Go Vertical
It’s
a quiet morning here on the mountain above Peacham Pond. The rain gauge
measures 0.43” of rain since 8 PM but the 35.2°
temperature kept it as rain, not the 6” of snow it could have been. Yesterday
Alex and I closed the gates at the flower farm for the last time this year
after bringing home all the tools and equipment that need a little attention
this winter. The impending holiday season keeps us all busy but the winter days
that follow provide ample time to clean up the items that make our garden work
easier, change oil and spark plugs where necessary, and get things in order
again. Give it some thought after the New Year.
I have always enjoyed incorporating taller plants, trees
and shrubs into our landscapes so for those who know me, it’s not a surprise to
hear me suggest “Go Vertical”. In today’s garden designs, our aging population
more often starts with smaller gardens to provide good color but easier
maintenance. Adding some “vertical” can make smaller gardens appear larger while
adding more color and texture afforded by edible and non-edible shrubs, small
fruit trees and conifers we might not have considered before. When taller
perennials are added to the mix we can extend our bloom times and color mixes
and probably receive a few of those “How’d you do thats”.
Smaller conifers are often overlooked because they
tend to be more expensive to purchase, are slower to mature, and are not
commonly available in Vermont on the retail market. Green Works, the Vermont
Nursery and Landscape Association (https://greenworksvermont.org) offers a member list which can point you in the right
direction once you have an idea of what you would like to add. A membership in
the American Conifer Society (http://conifersociety.org/conifers/designing-with-conifers) can
also help. Almost every year I buy in something new to add to our gardens and
offer for sale to customers until they are sold. In recent years I have added
an arborvitae named North Pole that is eventually a 10-12 foot tall, 3 foot
wide, dark green column the deer seem to avoid. I have contrasted it with a
smaller, yellow arborvitae that’s also column shaped, in the 6-8 foot range
over time, named Filip’s Magic Moment. To add some holiday red, I use one of
the many winterberries that have those abundant, nice red berries that hold on
until past New Years and provide food for birds that winter over with us. I
also use a red stemmed dogwood named Arctic Fire. Conifers come in all heights,
textures and many colors so if you look around you can find something that will
meet your design and color needs. Try to research the maintenance requirements
too so you don’t purchase something that requires an annual effort greater than
you wish to extend.
Tall
perennials are abundantly available in terms of heights and colors. I like the
various veronicastrums, the green to green-brown, dark brown to brown black, 3
to 9 foot tall cimicifugas (now reclassified to actaea), Helianthus ‘Lemon
Queen’, Rudbeckia ‘Herbstsonne’, any of the taller helleniums, and the
wonderful penstemon, Dark Towers, with its nice foliage and bountiful lavender
flower scapes that make great cut flower accents too. Add a cedar fence pole to
the mix, wrap it modestly with a piece of knitted or nylon flower fence and
plant a package of the new generation of annual sweet peas or a single pot of
Honeysuckle Scentsation with its special fragrance and pale yellow flowers that
go into September and your garden will have a vertical presence that magnifies
your original design. Beyond making decisions on what colors and textures you
wish to incorporate, none of this is difficult. Still have concerns or
questions? Drop us a note at vermontflowerfarm@outlook.com and
we’ll help. Until next time, remember, “We’re always here to help you grow your
green thumb!”
