Sometimes when I talk to my landscape design or garden coaching clients about choices of shrubs for their gardens, they want something new and exciting. Something all their neighbors don’t have. something that will stop them in their tracks because it’s so beautiful. I can certainly understand that sentiment but I always tell them there is real value in planting at least a few ‘ordinary’ or ‘tried and true’ shrubs. Yes, they are often under-appreciated because they are so commonplace but they are commonplace because they perform year in and year out. Admittedly, some years the show is better than others, but there’s always a show.
- An ‘Ordinary’ Rhododendron
Here’s a photo of my ‘ordinary’ rhododendron that I took yesterday. This shrub came with the house when we bought it almost 20 years ago. It has always been planted in this spot, which is on the southwestern side of our property. It’s the ultimate in sustainable gardening – I rarely need to prune it, I never water it and some years I’ll add a few handfuls of Hollytone to the soil underneath it but that’s about it for routine maintenance.
Excellent points, Debbie. I will also occasionally look at my rhodies and wonder if I should replace them. But they are so reliable, and so easy to care for that I never consider replacing them for more than a moment. They are true anchor shrubs for New England gardens and every May, when they are in full bloom, I wonder why I don’t plant more. Then, of course, I remember the deer. My rhodies remain full only because they are near my house and I fence them from winter deer browsing. Still, I cannot imagine owning a home without at least one or two.
If not for those deer, I think we’d all have gardens filled with lots of different plants. yesterday I noticed they had browsed my heuchera – a new problem for me here in Stamford!