Plants & Mulch: We’re Finally Landscaping
After four years at Charlotte House, we’re finally adding some much-needed plant life around here. The fraternity (reasonably) kept things pretty bare-boned in terms of landscaping. Aside from some old arborvitaes, a couple of untamed boxwoods, and a rouge daffodil, we had a pretty blank slate to start with.
I added a few perennials over the years to see what would do well, but we wanted to live with what we had for a while too see what felt right.
I’m still holding off on planting anything too close to the house since we need to repair the exterior stucco. In the meantime, I’m focusing on getting some evergreens in so they’ll have plenty of time to get established. Once they’re in for a year or two (if I can wait that long!), I’ll start to fill in the gaps with perennials, smaller shrubs, and bulbs. Annuals can go kick rocks.
We also just adopted from shrubs & perennials from a neighbor who was getting rid of them. All we had to do was go dig them out and carry them over to our place. Luckily they were ready for plant eviction in early spring when it was a good time to transplant things!
Adopt Don’t Shop – Plant Edition
To start things off, we were fortunate enough to receive a few plants from our neighbors that they planned to remove. We transplanted a beautiful, deep purple Ninebark shrub, as well a large, well-established hydrangea that’s at probably at least 10 years old. I was thrilled when they also offered us a bunch of hellebores, also know as Lenten Rose, which are my absolute favorite early spring bloomers.
But if you do need to shop…
Our primary objective is to create some privacy and a windbreak from our very busy street corner. I decided to start with a collection of evergreens that will check those boxes year-round, and get those in first so they have time to grow.
The side street is busiest, so we’re adding a sparse hedge of tall but narrow junipers to create a plant wall. These should also help cut down on the wind we get from being an elevated lot.
I’ve also got some shade-tolerant yews, plus a couple version of this small pine that will take a few years to fill in.
Mulch Like You Mean It
This is a silly thing that I feel strongly about: Mulch should look like mulch.
I like my mulch to be big & bulky, and to last more than a season. If the mulch looks like dirt – or worse, red dirt – get it off my property.
If you want some proper mulch, make sure you get the good stuff. It’s gorgeous, significant, and lasts for at least a couple years without completely falling apart.
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