When we first moved into our house back in 2007 and were discovering what our garden had in it we found very little. A nandina, a couple cedars, some reblooming daylilies, and a teeny tiny spirea were all the plants that were there. Not much to start a garden with but I was excited about the challenge. The spirea had been cut back to nearly nothing. It was so small that when it sprouted colorful yellow and red tinted leaves I wasn’t sure what it was. I dug up the little shrub and replanted it in another spot along our sidewalk so that I could plant tulip bulbs in the spirea’s original location. That was five years ago.
Today this is how that little itty bitty spirea now looks:
My spirea is now at least 3 feet around. I’m sure that you noticed that the sidewalk to the left has lost about a foot of walking space. If you look beyond the spirea to further down the sidewalk you’ll see some other plants hanging into the walkway. I love the look of plants that envelope a little bit of the hardscape. They soften the edges and make things more natural but they need to be limited or sized correctly so that the plants don’t take a way the pathway and make it difficult for people to walk.
I have two options:
- Trim it.
- Move it.
Trimming isn’t the best option since the branches will regrow so it looks like moving it this fall to another spot is the best choice. I’ll wait until later in the fall to attempt moving the shrub but we’ll add this to the ever growing things to do lists. I’m sure I’ll take the opportunity to propagate a few more spirea before the move – just in case!
Hmm…I think the shorter list for me would be "what plants haven't you planted in the wrong place." Over the 11 years in this house we had had to move many mistakes. Here's two; planting Mexican Petunia anywhere in the garden, and siting a Jatropha too close to the pathway. We just keep trimming the Jatropha's branches back, that works for the moment.
I plant so much in the wrong spot then must move it in time. I was just talking on my posting of Elephant Ears needing to be moved after one year. A path was made after planting. I had that one backwards for sure. Lucky for me, they seem to bounce back after a move. I have many things planted in the wrong place but in time, they shall be moved around a bit….