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Hi, I have an area on my garden plan that was intended to receive a weeping cherry tree, which has an eventual height/width in the 40 foot range after many years. My hubby is not a big fan of this tree idea, and I am looking at other options. I live on a corner of a cul-de-sac from the 1950s, with ranch and colonial style homes. My property is between .3 and .5 acres and I have several large oaks already on it. The main road is divided, and planted with very nice pink crepe myrtles that are over 25 feet tall, and holly trees. I'll try to get a picture of the area in the morning, but I think it is helpful to get the context.
The side of the lot on this street is where I'll be focusing my attention next spring. It is planned to get a long, serpentine planting bed, covering the center of the side lot, extending the length of it, but eventually having a fence dividing it in half at the back of the house. I'll be focusing on the end of that bed at the front corner of the house next year...the back yard portion will be done later after renovations on the house are completed.
I'm considering a couple of options for the corner of this lot, which will get a lot of attention by people driving by. First option is to put in 2-3 crepe myrtles, to mimic the trees in the median of the street. I would plant them as a small grove, and choose either different varieties, or all the same. I am also considering whether or not I can do the same with 2 to 3 japanese maples. This area gets a fair amount of sun, and I already have more than one tree out there, including my coral bark, which could become part of my little "grove", if included at one end of it. I have in my mind's eye a bonsai-like grove, of trees with trunks and structure highly visible lower on the tree, and leaves above. I would be interested in a variety of early spring or fall color, but look for similar basic shapes, and summer color. I would want trees that would average around 20 feet tall with a canopy not more than that. The planting bed at that end would be a lazy, long, "S" shape, and it is on the E-W axis of the property, so it gets a fair amount of sun, but does get some shade from the oaks and the house at certain times/seasons.
Any comments, or ideas? Pros and cons of such an arrangement?
Trees I will have available that I have in pots currently (but which could go elsewhere in the landscape) are Acer palmatum 'Mizuho Beni', and 'Bloodgood'. The latter is only about 18" tall at the moment, while 'Mizuho Beni' is 2-3 ft tall.
Laura
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