The BB in late July last year:

The excavation:

The stump:

We replaced the BB with a 'Berry Blue' haskap (Lonicera caerulea), as a pollinator for a 'Borealis' haskap we planted nearby. I've been wanting to try these fruiting shrubs ever since I first read about them, but didn't have a place for them. I gather that it was wise to wait in any case as the newer varieties are crosses between the Russian and Japanese ones and have better-tasting fruit. I was pleased to read (see link below) that they do fine in heavy clay soil, don't sucker and stay in neat mounds with only occasional pruning required. An old thread on the Shrubs forum had mixed opinions (most of the plants were older varieties) with the main complaint being that they were rather dull shrubs! Since they fruit early - before strawberries - I'm going to try to plant Group 3 clematis with them. I figure I'd be able to cut the clematis down in early spring and the clematis will grow back and flower after the haskap have fruited and been harvested. I'll likely take at least 3 years for the shrubs to start producing a reasonable crop. It should be an interesting experiment....!

I have two concerns re adding the haskap:
- The BB added a nice vertical element to the front bed while the shrubs will only be 4'. But I think there are enough other tall elements that the loss of the height from the BB won't be too much of an issue.
- I have been replacing perennials with other smallish shrubs in the last year or two. They are all currently young and small, but as they get older it may make the bed overgrown. There's a very good chance that there will be more shrub-excavations required in a few years' time! :-)

In the meantime it'll be fun to watch the garden change - experiment; experiment...!

two thumbs up.. and i dont even care about the rest of the story ... i just had to give kudos ....

it must be so enjoyable.. to have your own little eden.. stuck in suburbia ...

ken

But it is exciting making changes in an established garden.

Of course you will keep us up to date re the success of the haskap.

This one shows the 'moat bed' (narrow bed along the top of the ditch) at its showiest at the end of May 2013. Sadly, the brutal winter just past killed off the wisteria flowerbuds so no spring display this year :-( The clematis 'Henryi' that grows into the Chinese wisteria is doing well though - once it blooms we will cut the Chinese wisteria back a bit to remove deadwood and encourage a good secondary summer bloom. We miss the wisteria display!

Rouge - it's going to be a year or two before we can tell if the haskap experiment will be successful but I'm sure I'll have something to say about it whatever happens! And you're right, making changes in established plantings is exciting. I've been making smaller changes and will continue to do that, but removing the BB is the first really obvious big one - a lot of neighbours have noticed and asked about it!