Well, now they’re all in the ground, including the half-dead ones. Although I ended up throwing out about half of the bare-rooted Spireas that looked completely dead, and buying replacements (potted!) from a nearby garden centre at about four times the price.
Meanwhile Adrian and Ingrid built “björkspirea kingdom” from all the black plastic flowerpots, which is why there are pots lying around everywhere in the photos.
I’ve been calling this a hedge but what I have in mind is not a traditional hedge, i.e. a straight line of identical bushes. And definitely not a clipped hedge. This is going to be a mixed flowering hedge, with multiple species, wider in some places and narrower in others. In my mind I have a vision of natural, undulating shapes and lines, and a variety of leaf and flower, texture and colour. Like most of the rest of the garden.
I was aiming for a hedge of medium height, waist-high or a bit more, until I realized that there are regulations about hedges next to street crossings. Which appears rather obvious, now that I think about it. Most people around here seem to ignore the regulations, and there are many places where hedges have me fuming about bad visibility. I will be a good member of society and try not to add to the problem.
We’re limited to a height of 80 cm within 10 metres of the crossing, which, taken strictly, would cover most of the planned hedge except for a few metres nearest the entrance stairs. But I’m going to interpret this limit a bit loosely and dot the hedge with some slightly taller bushes here and there, which might reach a metre in height. Since this won’t be a uniform hedge and there will be gaps between the taller bushes, I’m hoping that they won’t hinder much. And I also have room for a bunch of taller bushes near the entrance.
In no particular order (since they’re mostly mixed up anyway):
- Spirea cinerea “Grefsheim”
- Ribes sanguineum “King Edward VII”
- Weigela florida “Alexandra”
- Spirea betulifolia “Tor”
- Potentilla fruticosa “Pink Beauty”
- Spirea japonica “Froebelii”
- Mahonia aquifolium “Maqu”
- Aronia melanocarpa “Hugin”
- Viburnum bodnantense “Charles Lamont”
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