Garden Project
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The brown-ish leaves make it look like it’s dying. I could prune it to a better shape but it would still have brown leaves.
The little maple is much more pleasing to me.
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The splotchy leaves are not a characteristic of this plant and are a sign of stress, so it may be that it's getting too much sun or not enough water, especially if it's recently planted. Of course I'm a big fan of oakleafs, so I'd suggest giving it another chance, maybe in another location. It may be a case of a good plant in the wrong spot, but you may not have a better spot for it, in which case finding a home for it is the way to go.
Design-wise, it's a coarsely textured plant, so I'm not sure it fits in where it's located, with the multicolor river rocks and the other things that are around it. TBH, I'm not sure the Japanese maple will look good there either, but like any design decision it's very personal.
Sometimes plants need some time to come to their full potential. And I'll add that there is no such thing as a finished garden. By their very nature they are perpetually changing and also unpredictable. A plant that looks great for years may suddenly go south for a year or two. And some that start out as ugly ducklings become swans.
A weeping beech tree that I rescued from the discard pile at a nursery comes to mind. It was the beech equivalent of Charlie Brown's Christmas tree, but it took off after I brought it home and planted it in late summer one year. It looked great for a few years, and then the squirrels decimated it when they chewed branches off to make their nest. I went to dig it out to move it but it had a taproot and I knew I would kill it, so I left it where it was. I planted large evergreens next to it and it struggled for years. This year, I took out those evergreens and the beech has come back into it's own.
It's not perfect, it looks a bit ragged around the edges. But it gets lovely fall color and it is perfect in its gnarly imperfections.
We found each other years ago and it has become my friend in my garden. I think it feels at home here. It's a little bit like Raffi in that regard....
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So I thought about what you said and decided to leave the hydrangea and water it more often. I relocated the green pot and I moved the little maple to the sitting area, partly on your suggestion that there should be nice things to look at when you sit there.
I like it much better in its new location, especially how it works paired with the tall rock. It would look even better in rustic pot - maybe blue - but that would mean having to hand water it -something I’m trying to avoid.
Your thoughts?
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I love using pots in the garden. It's just a very cool way to garden.
OTOH, I hate using pots in the garden because of the climate I'm in.
On the plus side, a decorative pot can add a beautiful accent to the landscape. It raises up the plant, so you get that element of vertical gardening. You can rearrange the pots and get a different look.
On the hate side, pots need to be watered pretty much daily in hot weather if it hasn't rained. And even if it has rained, you still have to check the pot; they don't always get a good soaking from rain. I like to walk around and check things out pretty much every day, so I tend to water the things I have in pots on my daily howdy tour. But if you travel, it can be a struggle to get someone to look after the plants and make sure they get a good drink.
Also on the minus side is winter. I haven't had good luck with ceramic pots in freezing weather. They always seem to flake or break on me.
I had a Japanese maple in a pot many years ago and it made it through a couple of winters, and then up and died one spring. I think the pot didn't have adequate drainage, and that there was a lot of water in the soil and it froze solid and suffocated/killed the roots. I was heartbroken.
I have some gooseberries in nice decorative plastic pots, but I've been hauling them into the garage for winter so I don't lose them. I dump a little water in once a month during the winter. Not practical for most people, and I've decided that includes me. I'll do it for one more winter and I plan to put them in the ground next spring.
I'll use planters for annuals but will leave perennials, shrubs, and trees in the ground where they can survive better on their own without specialized care. If I lived in a warmer climate, say California, I'd be doing way more gardening with pots....
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Ha! This is better yet! Move the maple forward and lower so it shows against the rock. Throws Yosemite vibes…
Once I plant it it will be lower yet.
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I like that. Those finely dissected leaves and the color make it fade into the grass you can see behind it. Having something contrasting like the light colored tall rock makes it stand out more!
I do this all the time...I fall in love with something at the nursery and then bring it home. At some point I think I've made a mistake and that it doesn't belong in my yard. Then I move it around to a bunch of different locations until I have an "Aha!" moment and I know I've found the perfect place.
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Here are some pics of my neighbor's oakleaf hydrangea. Thought they'd give you a good idea of what a healthy mature specimen looks like. They are not gardeners, so they never water. We're heading into a drought right now, as we haven't had any rain for quite a while.
The blossoms started out white, then went to pink, and are now brown. Leaves are uniformly green, except for a little brown on the edge of the leaf in the foreground. I think it’s starting to think about a fall color change.
Fall color can be lovely, and when the leaves fall off and you get some snow in winter, the shrub with the brown flowers and shaggy bark are quite striking.
Seems it's the sad looking leaves on your shrub that you're not a fan of. Like I said, I think that is from stress. But if you don't like the brown flowers in late summer, then maybe the oakleaf isn't the shrub for you. You could live with it for a season and see if it grows on you, or if it leaves you cold, and then decide next year.
I’ll post pics of it this fall and winter so you get the year around picture. It is one of the later shrubs to leaf out in spring, btw.
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Final placement. Now I need something to put in the blue pot
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https://share.icloud.com/photos/037duHs71M8Gew-Qme1Yy76mw
Ha! The video works!
The fountain stopped working -probably a connection in the pump pit. Jack wanted to help fix it and nothing would dissuade him. “Fine”, says I, “First you have to move all of the rocks out of the way. “
Darned if he didn’t do it - in stocking feet! I’ll not be sending this video to his parents. Sharon wasn’t thrilled either, especially with the mud on his face.
What good is the enthusiasm of youth if you can’t get any work done? He had ball and I think he’ll sleep well tonight.
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Sweet! I saw the video before you added the text to your post, and I was wondering how things came to pass...
Good job, Jack!
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An excellent youngster. He will be a hard worker.
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Pulled a few weeds. Jack helped for a while but he really only wants pull the big ones; - proclaiming each to be “the biggest weed he’s ever seen!”
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@Steve-Miller My wife just bought a cart like that and was also pulling some weeds today until the heat became too much for her to work in.
She used to pull weeds in a large feed bucket, but it would get too heavy for her to carry to where she needed to dump it out. This cart's tipping capability is a good solution.
Big Al
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It’s been a really good cart. It’s rated for 600 pounds!
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I finished the landscape lighting today. I like it!
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The first red leaf on the new little maple. If the whole tree turns this color it should be spectacular!
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I have a Bloodgood Japanese maple. The leaves are not finely dissected like yours. It's a reddish color all summer and then it turns a brilliant burning red in the autumn.
Can't wait to see yours in its full autumnal glory!
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@wtg I also have a Bloodgood. It hasn’t even started turning color yet.
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Not yet here, either. But it's very reliable. I can't recall a year when I didn't get great color out of it.
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Found another little tree on sale. It’s a dwarf Horstmann Blue Atlas Cedar. Slow growing to about 8’ but I’m going to keep it at about 4’ and open up the center over time.
Been watching Bonsai videos and I think I’ll give it a try.
Maybe like this:
