August 23, 2018 – Re-shrub or no shrubs at all?

         That is the question I had for several days.  I have been in a battle with the Nellie Stevens Hollies that are along the front of my house.  They were robust to say the least.  During my First American Title traveling days, their pruning became almost non-existent due to time and later I tried to hack them back down to a reasonable size and shape and failed.

         I next did the Lollipop thing.  I trimmed all the lower limbs off to the trunk and then carved the tops into a round mass of foliage.  They were unusual and that look bought me a few more years. But, this year, after trimming them monthly from February through May I made the decision that they had to go.  Me standing on a step ladder was downright unsafe and the prudent me made the decision they had to be cut down.

         In June, I pulled a hamstring and the May trimming was not attended to because of vacation with my brother, and then the hamstring and suddenly it was the end of July and the centers of those shrubs are up to the rooftop.

         This realization took place one day I pulled into my driveway and paused.  This house looks like no one lives here or the gardener died. Look at those out of control shrubs.  I decided to take action – in process of healing a pulled hamstring or not.

         The next morning I went out early before the heat came up and started in on one shrub with my trust loppers. Sitting on my garden stool, I managed to cut off all the limbs until I had just the bare trunk.  One shrubs down, three to go.  I managed to get three of them done before I was overwhelmed with the heat. I tossed all the limbs onto the front lawn.  They stayed there until the next morning.

         I loaded those limbs up the next morning on the pickup truck and strapped them down.  We got rid of them at the landfill, but suddenly the truck had no brakes and we had to drop it off for emergency service.

         I needed to rest, I had overdone it with the hamstring pull.

         A few days later, I hacked up the last holly.  No truck around, I hauled the branches to the side of the house so that my neighbors would not be offended.

         I looked over the area.  In front of the four Nellie Steven’s hollies were smaller leaved holly bushes and they looked bad.  Knowing they had been trimmed down to the ground and re-grown at least three times, if not more in the last 20 years, I chopped those to the ground as well.

         When I was done, a neighbor stopped and we chatted about the shrubs.  He admitted he needed to cut a few of his out too.  He said it looked good.

The day before, I had put a phone call into my handy man, but he didn’t have time to come out to cut the stumps down for several days. 

         I casually asked if my neighbor could chop the stumps to the ground with his chainsaw and he seemed delighted to help.  So, a day later, my neighbor, good sport that he is, came up and zipped all the stumps down to the ground.

         That is what has transpired for the last two weeks.  During my travels to the grocery store and other errands I have been looking at everyone else’s shrubs.  The horrors I see out there.  Some houses you can’t even see the windows.  A friend dropped by and she mentioned the problems with foundational plantings.  I can’t remember the phrase, but she was of the opinion they are not necessary.  That gave me something to ponder.

         Why re-shrub and have to trim bushes again?  Part of the reason I cut my shrubs down was the exurbanite amount of time and energy it took me to take care of them.  Did she have a valid point – are foundational shrubs unnecessary?

         The next day I had a tire rotation appointment in Spartanburg, which is an hour’s drive away, and I specifically glanced at all the homes along the way and assessed that there are three types of homes.  No shrubs at all, some houses with brand new shrub plantings, and then like mine – overgrown shrubs. 

From my non-scientific review I deduced, 40 percent had no shrubs, 50 percent had overgrown shrubs and only 10 percent had properly sheared shrubs or new plantings.  I had not realized it before that so many homes had overgrown shrubs.

         I suddenly didn’t feel bad when I realized there are only 10% of the homeowners out there that have their shrubs under control.  So, those homeowners have and “A” score and good for them I say.

         I can live with a B or lower score if I am trading time and energy for beauty and low maintenance.

         What is the key to both beauty and low maintenance?  I searched the internet and looked at dozens of low maintenance foundation plantings and I saw nothing I could live with.  Too austere, no color, no texture, and they were boring.

After reviewing a few years of several gardening magazines, i.e., Horticulture, Garden Gate and Carolina Gardener, I decided on herbaceous perennials that a woman can easily cut down at the end of the season or at the end of the blooming period – not 7 times a year like my old shrubs needed.

         In future blogs I will share my journey from cut out shrubs to new non-shrub foundation planting.  I’ve 40 feet of re-work to do. 

         I am armed with graph paper and ideas.  I will start with the plant material I can steal from other areas of my property.

         Watch for future blogs while I am on this journey.

         Here is my vote for no foundation shrubs.       R