After installing our pondless waterfall and placing our statement trees and evergreens, we've now completed the third phase of our west side garden transformation: adding structure with carefully selected shrubs. This step is crucial in creating a cohesive, multi-layered mixed border that will provide year-round interest and a natural feel around our water feature.

The Evolution of Our Garden Space

What was once a stunning Limelight hydrangea hedge planted in 2018 has evolved into something new—a reflection of our own growth as gardeners. While the hedge was beautiful, we were ready for the complexity and diversity of a mixed border centered around our new pondless waterfall.

Gardens should evolve as gardeners evolve, and this transformation reflects our desire to create more dynamic, layered, and naturalistic spaces with multiple seasons of interest.

Design Principles for Our Shrub Layer

When selecting and placing our shrubs, we followed several key design principles:

1. Creating Natural Structure with Multiple Levels

We're developing a tiered effect, starting with the large Arctic Jade maple and Ice Dragon maple at the top level, followed by medium-sized shrubs, and eventually (in future phases) lower perennials and annuals. This creates visual depth and mimics the layered structure found in natural landscapes.

2. Considering Maintenance Requirements

For areas that are difficult to access—particularly at the top of the waterfall—we chose low-maintenance plants that won't require regular pruning or deadheading. Plants like the Gatsby Globall oakleaf hydrangea hold their flowers all season without dropping them into the water, making them perfect companions for our water feature.

3. Contrasting Textures and Forms

Throughout our design, we've deliberately paired contrasting textures and leaf forms to create visual interest. The delicate, dissected leaves of the Japanese maples contrast with the bold foliage of oakleaf hydrangeas, while the lacy blooms of Invincible Lace hydrangea play against the spreading, blue-green needles of Montana Moss juniper.

4. Creating Functional Vignettes

Instead of trying to design the entire border at once, we broke it down into smaller "vignettes" or moments that each have their own cohesive combination of textures, colors, and forms. This approach makes the design process more manageable and creates multiple focal points throughout the garden.

5. Dense Planting for a Lush Look

We intentionally plant quite densely, taking mature sizes into account but allowing plants to touch when fully grown. This creates a lush, abundant look while also reducing weed pressure since less sunlight reaches the soil between plants.

Our Shrub Selections

At the Top of the Waterfall

Invincible Lace Hydrangea - Placed at the highest point of our design, this reliable hydrangea features delicate, lacy blooms and grows to about 4-5 feet tall and wide. It blooms on new wood, so it's very reliable even in our Zone 6a garden. While it's the "highest maintenance" plant in this section, it only requires cutting back to about 18 inches from the ground in spring.

Paisley Pup Leucothoe (Dog Hobble) - We planted a trio of these fascinating evergreen shrubs with their mottled, variegated foliage that transitions from orangey-brown to green-yellow with pink tones as the season progresses. Growing to about 4 feet tall and quite wide, these provide year-round interest and thrive in the naturally moist conditions near our waterfall.

Gatsby Globall Oakleaf Hydrangea - This compact member of the Gatsby family reaches about 3 feet tall and wide, offering the same beautiful attributes as larger oakleaf hydrangeas—thick leaves that turn burgundy in fall and long-lasting flower panicles—in a more garden-friendly size. Since it holds its flowers without dropping them, it's a perfect choice near our water feature.

Mid-Level Around the Waterfall

Montana Moss Juniper - With its icy blue, soft-textured foliage, this spreading juniper (2 feet tall, spreading wider) creates a beautiful cascading effect along the crest of our waterfall. Unlike many junipers, it has a soft texture that's pleasant to touch. It's also prunable if it starts to spread too enthusiastically toward the water.

Tough Stuff Aha Mountain Hydrangeas - We planted a trio of these reblooming mountain hydrangeas with their large, distinctive florets along the rocks of our waterfall. Their bold green leaves contrast beautifully with the stone, and they should thrive in the partially shaded, moisture-rich environment created by the waterfall.

Sweetspire Low Sarcococcas - These small evergreen shrubs tolerate shade and moisture, making them perfect for tucking under our Japanese maples. While they're at the edge of their hardiness range in our Zone 6a garden, we're hopeful that the protection provided by the maples, combined with the consistent moisture from the waterfall, will help them thrive.

Around the Arctic Jade Maple

Let's Dance Ariba Hydrangeas - We created a drift of these reblooming bigleaf hydrangeas in an "X" pattern in front of our Arctic Jade maple. This arrangement ensures they look good from multiple viewing angles as you approach from different parts of the garden. We're adding aluminum sulfate to encourage the beautiful purple-blue flowers to develop in future bloom cycles.

Kodiak Jet Black Diervilla - This stunning dark-foliaged shrub creates a striking contrast against the chartreuse-jade foliage of our maple and the green of the hydrangeas. Though it produces small yellow flowers, we selected it primarily for its rich, dark foliage that gets even deeper as the season progresses.

Planting Challenges and Solutions

Working Around Waterfall Infrastructure

Planting around a pondless waterfall requires careful attention to avoid damaging the underground components. We discovered:

• Pond liner extensions - In several places, we found fabric extending beyond the visible edge of the waterfall, which helped guide our planting positions
• Irrigation lines - The auto-fill system has small pipes that run to the reservoir
• Electrical wiring - Lighting for the waterfall required us to dig carefully, especially near the water

The good news is that the installation team had thoughtfully kept infrastructure at least 3-4 feet from the edge of the visible waterfall, giving us plenty of room to plant.

Dealing with Unique Soil Conditions

The soil around our waterfall consisted primarily of backfill from new construction with minimal nutrients. To give our plants a strong start, we:

1. Added Coast of Maine in-ground garden soil to each planting hole
2. Mixed this amendment with the existing soil to prevent a "bathtub effect"
3. Top-dressed with rose and flower care fertilizer to give the shrubs an initial boost

The Wicking Effect

We noticed an interesting phenomenon where water from the waterfall wicks up through the moisture-retentive soil around the edges. This creates naturally moist areas that are perfect for plants like the dog hobble and sarcococcas that appreciate consistent moisture.

Working with New Plant Packaging

This project gave us our first experience with Proven Winners' new "package" grow bags for shrubs. After some initial hesitation, we found they work well when you:

1. Make a small cut to start
2. Peel back the material
3. Rotate and continue peeling
4. Lift the plant out with minimal root disturbance

These collapsible grow bags use less plastic than traditional nursery containers and allow plants to be shipped more efficiently.

Looking Ahead: Next Steps

While the structure of our west border is now firmly established with trees, specimen evergreens, and flowering shrubs, we still have more to do:

1. Installing drip irrigation - A simple system with a main line along the back and secondary lines to the front
2. Adding perennials and annuals - To fill in gaps and provide additional seasonal color
3. Top-dressing with compost - To improve soil structure and provide nutrients

From Hedge to Mixed Border: A Worthwhile Evolution

Many were concerned when we removed our hedge of 15 Limelight hydrangeas, but our new mixed border actually incorporates even more hydrangeas—at least 10 already, with more to come! The difference is in the variety and how they're integrated with other plants to create a more dynamic, four-season landscape.

The transformation from a single-variety hedge to a complex mixed border represents our growth as gardeners and our desire to create more naturalistic, multi-layered plantings. Each phase brings us closer to our vision of a garden that balances structure with spontaneity, formality with natural beauty.

Thank you for growing with us!