions. Other common suggestions for small-leaved, easy to clip shrubs include Lonicera nitida, Teuchrium chamaedrys, and Euonymus japonicus. We visited the RHS headquarters at Wisley, Surrey (an hour from London) and found a few surprises. Let’s take a closer look:

Photography by Jim Powell, for Gardenista.

Ed. note: These suggestions are meant for UK gardens–some of these plants are categorized as invasive in the USA, so use caution.

Dwarf Yew

Above: Above: The most surprising discovery was that a walled garden, divided into beds of low hedging, could be so lively and colorful in winter.

Waves of shrubs interweave into informal knots, yet every plant is sign-posted and on trial. The most interesting boxwood alternatives in this trial are not imitations, like a vegetarian burger; instead they bring a new perspective altogether.

All of the parterre beds in the garden are edged with the dwarf yew Taxus baccata ‘Repandens’. Already carrying an RHS Award of Garden Merit, it is moderate in size compared with regular yew, with a shorter growth rate. “I think it has great potential,” says Matthew Pottage, the young curator at Wisley.

Berberis

Above: Red, orange and purple berberis are a standout in autumn and early winter.

Of the deciduous varieties, orange Berberis thunbergii ‘Erecta’ is shown here, mid-drop, while its red counterpart Berberis thunbergii ‘Orange Rocket’ competes for attention. An evergreen type is Berberis thunbergii ‘Compacta’, which the trial manager Sean McDill is very happy with. “I like this berberis,” he says. “It has a nice, compact habit and after a couple of clips it has a dense, dark green surface.”

Source link

February 16, 2024
Favorite Peach Fuzz Colored Plants to Add to the Garden

Last month, Pantone picked Peach Fuzz as its 2024 Color of the Year. The shade is warm, fuzzy, and like a gentle hug or a cozy sweater. And I’m a fan of any hue that’s close to pink or orange. In case you’re looking to embrace this color in your landscape, here are my five favorite peachy-keen plants to consider adding to the garden this year.

1. Geum ‘ Apricot Pearl’

Above: At left, the Geum ‘Apricot Pearl’, available at DutchGrown for $9.80 for 1 bare root. At right, the Peony ‘Coral Charm’ (photograph via TulipStore).
Fantastically ruffled blossoms in shades of pale peach poise themselves above semi-evergreen/evergreen foliage. Growing to just under two feet tall, this perennial will bloom late spring to summer in a sunny to partially sunny spot. They’re perfect for containers, as sweet edging for garden beds, or in a cutting garden. Potentially deer-resistant and most certainly pollinator-attracting. (For more on geums, see Gardening 101: Geums). A larger (growing to three feet) alternative is the oldie but goody peony ‘Coral Charm’ that won the 1986 Gold Medal of the American Peony Society and sports frilly peachy bowl-shaped blooms.

2. Grevillea ‘Peaches and Cream’

Above: Photograph of Grevillea ‘Peaches and Cream’ via Bloomables.

As if grevilleas weren’t already some of my favorite shrubs because they’re evergreen, drought-resistant, pollinator-friendly, and deer-resistant, then came along this sweetie. ‘Peaches and Cream’ has a low-maintenance mounding habit that is desirable and displays curiously curved flowers that age to shades of peachy hues. Worshiped by hummingbirds, this dense shrub grows to four to six feet high and just as wide and likes a sunny spot in well-draining soil. Hardy in USDA Zones 9-11.

3. Rosa ‘Peach Drift’

Above: Photograph of Rosa ‘Peach Drift’ via Star Roses and Plants.

If I’m going to plant a rose, it better be tough, disease-resistant, and long-blooming. ‘Peach Drift’ checks all those boxes, and now it’s on trend as well with its soft peachy-pink spring flowers that keep blooming through the end of summer. Perfect for small gardens, along walkways, and gently tumbling down slopes. Maturing to one to two feet high and two to three feet wide, this deciduous ground cover rose will accept full sun or part sun and regular drinks of water. Hardy in USDA Zones 4-11. An alternative to this rose with a more upright habit is the always-popular hybrid tea rose ‘Just Joey’, named “World’s Favorite Rose” in 1994.

4. Abelia Hybrid ‘Peach’

Above: Photograph of Abelia ‘Suntastic Peach‘ via Sunset Plant Collection.

This new and improved abelia from Sunset comes at the right time for the gardener wanting to riff a bit on the Pantone color trend. This low-water hybrid plays like a jazz song and offers vibrant multicolors with extra warm apricot tones. I use abelias all the time in my garden designs because they’re easy to maintain, deer-resistant, and colorful; plus this new hybrid stays effortlessly compact. Tiny white blossoms are an added bonus for hungry hummingbirds. This abelia grows to two to three feet tall and three to five feet wide, and will like full sun or partly sunny spot in hot climates. It’s a great candidate for containers, low border/hedge, or evergreen structure in a low-water garden. Hardy in USDA Zones 6-10.

5. Dahlia ‘Apricot Desire’

Above: Dahlia ‘Apricot Desire’ is $26.29 for 2 bulbs at Eden Brothers.

I am a huge dahlia devotee and am especially fond of this waterlily-like hybrid that has long stems that gift apricot peachy flowers perfect for cutting and adding to floral arrangements. Plant this tuber in the spring in a sunny spot, and you’ll be rewarded from June to the first frost with delicate peachy blossoms. Perfect for borders or added to containers, it grows quickly to three to four feet high. Hardy in USDA Zones 8-11. Another peach perfect dahlia is the Giant Ball Dahlia ‘Sweet Suzanne’.

See also:

(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)

Source link

January 3, 2024