Welcome to our zone 6A upstate New York garden where we're tackling one of gardening's hardest decisions - removing plants that are objectively beautiful but simply aren't right for their location. Today we're removing a large Rose of Sharon and underperforming Veronica, replacing them with dramatic new additions that better suit our garden's design intent.

The Hardest Garden Decision: Removing Healthy Plants

Our Purple Pillar Rose of Sharon has become more of a "Purple Vase of Sharon" - flopping in the wind, blooming too late in the season for this pivotal location, and creating structural competition with our nearby Illuminati mock orange. It's a gorgeous plant in full bloom, absolutely stunning at certain moments, but wrong for this space.

This is the reality of garden evolution. Sometimes you plant things that looked perfect on paper but perform differently than anticipated. And sometimes the hardest but best decision is admitting a mistake and making a change.

What We're Removing and Why

Purple Pillar Rose of Sharon: Wrong Form, Wrong Timing

This Rose of Sharon has been in the ground since 2022 - its third season - and grown from a five-foot specimen into a substantial shrub. The base is exactly the right size (two to three feet wide as tagged), but the habit is all wrong. Instead of that upright pillar form, it's flopping and spreading, creating a messy presence that drops petals constantly.

The Issues:

• Bloom timing: Late season flowering means it's at peak when we're ready for fall transitions
• Structural competition: Two similar columnar forms (this and the mock orange) right next to each other was a planting oversight
• Weather response: Western winds cause constant flopping despite the plant being healthy
• Messiness: Constant petal drop requires cleanup in this high-visibility area

But here's the beautiful part - it's going to a friend's garden where it'll join a Rose of Sharon hedge, perfect for its natural habit and size.

Veronica: Beautiful But Wrong Spot

This purple Veronica (we can never remember the exact variety name) has fresh growth at the base and clearly wants to live, but it's simply not thriving in this full-sun location despite ample water from both drip irrigation and overhead sprinkler overspray. Sometimes plants just don't like where they're planted, and that's okay to admit.

The Exciting Replacements

Swan Song Styrax: Drama and Gravitas

This 2026 introduction from Proven Winners brings exactly what the website promises - "drama and gravitas" to the garden. This weeping snowbell will bloom pink in spring and maintain dark foliage throughout the season, growing to a maximum of 12 feet tall.

Why This Works:

• Complementary texture: The weeping habit contrasts beautifully with the upright Diana contorted larch nearby
• Unique form: No structural competition with existing plants
• Appropriate scale: Won't overwhelm the space like the Rose of Sharon
• Year-round interest: Dark foliage provides season-long presence beyond just bloom time
• Slow growth: Styrax grows slowly, giving us years to enjoy it at manageable size

Let's Dance Big Band Hydrangeas: Re-Blooming Reliability

Three of these compact macrophylla hydrangeas (2.5 x 2.5 feet) will replace the Veronica drift. As part of Proven Winners' remontant (re-blooming) series, these bloom on both old and new wood - critical for our zone 6A winters that can still kill overwintered buds.

You can see all next year's buds already formed on these plants - they arrived looking ratty on top only because they were trimmed to fit shipping boxes, a completely normal practice.

Our Macrophylla Learning Curve:We've had varying success with big-leaf hydrangeas in our zone. Let's Dance Sky View has been spectacular, so we're systematically trying all the Let's Dance varieties. Big Band is the only one we don't yet have in ground, bringing our hydrangea total to 212.

Back in Black Sedum: Dark Textural Contrast

This taller sedum variety will replace annual Lobelia, providing that crucial dark foliage element that contrasts so beautifully with our Power Ball hydrangeas and the small spruce nearby. Sedums are nearly indestructible and require minimal care - perfect for this application.

Berks Red Variegated Pine: Continuing the Green Wall

This wasn't originally part of today's plan, but sometimes you buy plants without knowing exactly where they'll go. We've been creating a natural green wall for privacy between us and our neighbors (HOA rules prevent extending our fence), and this variegated pine will mirror the texture of our Vanderwolf pine while adding that light, bright variegation.

It's going to get as large as the Vanderwolf eventually, but positioned correctly, it'll provide that textural interest while maintaining our privacy screen.

The Reality of Fall Evergreen Planting

Fall isn't ideal for planting evergreens - their broad leaves create significant transpiration that can lead to winter desiccation. But sometimes you find deals you can't pass up, and with proper care, fall planting can succeed.

The Keys to Success:

• Keep evergreens well-watered (but not soaking wet) until ground freezes
• Plant high to avoid wet conditions at the root flare
• No fertilization (don't stimulate growth heading into dormancy)
• Continue supplemental watering if it doesn't rain
• Once ground freezes, stop watering and let snow provide moisture

We're essentially giving these plants maximum opportunity to establish roots before winter while accepting that it's not perfect timing.

Removal Techniques: The Rose of Sharon Challenge

Roses of Sharon have tap roots, which made this removal interesting. Our approach:

Step 1: Cut back all top growth to about three or four feet for manageability. Since Rose of Sharon blooms on new wood, this won't affect next year's flowering for its new home.

Step 2: Dig around the entire root zone with the Root Slayer shovel, cutting through surface roots systematically.

Step 3: Work from multiple angles, creating leverage points until the entire root ball releases.

The result? A surprisingly manageable root ball considering it's been in ground for three years. The plant will transplant successfully into its new hedge location.

Installation Details: Doing It Right

Amending vs. Native Soil

For the styrax, we're using Coast of Maine Penobscot planting mix to amend our pure sand native soil. This area's front yard is literally damp sand under all the grass - amending is necessary here.

The bonus? Coast of Maine products match our compost mulch perfectly, creating an instantly tidy appearance.

Staking Philosophy: Finding Middle Ground

There are competing philosophies about tree staking:

• Pro-staking: Helps trees grow straight, provides support
• Anti-staking: Makes trunks weak, restricts natural movement
• Compromise: Stake loosely at bottom, allow movement at top

We're taking the compromise approach with our young styrax, using stretchy Farm Yarn at multiple points to provide support while allowing the tree to move in the breeze and build strength. We'll remove stakes next spring once it's established.

Drip Irrigation Upgrades

We're installing a more sophisticated grid system in this area, adding two lines of brown drip tubing with half-gallon emitters every 12 inches for better broadcast coverage. The existing plants (not just new additions) will appreciate this improved irrigation.

The Satisfaction of Better Design

Standing back and viewing the completed project, the improvement is immediate. We've replaced:

• A flopping, messy, late-blooming shrub with a dramatic weeping tree
• Competing columnar structures with complementary contrasting forms
• Underperforming perennials with reliable re-blooming hydrangeas
• Annual placeholders with permanent dark-foliaged sedums

The area now has better structure, more interesting form variations, and plants better suited to perform in their specific roles.

The Philosophy of Fearless Gardening

One of our core beliefs: if you don't love it, take it out. But be prepared that removal might be hard work.

Gardens aren't static museum pieces. They're living, evolving spaces that we refine over time as we learn what works and what doesn't. That Rose of Sharon taught us valuable lessons about form, timing, and placement. The Veronica showed us that sometimes even with perfect conditions, a plant just doesn't want to thrive in a particular spot.

These aren't failures - they're learning opportunities that make us better gardeners and lead to better design decisions going forward.

What plants have you removed from your garden not because they were unhealthy, but because they simply weren't right for their location?

Thanks for growing with us!