{"id":3367,"date":"2019-03-06T20:09:04","date_gmt":"2019-03-06T20:09:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/?p=3367"},"modified":"2019-03-06T20:10:48","modified_gmt":"2019-03-06T20:10:48","slug":"filling-a-hole-in-the-landscape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ongardening.com\/?p=3367","title":{"rendered":"Filling a Hole in the Landscape"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Garden projects sometimes\nbegin with a routine, manageable task that grows into a challenging project.\nThat was a scenario on a recent occasion when I had gardening help for seasonal\npruning of two large plants that had finished blooming. The day\u2019s targets were\ntwo winter-blooming Mexican plants: the twenty-foot Tree Dahlia (Daisy\nimperialis) and the twelve-foot Daisy Tree (Montanao grandiflora). I wrote\nabout these favored plants recently, and did not mention that they should be\ncut to the ground after blooms had faded to promote their amazing new growth\nduring the following summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This pruning requires\nwhacking and hauling, rather than horticultural precision, so it went quickly.\nWith clippers, loppers and saws already in hand, we turned to other pruning needs\nin my garden\u2019s California native plant landscape. There were several overgrown\nplants that needed attention, but the prime candidate was an American Black\nElderberry (Sambucus Canadensis). It is native to the eastern United States\n(not California), but it was a volunteer in the landscape and did not belong in\nmy California native garden. It was healthy, but had grown rather quickly into\na twenty-foot specimen.  It was under an\nenormous Lemonwood (Pittosporum eugenioides) and had become rangy due to lack\nof exposure to sunlight. (The Lemonwood, a native of New Zealand, also does not\nbelong in my California native garden but it’s far too big to push around.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We began pruning the\nElderberry, trying for a more attractive form, but quickly concluded that it\nhad to go. After all, there was still space in the truck, atop the branches of\nthe Tree Dahlia and the Tree Daisy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We soon reduced the\nElderberry to a stump, which we left to be dug out on another day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The session that began with\nroutine pruning resulted in a significant hole in the landscape that presented\nan opportunity to install something new, interesting, and native to California.\nThe site is about ten by ten feet, defined by the northwest property line, the\nLemonwood, and a picket fence that separates the California and Mediterranean\nBasin gardens. The adjacent residence, which is close to the property line,\nshades this site, and the Lemonwood blocks most of the overhead light. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first challenge was to\nidentify a California native plant that would enhance the garden, grow to an\nappropriate size, and thrive in this shady environment. The second step would\nbe to find a source for the selected plant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roaming through local garden\ncenters would not be an efficient strategy for such a search, so we went right\naway to garden books and the Internet. Here are the initial findings, as a\ndemonstration of this search. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunset Western Garden Book<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n