can you grab a pic??/

ken

'rusty' your're right it does look boring in that picture and yet in person I was impressed. I guess you had to be there ;).

Rusty, I understand why you say that, but a well grown prostrate juniper has a lovely texture and can be interesting close up. When you consider the alternatives and the maintenance those alternatives might involve, boring might be only aspect of the solution.

I think boring would have been a soldier straight line of cosmos or begonias placed exactly

8 inches apart with red bark mulch. Any one can pull that off in a half hour trip to a big box store.

I think it takes a bit of imagination to see how several wee junipers might fill the bill. If I

didn't think of it, it would be because of lack of imagination on my part!

I actually have a strip like that and I did 'throw perennials at it' like you said Rouge. In my case it's the strip between our driveway and the fence. It had grass there and was a nuisance to cut so I planted perennials in its place. It never occurred to me to plant juniper. But I have noticed that my small planting of sedum is gradually spreading and may fill in the whole bed eventually.

...I think it takes a bit of imagination to see how several wee junipers might fill the bill.

Exactly! That is one of the appeals of gardening to me....the permutations and combinations are endless...very much a cerebral activity.

Here is another pic of this strip:

I love it and have a strip very similar to this. It's in more shade than sun and everything I have tried has slowly died away. My strip is among oak trees, so lots of competition. I currently was thinking of just covering it with mulch and calling it good - do you think this juniper could handle more shade than sun? I think it's lovely. And yes - wax begonias (alternating red and pink) make me gag.

I like that a lot, especially when you see it in the context of the rest of the yard. It does a great job of expanding the green in the lawn. Your eye can read it as one large area, rather than two smaller ares that might look choppy.

A row of fountain grass would look beautiful here!

I like it, neat and lush looking and doesn't distract from the plantings behind the fence actually makes a nice frame, the plant at the forefront in the last picture would have to go tho, but that's just me.

Annette

But what would that fountain grass look like in winter? In my zone 5 it would be splayed and ragged by January if it wasn't buried in snow. And How would you cut it back in spring with a fence behind it? I am not trying to be unnecessarily negative, but I couldn't handle more than a few years with one big fountain grass. I realized I couldn't maintain it when I had to ask dh to get out the chain saw because my hands couldn't hold the shears long enough to do the spring clean up.

Junipers seem to end up with bagworms many summers here, I hate picking those off, but the bigger problem is the rug type junipers will eventually get much wider than that space allows. Sooner or later it will either grow over the sidewalk collecting stuff under it or need regular trimming. Once it gets mature and has been trimmed regularly to keep the sidewalk clear after several years, the flat edge will get more and more defined and start looking like a torturously unnatural ugly straight edge with thick cut stems showing, there is a good example right next door to me planted in a similar situation. In the beginning it fit real like nice and looked good that one does.

Bella, I like the fountain grass idea, a row of small ones like Pennisetum 'Hamlyn' would fit nicely, be a snap to trim in spring--- take about 30 or 40 minutes tops -- otherwise it'd be zero maintenance and down here it would add nice winter interest. An easy to trim grass like fountain grass would involve a whole lot less work over time than keeping the junipers within bounds and trimming stickery branches on a whole line of them.

Agree with Annette, the daylily in the forefront looks sloppy & jarringly out of place.

the daylily in the forefront looks sloppy & jarringly out of place.

I don't think it is as 'bad' as it looks in my picture. As I recall my photo just cuts off a gate entrance through the picket fence going up to the front door. And so there is symmetry with this stand of...daylilies? that you can't see in my shots.

Fountain grass isn't difficult to cut down and would look stunning in that area. Some great varieties to try: "Hamelin", "Karley Rose" and "Cassian". They look beautiful in all four seasons, are low maintenance and only require a haircut in the Spring. Another option would be catmint. I love it and grow it all over my garden. It's a hardy perennial that's beautiful with it's purple flowers and can handle hot sunny difficult locations. Just adding my two cents for what it's worth. :-)

except for some late winter.. early spring pruning ... guessing.. from snow damage... either street plowing.. or shoveling.. or snowblowing..

this planting is ENTIRELY carefree ...

and from the front windows perspective... this is just fine for the neighbors to look at ... lol ...

i think the rest of your wonderful suggestions ... raise maintenance issues ... and i wouldnt work that hard for the neighbors ...

ken

mmm, it might be carefree but I am thinking it is also desperately dull. Not for me, I am afraid, under any circs.

Tediously dull for me. Rug junipers are high on my list of boring, unimaginative landscape solutions. I think your sentence "and I would have thrown perennials at this strip" sounds like a good and refreshing idea.

I don't work hard on any gardens "for the neighbors". Do people do that?

my point campy ... is beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.. lol.. or the planter ...

i can fully understand the utility of this planting ... though.. as a plant collector.. who believes there is NEVER a use for more than one of anything... no.. its not my cup of tea ... [just for my brit friend.. lol]

come on tex .... you havent seen the lawn warriors perfecting their lawns.. to beat all the neighbors ... when you get outside of us hardcore gardeners.. one might posit that most all landscaping is done for the benefit of the viewer.. rather than the owner ... maybe that is part of the difference between a garden.. and an landscape ... hmmmmm

ken

After looking at the foundation planting which to me looks quite permanent I thought it was a border fitting what was there, then again that's just me.

Annette

I figure this kind of thing is a pretty good match for someone who doesn't have the time or energy to be out in the garden much. Even with a row of fountain grass you'd have more weeding to do. And if you're someone like my mother, who can't physically do that anymore, or a single parent, med student, etc...

I'm kinda old school as far as white picket fences go...I'd have species roses climbing through them.

I know this won't help much but trust me that this green strip looks does look better in person than in my pics. It really caught my eye as I had never seen such a low lying juniper used like this i.e. in an almost 'perfect' rectangular space. And it was immaculate; even though it was next to a busy street and well used sidewalk...a "hell-strip"? Clearly it is able to thrive despite the extra heat from the road and sidewalk and minimal water in the summer and dirty, salty snow in the winter.

Lots of interesting comments. Keep'em coming.

Just an answer to a problem area, always green and probably less maintenance than most other ideas. It looks neat but boring to me. I know I would put something else there, my first thought is a smaller perennial geranium. Rouge, if you think of it next spring, I would like to see what it looks like after winter and snow is gone. Just wondering if it's that nice early in the season.

Sherry

I see this plant every day, when I peer out of my front window at the garden across the street, as they have this plant very neatly trimmed and shaped.... adjoining the road too.... but it forms part of their Japanese themed border... they have a Pagoda and lots of small shaped and trimmed conifers and other plants suited to that style... it's actually rather nice done that way, I know they had it professionally landscaped...

....as it is in the photo, I presume the property owner leads a very busy, exciting life, jetting here there and everywhere, having a great time, because frankly, if that was mine, and the way I live, I might be bored witless... I'd probably give it one season....

Rouge, I agree,it looks neat and tidy. If that was my only experience with that plant, I would be definitely impressed. There is something to be said about the statement monoculture can make and your picture shows lush green with great texture.

However, I get what everyone else is saying as well. I have just seen too many of these in the landscape - old and bony looking. Usually there are several bare spots and you can see the limbs. I think that they were aiming for what we are seeing in your picture above, but it just didn't work out right....99.9% of the time around here.

I like it, I think it fits the spot beautifully, and like Ruth mentioned, it gives the illusion of extension of the lawn.

There are pros and cons to everything. Sure it *could* look jazzier, but maybe what's planted is the owner's aesthetic. Or, s/he is too busy for maintenance chores and just wants something nice and neat. Hey, I'd rather have a row of something tidy that looks purposefully planted that some of the overgrown weedy cr*p I've seen in my neighborhood! Like people just don't care and not taking care of the house/landscape.

Besides, I do relate to the comments above re: lack of time or desire for maintenance. I've been so busy lately with more important things than gardening, my own gardens are going to pot so I'm not one who should be criticizing others' messes. At this point in time I can fully appreciate something low-maintenance and tidy that requires very little input from the homeowner.

"I like it, I think it fits the spot beautifully" exactly, I couldn't have said it better. Not my style but hey 'my style' would make a lot of gardeners shudder LOL.

Annette

Its hard to tell what kind it is but its good to keep in mind the mature size when planting a narrow strip like that. Procumbens produces long stems to form a dense mat 10 to 15 ft wide per plant. Blue Rug is a bit smaller but does the same thing, each plant inevitably forms a mat that is 6 to 8ft wide. If its a prostrate variety that doesn't produce long runners it will be low maintenance but if its not it will be interesting to see how the area looks after a few years. If its one of the types that forms strong leaders, it does look like it is, it will involve aggressive trimming to keep it in bounds. I also wonder about the part that will want to grow through the slats or under the picket fence.

Hameln.

Here are two additional shots of the home. The first is a picture that I took just this past weekend showing how close this strip is to the busy road:

And then I was able to find the home on Street View (a shot in July).

(The solid green of the juniper fits in nicely with the green of the shutters):

Is this a duplex? The bigger picture looks like one side wanted daylilies and the other side liked the junipers. Also lots of wires going to the homes.

If it was one long section in front of a single family home, I would have mixed it up. Some juniper, three daylilies, more juniper... repeat pattern.

I don't have junipers, but they seem to fit nicely into this space.

Is this a duplex?

It is a single family dwelling. The street view perspective makes it look a bit 'weird'.

the juniper looks a thousand times better than the ratty looking daylily on the other end ... if that is what they are

ken

With that unusual architecture I am surprised that anyone notices this strip.

Wonder why they didn't continue the juniper all the way instead of dividing the bed with two very different from each other types of plants. Even alternating them would add more interest.

With that unusual architecture

You wouldnt know this of course but this style home is quite common in this neighbourhood.

And as one who drives by that home everyday the home is 'old hat'. And so when I walked by it (for the first time) the strip held all my attention.

Wonder why they didn't continue the juniper all the way

I agree mnwsgal.