Coop Office Make-Over at Mid-Summer

When I last reported on this make-over I declared that I’d kept the old junipers, despite your advice, and showed pics of the limbed-up old junipers looking pretty sculptural with all the dead matter removed.

But now with dozens of new perennials and 18 new shrubs all at their mid-summer best, bare juniper parts are barely visible.

This is my favorite before/after combo – what people see as they leave the visitors’ entrance. I cringed every time I saw those overgrown junipers made ugly and half-dead by shearing.

Like most landscapes around public and commercial buildings, this one HAS to be low-maintenance while looking good. So like the “Mostly Shrubs” city center I recently showed you, the shrubs here will eventually fill up these foundation borders, and I’ll gradually reduce the number of perennials to pockets of color here and there.

Naturally, there are no annuals, and therefore no need for irrigation after new plants (all pretty drought-tolerant) are established.

Thanks to all the full-grown perennials donated for the project, the garden looks pretty darn full in its first year, and the coop only had to spend $1,500 on plants and materials.

Anyone hazard a guess as to what this make-over would cost if done professionally – with no volunteer gardeners or donated plants?

Plants ID’d

Shrubs above: 3 ‘Gumdrop Burgundy Candy’ Ninebarks (native, fast-growing, ultimate size 4-5′ x 30-36″) and 3 ‘Golden Mops’ Threadleaf False Cypress we chose for the yellow leaf color to contrast with the deep green of the Junipers and purple leaves of the Ninebark.

Perennials above: 2 ‘Walker’s Low” Catmint, a few donated Garden Phlox and many donated Black-eyed Susans (native and the Maryland State Flower. This cheerful long-bloomer is so popular in Old Greenbelt, it’s almost our signature plant.)

Shrubs above: ‘Ginger Wine’ Ninebarks, and  ‘Ogon’ Spireas (chartreuse, willow-like leaves and white flowers in the spring).

Perennials above: Many donated Purple Coneflower, another native, with long-lasting blooms that we’ll leave up in the fall for the goldfinches that love their seedheads. The white flowers on these (instead of the usual purple) were a big surprise. Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is an orange-blooming native plant that’s great for pollinators. And more Catmint ‘Walker’s Low.’

Shrubs above: 3 ‘Silver Mist’ Junipers’ (ultimate size 1′ x 5′), and ‘Ginger Wine’ Ninebark. 

Perennials above: Tons of donated Black-Eyed Susans, and 3 Kahori Scarlet Pinks (Dianthus hybrid), which bloom almost continuously throughout the season.

Coop Office Make-Over at Mid-Summer originally appeared on Garden Rant on July 13, 2018.

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