In article 1drrb.109323$mZ5.731324@attbi_s54, "Pam - gardengal"
wrote:
"griffon" wrote in message
...
I wanted to buy a Japanese maple to add to my rather pathetic maple
garden (three Japanese, a "flame" amur maple, a vine maple) but the
tree was about one hundred dollars more than the much larger dogwood
and equal-size sourwood combined. Along with all of those unusual and
lovely evergreens that are three hundred dollars at two feet of
height, all but the most common Japanese maples are just too expensive
for my taste. When you can buy a couple dozen shrubs for the price of
one shrub or tree, it just doesn't make sense to go for the single
item.
I have some large rhodies gotten in trade for gardening labor, they are
common ironclads & nothing rare; if I'd gone out & bought enormous rhodies
they would probably have been either species rhodies, or odder cultivars.
But they are quite wonderful even though just "standards"; & they were
easier to "risk" in an exposed area where I would never dared have
installed anything rare anyway. They adapted perfectly to semi-harsh
locations & I love their gnarly fat branches & evergreen leaves so they're
great even apart from their month of exceedingly flowery glory. Planted
amidst the freebie ironclads is a currant bush gotten as a bare-root for
the "come on special price!" of $2, & a stunted old wiegela that was
already on the property but which I "banished" to the exposed site to get
it out of an important garden, & a black elder gotten small but what a
fast grower that was. So over time the area has become less & less exposed
& increasingly packed with exiled plants, freebies, & things too large to
get into the yard anyway. After only three years, it's like a little
jungle or a million dollar garden though the most expensive stuff there in
terms of personal outlay of money are probably the bulbs, oddball alliums
& cammas & fragrant narcissi. So some pretty great gardening can be done
on the cheap.
But one of the first things we installed when we moved to this house was a
fairly large Black Swan beach. It cost a hell of a lot. But when we were
tree-shopping I couldn't get it out of my mind & eventually I tricked
myself into believing that if I spent a thousand dollars on four trees,
the AVERAGE price was only $250 each, which ain't much for stuff ten to
eighteen feet tall. A couple years later I was sorting through the
wicker-box of saved garden tags, & found the Black Swan tag-- I'd
forgotten what a major splurge it had been that day & most of the cost was
for just one tree. But as Pam points out below, sometimes a really
remarkable focal point for a garden is simply WORTH a great deal more than
a wall of mixed shrubs no one of which dominates the field of vision. That
Black Swan is just eye-popping gorgeous in its swan-like elegance, it
nearly reaches the top of our two story house, it changes colors
seasonally from green & bronze in spring, to summer purple-black, autumn
red & green & brown, then reveals its twisty limbs for winter, & it gets
hairy beechnuts to boot -- it's been endlessly interesting to observe in
all seasons. So I've always felt it was one of the SMARTEST "splurges" I
ever made as few things I've blown money on in my life have repaid me this
persistently for years on end. Visitors always remark upon it, & more
than one visitor has afterward gone on quests to find one for their own
yards. I love my hornbeam too, but no one ever says, good lord, that's the
most beautiful hornbeam I've ever seen. The Black Swan is like an
affectionate friend.
We all have priorities & for me the garden rates pretty high; I'd like a
newer computer with a vast memory but I bought plants instead; my CD
player no longer works on shuffle, but it works, so I'd rather have
another plant than a new CD player. Not that even plants don't present
major limitations as to what I'm willing to spend. I'd love to have some
of the really rare very strangely flowering hepaticas I've seen -- tiny
perennials for several hundred dollars each -- but I just can't, I haven't
prioritized perennials as something I'm willing to spend even the grocery
money on, & I do settle for "regular" hepaticas which are unusual enough
to score pretty high in their own right. But back when we were busily
installing trees, we knew we only had room for a few things that were
really large & eventually we would never again be able to add another
tree, so a few that were pricy honestly do average out over time.
I'd say if you love the hell out of the bargain dogwood you got instead of
the intended fancy maple, then you made a fine choice, there's certainly
no reason to regret a choice merely for being affordable. The regret would
be if you can't get the maple you passed over out of your mind & you
realize it really was something you'd've enthused over to the highest
degree for many years. Unless you're planting acres & acres it's not like
you'd be needing to buy expensive trees every year as regularly as
annuals. They are going to be permanent in your landscape, add value to
your home, & reward you every time you step out the door. If faced with
such choices in the future you could always play the "trick" on yourself
of whenever selecting a handful of inexpensive things, add one more thing
you've dearly wanted but was expensive, then average them out so no one
thing seems costly.
I play that trick on myself so often I've learned to go home first before
over-spending, & if the next day I'm still so eager, then it's probably a
good choice rather than momentary lust. I've only once let something "get
away" that someone else bought before I could make the decision, it was a
dwarf libani ceder that was about six feet tall then with a strong bend
grew another eight feet horizontal with the ground with weeping branches
the whole length, a "curtain tree". I've never seen another exactly like
it. I should've planted it at the edge of the sunken garage & it would've
reached across the top of the roof so perfectly. I've seen other trees
(cherries & ceders) trained horizontally, but they always look inferior or
kitschy, & I'm only reminded how perfect was the fat-trunked specimen I
was too cheap to grab when I had the chance.
-paghat the ratgirl
Sure it does! It just depends on your priorities. All gardens need a focal
point and that pricey little maple or unusual conifer may be just the item
to set off your garden and make it distnctive from those of your neighbors.
Personally, I'd rather invest my gardening budget on a single, distinctive,
large ticket item than a dozen plain Jane shrubs any day of the week. This
is also the same advice I give my design clients - put your money in the
significant items first - the specimen tree(s) or shrub(s). These typically
will be slower growing plants that will need more time to establish and
mature, but will already make a significant statement about your garden.
Then fill in with the ordinary stuff as budget permits.
A couple of things to consider: you don't necessarily need to get a large
one to begin with - even Japanese maples can put on considerable growth when
young. My seven year old Coral Bark maple (not the most unusual variety) is
now a dramatic 18 foot feature of my entry garden. Younger, smaller trees
tend to adapt to new planting situations easier, too. And these plants DO go
on sale, specially at the end of the growing season. Become a regular
nursery visitor and scout the nurseries in your area on a regular schedule.
And look for plant sales in the spring - garden clubs, botanical gardens and
even Master Gardener organizations often have spring sales where you can
find less common items at good prices. If possible, avoid ordering online or
by mail - one seldom gets bargain prices AND reasonable size by this method.
Come on ......tell us what you paid for this stunning kousa. Inquiring minds
want to know!!
pam - gardengal
--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl:
http://www.paghat.com/