At the front of the house to the right of the front door are two large rhododendron bushes which are bordered by two equally large arborvitae shrubs.
They were quite modest in size when I bought the 4-year old house back in 1991. As time had passed, they've really thrived and gottten too big for foundation plantings. Each summer I have wanted to move them to another place in the nearly quarter-acre yard. But everyone says to just pull them up. A couple years ago I had a landscaper come and look at the job, but he wanted to just tear them out, but not transplant them. In late winter this year I talked to another landscaper and he promised to replace them with smaller plants. I just absolutely did not want to give up these maturing plants. Here is the view from the living room window. They are now right up against the siding.
Now that they are really overgrown and I must decide to let them all go. This is really a must now because of the arborvitae that is crowding the front step railing.
This week the purple rhododendron is blooming nicely. The white one is so crowded by the purple one, it just gets by with a sliver of the space. However, it does have a few blooms, which are coming out. I counted five emergent blooms today.
Soon (I keep telling myself) I will have to get these overgrown shrubs pulled up. The arborvitae cannot be just cut back because what will be left is ugly de-nuded branches. I tried that a few years back.
In the meantime, my mother and I are enjoying cut rhododendron blooms in the house. Here is a pitcher on the breakfast table in the kitchen.
This bloom graces the dining room table.
I just got a few things put out on the deck this week. This includes containers with white pansies and pink dahlias, hostas, and hens and chicks (sempervivium).
I've even put some rhododendron blooms in a watering can and placed them out on the deck.
The blooms are so lush and lovely. Can you see why I haven’t wanted to get rid of my precious rhododendrons?
Thank you for your visit. Do come again soon and please leave a comment.
6 comments:
Such lovely blooms. I can see why you are wanting to take such care in having them moved rather than destroyed. Thank you for sharing lovely photos.
~anajz~
So beautiful... I'm so sad to hear you have to remove them! The person who planted them should have realized they were going to get that big before they put them there...
Like I said in response to your comment on my blog, rhododendrons always remind me of "Rebecca", and Maderley...:)
Hello,
Thank you so much for stopping by. I love reading your posts. I can see why you don't want to let go; such a beauty. Would cutting back and splitting roots would be an option?
Otherwise, you may want to look at it as a fresh start. Why not try something new, that maybe you've always wanted to try but never came around to plant?
Enjoy your beautiful garden and home!
I can certainly understand that you'd hate to destroy your rhodos. They are so pretty. I have a cotoneaster that needs to go. My husband threatens it almost every day now. But I love it in the fall with its orange berries.
I have learned from the experience of a neighbor the consequence of waiting to long to divide or transplant flowers, shrubs or trees.
She has two beautiful Hostas that are huge and desperate need of division.
It is much to great a task for her since she doesn't garden. (She pays someone to maintain the basics of her yard)
The plant is crowding her porch stairs and is almost attacking her guest when they visit.
You have such a beautiful mature plant. I sorry that it can't be salvaged.
The rhododendrons look so lovely there in the little vase-- that's a great idea. I never take clippings of my rhododendron bush, but probably should. They just never seem to last long enough. :)
Post a Comment