Recently, as I was digging up four boxwood shrubs, and cutting down a twelve-foot elderberry, I recalled that some gardeners dislike toppling mature plants or discarding healthy ones.<\/p>\n
This is not about relocating plants. Certainly, there are situations in which a plant has outgrown its spot, or has failed to thrive because of a lack of sun or moisture or nutrition, or simply doesn\u2019t look right where it is, aesthetically.<\/p>\n
In such situations, assuming the plant is not too big to move, go ahead and transplant to a better location within your garden, or gift it to a friend. You and the plant and perhaps your friend will be happier.<\/p>\n
We might ask, \u201cWhen is it a good idea to decommission a plant?\u201d<\/p>\n
One justification would be that the plant is both unwanted (for any of several reasons) and too big to move without significant effort or expense.<\/p>\n
Another justification arises when an unwanted plant is not too big to move, but no alternative location is available in your garden or in the garden of any friend.<\/p>\n
The option that remains is to lift the plant with care and bring it to a garden exchange. These events are constructive and popular when someone steps up to the task of organization.<\/p>\n
One should link to the local gardening network to learn when and where a garden exchange will happen. Join a club!<\/p>\n
An important mindset when removing a plant is to avoid any sense of loss, and instead to recognize the opportunity to bring in a new and more interesting plant. Therefore, one should have (1) a replacement plant already in mind, (2) the confidence and knowledge to grow the replacement plant, and (3) the patience to let the plant to reach full maturity.<\/p>\n
The four boxwoods (Buxus sempervirens) I dug up had been intended to frame a rose bed, but these common plants had grown large enough to block the view of the roses. I will replace them with miniature roses, to be selected.<\/p>\n
The elderberry was an unknown species, a gift that I planted before I realized how big it would get, and before I decided to devote that section of the garden to California native plants. A Pacific Red Elderberry (Sambucus racemosa) might have stayed, but this shrub\u2019s berries were not red, but black.<\/p>\n
I will replace this shrub with a Silverleaf Manzanita (Arctostaphylus silvicola), a beautiful very gray, and very endangered shrub that is endemic to the nearby Zayante Sandhills. It is also called the Santa Cruz Manzanita. I found a specimen at the Yerba Buena Nursery in Half Moon Bay.\u00a0 It\u2019s in a one-gallon nursery pot, so it will need time to reach its mature height of eight feet.<\/p>\n
Uprooting plants can release space for new botanical treasures.<\/p>\n
More<\/p>\n
Here’s a picture of the Silverleaf Manzanita, from the website of Las Pilitas Nurseries<\/a>, a treasure trove of information on California native plants, as well as a great source of those plants. There are two locations: Santa Margarita (about 18 miles north of San Luis Obispo) and Escondido.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recently, as I was digging up four boxwood shrubs, and cutting down a twelve-foot elderberry, I recalled that some gardeners dislike toppling mature plants or discarding healthy ones. This is not about relocating plants. Certainly, there are situations in which … Continue reading ![\"Arctostaphylos](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.laspilitas.com\/images\/grid24_24\/10103\/images\/plants\/arctostaphylos\/arctostaphylos-silvicola_ghostly_manzanita.jpg?w=584\" "\\"The")
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