Northeast Gardening: Blank slate ideas, 0 by ViburnumValley

ViburnumValley wrote:
All right, flowerjen - you've had a ton of input from frosty northerners (well, maybe that doesn't apply to ROBINDOG in CT). Now, consider ideas from warmer climes which you inhabit and elaborate on all the great things inherent there...

Like a great viburnum collection!

I can see where 25' wide by 40' long could provide homes for a dozen or more full-size specimen viburnums, or even more if you prefer smaller versions mixed with larger in a diverse shrub border. Throw in some winterberries, and you have a bonanza of bird berrying bushes to rival the finest alliterative arrays in arboreta.

Here's a blend I suggested to another Viburnophile-in-training (also copied below):

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=7716766

**Viburnum dilatatum Linden Viburnum - clones include 'Asian Beauty', 'Catskill', 'Erie', 'Oneida', and 'Iroquois'; Cardinal Candy™ would be my last choice among the red fruits. 'Michael Dodge' provides yellow fruit.

**Viburnum nudum Swamp Possumhaw Viburnum - 'Winterthur', 'Brandywine', 'Pink Beauty', others

**Viburnum dentatum Arrowwood Viburnum - Crimson Tide™, Cardinal™, Indian Summer™, Blue Blaze™, Red Feather™, Raspberry Tart™, etc. Obviously, many more could be enumerated.

**Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum Doublefile Viburnum - 'Shasta', 'Shoshoni', 'West Olive', 'Lanarth', 'Molly Schroeder', etc.

Some others you should add - for variety, toughness, extent of bloom time, fall color, evergreen-ness, etc...

**Viburnum x pragense

**Viburnum x 'Conoy'

**Viburnum cassinoides (sometimes called V. nudum var. cassinoides) and clones

**Viburnum x burkwoodii and clones, especially 'Mohawk'

**Viburnum x 'Cayuga'

**Viburnum x juddii

**Viburnum sargentii and clones

**Viburnum sieboldii and clones

**Viburnum prunifolium and clones

**Viburnum rufidulum and clones

Without knowing too many specifics of your current garden landscape, these great multi-season shrubs will provide a lot of eye-candy as well as bird benefits. Central NJ farm soils are famous for productivity, so I can't imagine that these species would have any difficulty flourishing for you.

I'd use the fragrant early bloomers nearer your home, or at least in places you frequent that time of spring. The primary ones listed above are later to perform, when gardeners are spending more time out in the landscape.

All these are fine in combination with water features, whether a pond, rivulet, or splashing/falling cascade. The species that prefer wet sites (along with winterberries) make even more sense in that regard.

If you do desire to contrive elevation changes, I'd not go the "berm" route. I'd maneuver the existing soil from created low spots (basins) to created swells. That requires no additional materials, and maintains continuity of soil quality, predictability, and integration (no lenses or strident horizons between types). This variety of elevation can blend in the landscape seamlessly, yet provide variety to moisture regime and drainage to subtly different plants that need either sharper drainage or wetter feet.

If considered on 8' centers, with a corridor through which to saunter (dead straight or serpentine, depending on proclivities), there will be ample space to infill with all sorts of perennials, annuals, grasses, and garden follies (sculpture, art, birdhouses, scrap farm equipment) while the shrubs are maturing. That is, if you consider gilding the viburnum necessary.

You can never have too many viburnums (even if some are underachievers). AND - Sven/Andre/Turk should be keeping their physique toned by doing the earthmoving and planting, to earn the opportunity to provide massages...