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Shrub Plantings with Big Impact in a Short Time

You layout your garden bed and head to the garden center to buy plants. Those small shrubs seem lost in that big space. Fight the temptation to plant them closer together than the tag recommends.

These small plants will quickly grow to full size. If overcrowded, you will need to remove the extra plants – something most gardeners are reluctant to do. And by the time you do, all the shrubs may have lost their beauty.

Use a tape to measure and plant your shrubs at the recommended spacing. Carefully remove the plant from the pot, loosen any girdling roots and place in a hole the same depth as the rootball and two or more times the diameter wide.

Fill the space between young shrubs with annual and perennial flowers. The flowers will quickly fill in the gaps between your properly spaced shrubs. As the shrubs grow, fewer annuals are planted and the ornamental grasses and perennials can be divided or moved to a new location.

A bit more information: Don’t limit your garden to ornamental plants. Fill those gaps with herbs and vegetables. The color, texture and fragrance of herbs add a nice dimension to the garden. And many of the new vegetable varieties have decorative fruit to add seasonal color and edibility to your landscape.

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