Yesterday I should have edged the beds that surround the front garden and plied the hedge trimmer on the perpetually sprouting privet that bounds the property. Instead I remade a corner of the garden that has never quite succeeded aesthetically and always bothered me.
The corner in question is mostly shaded by a nearby maple tree. The outer edge of one side gets enough sun to support some daylilies. The shady portion has filled up over the years with an assortment of heuchera, hellebore, tiarella, erodium (heron’s bill) and woodland phlox. A few peach-leaf bellflowers (Campanula persicifolia), the remnants of a clump that I moved two years ago, bloom sporadically, In the spring, the corner also features clumps of daffodils and tulips. Before the big upheaval yesterday, the area looked adequate, but not inspiring. It also lacked depth and needed a focal point.
As is often the case, I wanted to make positive change without spending any extra money. One of the ‘Nikko Blue’ hydrangeas in the backyard gave birth last year and the offspring is now a health four-footer that bloomed nicely earlier in the summer. I uprooted it and made it the centerpiece of the revived corner. Before installing the shrub, I moved the heuchera and other low-growers closer to the front edge of the bed where their flashy leaves will attract more attention. The peach-leaf bellflower was relocated to a sunnier position near the daylilies.
I added compost to all the planting holes, watered everything in and surrounded all the transplants with mulch. Though the full effect of all the change won’t be dramatic until next spring, the space already looks much better with the hydrangea as a focal point. Best of all, the entire corner beautification process took only about an hour, start to finish.
Edging is nice—and necessary—but sometimes you just have to do something more dramatic.