A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to speak to the Portland Garden Club and see some absolutely gorgeous private gardens. But alas…even in the midst of such botanical riches I still managed to find something to make me shudder.
Now I have nothing against garden remodels – or boxwood hedges (though I generally find them unimaginative). But here’s a good example of shrub salvaging gone horribly wrong:
Deadwood boxwood
And again
It will take a long time for these boxwoods to fill in. If you’re going to spend the kind of money that’s going into this remodel, why get chintzy with the hedge plants?
Maybe green spray paint is in order?
Or perhaps just a match?
Touche Hap! (Or maybe torche…)
On one hand, I couldn’t agree more. I’ve always thought people should be required to spend at least 10% of their home value on their landscaping (sick of gigantic houses with 1 gal Azaleas as a foundation planting).
On the other hand, I’m not so sure these aren’t salvageable.
How long do you think it will take them to reflush from the old wood? I’m a VA boy, so I don’t have a feel for how fast things flush out in Portland (aka The Land of Milk and Honey). A 15″ Suffruticosa in these parts wholesales for roughly $25 if purchased in volume. Retail plus landscaper markup…you’re starting to talk BIG bucks.
I’ve always thought that people should have to spend some time learning how to maintain a hedge like these — that might cut down on the numbers of them going in!