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| Hello! In the fall I created a design for a friend for her front yard. In the last few months she realized that one of the places where they put all their snow - part from walkway, driveway and occasionally roof. It is a corner and an anchor point in the design. Perfect for an evergreen aesthetically, but not practically as it would take a major beating in winters that have lots of snowfall. There are spirea in the design already and that was my first thought for plant that takes a beating without flinching. I've got a 4-5 spot to fill. Any ideas for possible replacements? Thanks! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by mad_gallica Z5 Eastern NY (My Page) on Thu, Jan 9, 14 at 11:33
| What I have in a similar place is Annabelle hydrangea. Perennials that might work are baptisia, peonies, large ornamental grasses - just off the top of my head. |
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| Annabelle will survive being pancaked? This is also a fairly full sun area. I like it, I'll just have to check the site again. |
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- Posted by gardenweed_z6a N CT (My Page) on Thu, Jan 9, 14 at 19:30
| What height do you envision for the replacement plant? I agree with mad_gallica that baptisia/false indigo & ornamental grasses could work since both are practically indestructible and require almost zero maintenance. Peonies are lovely--and I do incorporate quite a few of them in my garden designs--but I don't think of them as feature perennials (at least not where I am) aside from when they're in bloom. You might consider Hellebore/Lenten rose as an anchor perennial--it's been my experience they're evergreen, low maintenance & nigh indestructible. How much sun the area gets will likely be a factor when selecting a replacement shrub or perennial. One tough--though not particularly tall--perennial is variegated Japanese sedge grass. The cultivar I have growing in several beds is 'Ice Dance.' It's indestructible near as I can tell and apparently thrives in full shade, part shade as well as a fair number of hours with full sun. If height isn't a concern, perhaps Alchemilla mollis/Lady's mantle or Stachys 'Helen von Stein' might be worth considering. |
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| Like Mad Gallica, my first though was Hydrangea Annabelle. I have it along with spirea in front of the house where we have to dump snow raked off the roof in those years when we have 4 or 5 feet of snow. Added to that, when it's buried, the voles and mice get to work and chew off the bark. In hard winter years, I cut Annabelle and the spireas to about 6". They both recover well, though in those years Annabelle tends to have fewer but larger flower panicles. She does sucker though, and without enough water will wilt in full day sun. In the same beds I have Baptisia, a Major Wheeler honeysuckle on a robust metal trellis, and some climbing roses. All recover just fine from heavy snow landing on them. There is also a large Rhododendron, Roseum elegans, which I try not to dump really heavy snow on, but it definitely gets a lot of lighter snow shoveled onto it, and some of the snow from the roof lands on it as well. It has never had a broken branch or seemed to suffer from its extra snow load. |
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| Yes, Annabelle will survive being pancaked; she will thrive regardless. She sprouts new growth each season from ground-level buds and sends up a heck of a lot of suckers if happy in her location - you can whack her down to nubs in the spring and she will quickly shoot right back up and bloom as if nothing ever happened. Which is why she is such a valueable hydrangea in cold-winter zones. |
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