Help with selection of shrubs

9 years ago

Hi All,
I have a small yard and I would like to keep things simple at least for now. I am planning on planting a row of shrubs along the chain link fence to provide some screening and for a sense of enclosure. I have one Summer Wine Ninebark planted at the start of the row, which will end with the last shrub ending at the birdbath. Here are my thoughts, I bought another Summer Wine Ninebark for the end of the row, and in between them I am thinking of putting in some Ivory Halo dogwoods. I think they would work because they have a finer texture than the ninebarks, the color works well I think, they are very adaptable and grow to approximately the same size as the Ninebarks and they are readily available. But I am open to suggestions. I could also plant the same bushes all along the row. This is the north side of the yard but gets full sun. Yes that Disc golf basket is just lovely but its there and probably won't go away anytime soon. Anyways - thanks for any ideas, suggestions, advice. I wiould really appreciate them.

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Comments (4)

katrina_ellen
Original Author
9 years ago
I forgot to mention, this is my backyard of course, and I am removing the grass in the row of shrubs for easy mowing and the health of the shrubs. So far I have dug out the area a little past the first shrub, but with a shovel and hoe it will take a while, so any suggestions how to remove the grass more easily would be appreciated as well. I thought about shoveling up clods and using a hand saw to cut of the mat of grass to speed up the process, then of course I will need to replace some soil.
PRO
Yardvaark
9 years ago
It would be better to lay out the bed line and kill the grass ... not remove it. Kill with Round-up. After planting shrubs, mulch to cover dead grass. OR, you can smother it with a layer of cardboard covered over with mulch.

I think it would be better if you plant the ninebarks together and the other shrubs with their own kind. "Bookending" dogwoods with the ninebark will be somewhat lost on the back one and the overall effort will go unappreciated.

(Hope the front going well.)
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katrina_ellen
Original Author
9 years ago
Hi Yardvaark, its good to see you here! Thanks - the front is going well - we broke a hundred year record for snow and cold temps last winter so the boxwood had some die-off but seems to be coming back well. Its still in process, still waiting for the front bushes to fill into a hedge type form but I think they are coming along well. I want to post another picture after I do some planting in my flower box and it looks a bit more presentable. I had to remove the coral bell plants I planted around the tree because they didn't like it there. So I need to make some tweaks. Thanks for asking.
And thanks for your response to my backyard, it's great to hear from people like yourself who know what works and what doesn't. I am still wondering if it would look best to plant all the same type bushes then, or just a matter of preference and it would good both ways? I still need to buy the rest of the bushes and can go either way. Thank you for your help.
PRO
Yardvaark
9 years ago
"So I need to make some tweaks." Isn't that how it always is!!

I don't have a real strong opinion that you should use just one type shrub instead of two. Maybe someone else will chime in on that.