Hickory Grove

Information may not be reliable

This Gold Coast Juniper is planted a bit close to the walkway, but for a reason. The walkway traverses along the precipice of a steep slope. There isn’t much room near the path to plant and we wanted a dense planting to discourage people from going near the slope’s drop-off.
Gold Coast Juniper is a compact, spreading plant, and unlike many of the other junipers it has softer foliage. With a mature height of around 18 to 24″, it should serve well as buffer/barrier to the slope.
Some Planting Design Needs Gentle Persuasion
You know I always talk about selecting plants to suit the situation. Always consider their characteristics (i.e. size potential, growth habit, exposure, etc.) and the design intent. Sometimes the “fit” is not perfect and you must gently persuade the plant to work in that space.
The use of Gold Coast Juniper along this walkway is an example of this. The juniper lends itself to fairly aggressive pruning and therefore, can be persuaded each season to stay within the space. [...]

Meserve Hybrid Hollies
This is a group of hybridized hollies. They were developed by “crossing” other holly types to produce cold-hardy plants with beautiful foliage – 2 noble goals.
The term blue holly represents several hollies within the Meserve Holly group. I do have my favorites, but each one has its own beauty especially when sited correctly. By sited correctly I mean planted in favorable conditions for that particular plant. [...]

General Pool Fence Regulations
As I always say and practice, check with the municipal building office for exact pool fence regulations. There can be aspects of the code that are tweaked or interpreted a certain way and you need to know that. I find it helpful to bring in a sketch (pictures too) and explain what you intend to do. Do this early on and you can plan for the fence location and design right from the beginning of your project.
Pictured here is an area of pool fencing recently installed on a project of mine. There is a change in levels created by a stone wall. At this height change point the fence installer used a long post to make the transition.
The decorative aluminum fence ended on the top level and the vinyl coated chainlink fence picked-up at the lower level. Everything should meet pool fence regulations…so we thought. [...]

Today I planted and arranged fall flowers at my house. While rushing to get that chore done so I could move on to the next, it hit me. Maybe some of you folks could use some tips on this.
How can I work underneath a wide plant and keep my sanity?
Right? It can be a real nuisance “getting down in there”. In this instance it’s a mum, one of the popular fall flowers.
The idea is simple. Carefully tie up and bundle the branches so you can see what you’re doing. Frankly, this trick applies to working underneath and around many types of plants. [...]

LandscapeAdvisor is a blog that chronicles the creative and problem solving strategies of my design / build projects, along with those of the talented artisans and tradespeople I work with. We all have years of experience, love what we do and are here to share that information every way we can. Whether you're an inquiring homeowner or member of the trade, we're confident there's something here for you.

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