Home Landscaping
(Page 5 of 10)
August/September 1999
By Mort Mather
But trees can have some negatives, too. Black walnut poisons the ground for some plants up to 80 feet from the trunk. You wouldn't want one near your vegetable garden, as tomatoes and potatoes are among the plants that cannot survive in the vicinity. Fruit trees drop fruit on the ground in the fall, which, if you are a neat freak, you'll want to pick up. A mature oak drops acorns. All deciduous trees drop leaves. Conifers drop cones and needles. Plus, there's a limit to the things that will grow in the shade of trees.
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Shrubs
A little closer to earth in our vertical dimension is a wide variety of shrubs. Some shrubs grow taller than some trees and some grow so close to the ground they can be considered ground cover. Most can be shaped into anything you want them to be-from poodles to whales to two-dimensional shapes against a wall. They can provide food for birds in winter and nesting sites in spring. They can overwhelm you with their fragrance and dazzle you with their colors. Some can thrive in the shade, while others will withstand the salt spray from the ocean (or winter roads).
Shrubs are the most versatile plants in the vertical landscape. They can hide the electric meter or break up an unattractive line. They can frame a driveway, make an impressive entrance, guide the eye to an attractive view or visitors to the front door. But they can also clutter your plan and make it difficult for you to move around your property. That is why you want to keep going back to the two-dimensional diagram and sketch in the size of the mature plants. You want to make sure you'll have plenty of open space to move around in and enjoy. Also, you'll probably want some space for flower, herb or vegetable gardens.
If I had an ugly foundation, I would most likely want to hide it behind some shrubs. If you don't have anything to hide, consider keeping the line where the house meets the earth uncluttered. This clear area is helpful in keeping critters out of the house. Without shrubs there, a mouse or chipmunk trying to find a way in will be exposed to predators. Foundation plantings give them cover.
Also, be careful with exotics — shrubs and other plants that are not native or don't have a long history in the area. Forsythia and lilacs have graced homes in our area for centuries. Anytime we see one growing seemingly in the wild, we can be sure there was once a house there. These plants are never going to escape into the wild and destroy wildlife habitat.
On the other hand, it is incredible to me that barberry is still allowed to be sold. The birds eat the berries and deposit the seeds in the wild. I know of one natural area where the understory has been completely overrun with barberry and where it is taking over fields as well. This is largely because of a sizable deer herd. The deer eat everything but the thorny barberry, wiping out the competition. Now the change in habitat is stressing the deer herd as they search for winter feed.
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