Surprisingly, the plants in those boxes had generally survived the rough delivery. Some looked more near death than others, but not so bad that I’d give up on them. So today I planted them all. Hopefully they will recover now that they can spread their branches in fresh air and sunlight instead of getting crushed and tumbled around.

Physocarpus opulifolius “Dart’s Gold”, for those of you who are interested in that sort of thing. Chosen for its hardiness and ability to tolerate less than ideal conditions. This part of the garden is in the shade of several large trees which take up much of the light and water and nutrition, so the hedge will have to make do with whatever is left over (and whatever top-ups I give it).

Planting bushes is always a mystery project because it takes so long before you can really see the final outcome. Will they thrive? Will they look as good as the photos? How large will they turn out? Different sources have very different estimates for the final size of this variety: some say 0.8 to 1.2 metres, others 1.5 to 2.0. I’m rather hoping that the harsh conditions will keep the size down – I don’t want the garden to be completely walled off from the street.