Here is the fence on the south side of our back yard. My neighbours had it built a couple of years ago (and told us the day before they were having it done and that we owed half, but that’s another story). Anyway, I hate it. It looks like a barricade. It can be viewed from the sunroom, the back porch, and the master bedroom, so it would be nice to have something nice to look at out there, even in the 6 months of the year that nothing is growing. This area is also next to the patio with the dining area and BBQ, so it’s got to look even better in the summer. Yet, I have enough shady areas in my garden already; I don’t really want to plant more shade-tolerant shrubs and perennials up against the fence. I want an interesting year-round focal point. Here is my solution:
This year I’m going to put in 2 columnar ‘Gladiator’ crabapples. They don’t take up much space and they’ll be tall enough to get sunlight over the fence most of the day, without casting too much extra shade. The spring flowers are gorgeous and the burgundy foliage looks great too and eventually they’ll be tall enough to block the view of the neighbours’ back window and garage. In between them will be a nice bench to sit in the shade and overlook the butterfly potager garden, with some kind of a decorative trellis-y thing above it. I think it’s going to look great!
I googled those crabs - they look gorgeous!
Nice to plan something that will provide year-round interest.
Posted by: The Ms. S. | March 16, 2009 at 08:05 PM