No more boxwoods

I finally finished cutting down the boxwoods in the front gardens. When I last worked on this project, I managed to cut down two of the boxwoods in the perennial bed. Two down, two to go.

looking west

looking east

much better

One of them was replaced with a transplanted rudbeckia and two prairie dropseeds.

The other was replaced with a transplanted Shasta daisy and one prairie dropseed.

I ordered the prairie dropseed from a company in Wisconsin that specializes in native plants. They are very small now, but should be about 2-3 feet high and wide when full grown.

Next I moved on to the boxwoods in the herb garden.

before

after

These two were replaced with two New Jersey tea plants that I got from the same nursery,

closer look

The New Jersey tea should be about 3 feet tall and wide, and will have lots of white flowers that should attract butterflies and bees.

The only plants in the herb garden that were here when we moved in are two large rubeckia and two Shasta daisies. The rest of the plants I've either moved to the perennial bed (lilies and daisies) or cut down (yuccas and boxwoods). To anyone paying attention, that bed will look completely different this year than last.

Maybe that's why I like gardening. While it certainly requires patience, which I struggle with, it also offers instant gratification. You can completely change the way an area looks just by putting in some new plants.

I can hardly wait for all the new ones to grow up.