Hi all. Hope you can give me some advice. I have inherited two gorgeous chimney pots which I have placed either side of my front door. I want to plant something which will look good all year round but will look impressive. My main thought was perhaps a box lollipop style topiary or similar. My local garden centre has various types which would look good eg bay, lavender, rosemary, margeurite and a conifer but all of them have "sun" or "full sun" on planting labels. My house is north-facing and hardly gets any sun at all. It is quite sheltered - if we have a frost it doesn't normally come right up to the door.

So can anyone advise which plants would suit this position best. Topiary trees are very expensive so I would hate to kill them off through choosing the wrong ones

Thanks

On 4/15/12 8:55 AM, Fugly Jowls wrote:
Hi all. Hope you can give me some advice. I have inherited two gorgeous
chimney pots which I have placed either side of my front door. I want to
plant something which will look good all year round but will look
impressive. My main thought was perhaps a box lollipop style topiary or
similar. My local garden centre has various types which would look good
eg bay, lavender, rosemary, margeurite and a conifer but all of them
have "sun" or "full sun" on planting labels. My house is north-facing
and hardly gets any sun at all. It is quite sheltered - if we have a
frost it doesn't normally come right up to the door.

So can anyone advise which plants would suit this position best. Topiary
trees are very expensive so I would hate to kill them off through
choosing the wrong ones

Thanks

I would definitely NOT use lavender or rosemary for topiary. Neither of
those two do well when sheared.

How about boxwood, myrtle, or privet? All do well when sheared.
Boxwood and privet are both hardy; myrtle is less so. All three of
these are very often used for topiary.

Boxwood (genus Buxus) will grow in shade, part-shade, or full sun.

Myrtle (Myrtus communis) will grow in part-shade or full sun.

Privet (genus Ligustrum) will grow in part-shade or full sun.

Whether you get enough sun for myrtle or privet should be determined by
a local nursery. The same is true for whether myrtle is sufficiently
hardy for your local climate.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary