I Did it Myself

I planted a narrow, vertical-growing boxwood last year in the shade under the aspens at the back of one garden, and it did so well I decided to plant two more, making a grouping that shields the view of the potting bench. They are all the same cultivar, Buxus sempervirens 'Green Tower'.

The boxwood on the right is the one I planted last year. It's grown very well in a year, almost doubling in height and remaining green and lush despite New Mexico's dry torments. It was a 7 gallon container that I got at Agua Fria nursery and I could maneuver and plant it myself.

I went back this year to Agua Fria to get two more for a grouping, but the only sizes they had were 15 gallon containers. Each weighed close to 60 pounds to lift. As the nursery helper wrestled them on their sides into the back of my car, he handed me a card for a landscaper. Here, he said, you can't plant these yourself. Call my guy.

Well, I planted them myself. You can tell just by looking because they are too close together and too close to the stucco wall. That's my signature garden style: I plant large woody trees and shrubs way too close to everything, then regret it after a few years, but it's what I do.

I'll need to prune them for size and to keep them away from the wall. Boxwoods take hard pruning well, even submitting to tortured topiary shaping, so I'm not worried about keeping them in bounds. And besides, they do need to bulk up and grow some to better screen the potting bench.

This empty corner looks better now. The dense green height of the boxwoods provides something to look at other than the solid stucco wall of the neighbor's garage, and they provide a backdrop for some perennials that I'll plant at their feet. The potting bench is still seen, but is no longer the focal point of this garden.

Jim didn't help (bad back) and I couldn't do it very fast (it took two days just to dig two holes), and this garden sits elevated above the potting bench area by railroad ties, so I had to lift heavy things up over the ties, but you know what? 

I did do it myself.