Gardening & Landscaping
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Plant Shrubs Now or Later
I want to plant some evergreen shrubs in front of a window. Can I plant them now or should I wait until spring? Also if you have any uggestios for what to buy I want low maintinece, maybe 3' tall when mature, full sun, and not prickly.
Re: Plant Shrubs Now or Later
Now is a perfect time to plant them. Get a rain gauge and place it near one of the plants. Make sure they get 1" of rain or watering a week until frost. Having the gauge near a plant gives you an idea of how much 1" of watering really is.
Look into dwarf conifers online and visit some local nurseries for advice (not big box stores like HD). Here's a website with lots of great advice & pictures. They have a page that explains the best way to plant conifers too.
http://www.richsfoxwillowpines.com/advice_and_how-tos/
There are a huge variety of conifers that would love full sun, not grow too fast, and have soft needles. But keep in mind that being classified as "dwarf" only means they grow 1-6" a year. They never stop growing so you need plenty of space around them. Most websites give you their 10 year size but having enough space for 20 years is preferred. Beware the tags on plants sometimes greatly underestimate their size because most people like small plants.
Don't amend the soil or add fertilizer. Conifers do well in poor soil and you don't want to encourage shallow roots.
HTH!
The best time to plant a shrub is whenever you can find a healthy specimen. The nursery industry is seasonal, and certain shrubs will only be available at certain times. Sun-Evergreens are somewhat easier because their sales aren't driven by flowers, so you can usually find something appropriate in three seasons.
You didn't specify what zone you live in, but Korean Boxwood is evergreen, can take full sun, and meets the size requirement.