A Plant that we love: Golden White Pine! We saw this in March as we drove up to Wilkerson Mill Farm (see SOURCES) Nursery and were stunned. This pine looks just like a normal, every day tree, except that the needles were completely yellow- gold color! We have since found out about P. sylvestris  'Gold Coin', a mounding, slow growing golden foliage tree with an ultimate height of six feet - great for the home garden!

This photo is from the website for Coenosium Gardens. See the website for more info about gold colored pine trees - so cool!

Its time for spring pruning of roses, and fall/late summer flowering shrubs - not sure how and what to prune? Visit the PRUNING PAGE for step-by-step instructions! 

Foundation Plantings

The ankles of your house, your garage, and your deck are crying out to be hidden, just like a proper victorian lady! If you can see the foundation of your house as you approach it from the street, you will be delighted at what an improvement can be made by adding foundation plantings. Follow these guidelines to get a put-together, finsihed look.

• Use evergreen shrubs for year-round good looks.
• plant just outside the drip line of the roof so that the soil won't be too dry
• When planting, keep the slope of the soil at an angle that slopes away from the house
• The ultimate height of the shrubs you select must not exceed the bottom of the windows
• Choose a dwarf variety outside a very low window or screen porch
• This is a great place for plants with prickles or spines -  a great burglary deterent.
• Symmetry is very important - use mulitples of the same shrub on each side of the front door

Do you want a foundation planting that is Sophistocated and Unique? A planting of dwarf and mounding Conifers might be for you. These have the advantage of year round color, interesting cones or seed pods, and they will provide a great backdrop to annual color. We photographed these at the Atlanta Botanical Garden recently. A great place to get big ideas!

 Golden Dwarf Threadleaf False Cypress (Cupress Sawara Filifera Aurea) This import from Japan  has thread like foliage with golden tips, and will ultimately reach a height of about 8-10 feet, so it's a good choice for the corner of the house in a foundation planting. It needs no pruning, likes sun or afternoon shade, and does well in dryish soil. Because it's a slow grower, buy a fairly mature plant to get the result you want sooner. This would look great contrasting with a few of the dark green conifers below.

Above l:  Dwarf Mugo Pine  r: Pinus thunbergii 'Thunderhead' - both are mounding, slow growing conifers with interesting cones

Pinus Strobus 'Sea Urchin' on left, Prostrate Plum Yew on right. The Prostrate Yew will only reach 3 feet in height so is good in front of a low window or spreading at the feet of these other conifers.

 NOW IS THE TIME TO... choose new azaleas, dogwoods, and many flowering shrubs and trees - choose them at the nurseries while they are in bloom. You will be certian of the colors you want, and you can place them properly in the landscape with out clashing. In spring, so many plants are flowering that it is easy to allow bad color combinations to occur. Here are a few common ones to check for in your garden: 

• Redbud trees (a strong, deep lavender bordering on pink) look wrong with orange and peach colored native azaleas
• Pinky-red azaleas that clash with the brick of the house
• Magenta Lorpetalum blooms don't  work with orange tones
• Warm yellows (like Kerria, native azaleas) are best separated from cooler yellows (like Jasmine and Forsythia) 
• Rusty colored Japanese Maple leaves with deep pinks can clash

 Remember that white is always a good color to act as a buffer between two difficult to place colorsin the landscape.