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Carol J. Michel

Award winner author of gardening humor books

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May Dreams Gardens

Remove it from your garden

June 8, 2011 By Carol Michel 15 Comments

Many gardeners have it in their gardens.  They may speak often of it. They may speak emphatically of it.  They are passionate regarding it.

I had it in my garden, many different kinds of it. But I’ve slowly gotten rid of it.

“It” is “Never”.

I will never have junipers in my garden.

I now have Juniperus chinensis ‘Etgozam’ Eternal Gold™ in my garden because I wanted something that would take full sun, be evergreen throughout the year and had a yellowish tint to it. Other evergreens fried in the full sun, but these junipers love it.

I will never have arborvitaes in my garden.

I now have Thuja occidentalis ‘Holmstrup’ waiting to be planted on a corner by the sunroom where I need a tall, narrow evergreen accent.

I will never have tall grasses in my garden.

I now have Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’ forming a nice stand, blocking the view of the necessary utility boxes in my front yard.

Yep, I have removed “never” from my garden and replaced it with some beautiful plants, well-suited to their locations, and growing much better than “never” ever did.

I give credit to my garden designer and the hort-enabler for their bravery in making suggestions I would not normally consider, as we sat at my kitchen table and reviewed designs and plant lists.  When they suggested something to plant instead of  “never”, they would pause, look at me, and wait for me to realize that their suggestion was better than “never”.

Now, “never” doesn’t grow in my garden. I weed it out whenever I see it.  I’m even contemplating buying some Cotinus coggygria ‘Golden Spirit’ even though I said I would never have a smokebush in my garden and emphatically told the garden designer so when she suggested a red-leaf variety.

Never grow “never” in your garden. You’ll be surprised at the beautiful and interesting plants that can be grown in its place.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: garden design, gardening

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gail says

    June 8, 2011 at 11:47 am

    That 'never' can really create problems! With never gone you'll probably have even more exciting plants moving into your garden! gail

    Reply
  2. Fairegarden says

    June 8, 2011 at 12:50 pm

    What truly good advice, Carol. Never say never. Not just about gardening, either.

    Reply
  3. Lisa at Greenbow says

    June 8, 2011 at 2:34 pm

    That old adage of "never say never" is most appropriate for the garden. There are just too many beautiful plants out there to put up some sort of prejudist against some plants. I am glad you are enjoying doing some of those nevers.

    Reply
  4. Earth Girl says

    June 8, 2011 at 3:21 pm

    I'm sorry, Carol, but several nevers are still in my garden despite this compelling post. All these nevers are invasive, invasive as defined by the DNR and not just garden thugs. Star-of-Bethlehem, of course, is one. I'm working hard at removing all the starts of burning bush that ended up in my woods. English ivy has been removed except some that escaped in the woods. Someone planted bush honeysuckle and autumn olive and I'm still fighting these in the meadow and wood's edge.

    Reply
  5. Anonymous says

    June 8, 2011 at 4:18 pm

    Great post! I too need to remove "never" from my garden.

    Reply
  6. Billie Jo says

    June 8, 2011 at 6:38 pm

    Sorry, I am removing junipers this spring and I'm fairly certain I will never plant THiS variety in my garden anywhere. And I agree with the post about invasives. But I also have planted "nevers" myself recently, so it's a good thing that we can evolve and change our opinions since the garden is an ever changing place.

    Reply
  7. Mr. McGregor's Daughter says

    June 8, 2011 at 9:18 pm

    Congratulations for stepping out of your horticultural comfort zone. Your garden will be the better for it. I'm guilty of having "never" in my garden too. I like to consider myself open-minded, but I have some deep-seated prejudices concerning some plants. Does Dr. Hortfreud have any openings?

    Reply
  8. Cathy and Steve says

    June 9, 2011 at 1:31 am

    Like Mr. McGregor's Daughter, I have some nevers in my garden too. The biggest one I had was "yellow". I was "never" going to have yellow flowers in my garden. Fortunately, I outgrew that LOL.

    Congratulations for spreading your wings and trying new things, and for reminding us that there is nothing wrong with stepping back and re-evaluating your rules for your garden!

    Reply
  9. Helen says

    June 9, 2011 at 1:37 am

    Great article. As a wise old woman once said to me (and I "never" forgot): Never is a long time.

    Reply
  10. Dee/reddirtramblings says

    June 9, 2011 at 1:40 am

    I love it! I used to hate hostas and said they would never be in my garden.I now have loads of hostas. Good for you. Great post.~~Dee

    Reply
  11. Anonymous says

    June 9, 2011 at 3:02 am

    Great post and great reminder to always have an open heart about all plants- after all- everything is beautiful in it's own way (as I'm humming the tune!)

    Reply
  12. Søren says

    June 9, 2011 at 5:25 am

    I do have one "never" in my garden that I refuse to ever let go of:

    I will never try to get rid of every single ground elder in my garden!

    -Or, for that matter, dandelions, nettles and whatever weed you can think of.

    This, I think, is a healthy "never" to have. 🙂

    Reply
  13. Garden Lily says

    June 9, 2011 at 7:08 am

    Hmmm, I don't know if I ever had a "never" in my garden. Even my horsetails coexist with my plantings until I have a chance to get to them (there's a limit to how many can be pulled in a day)!

    Reply
  14. dezignlady says

    June 9, 2011 at 1:00 pm

    This is generally so true, however I do have a number of "what was I thinking" in my garden, and several "not particularly happy" crammed in to the already too small space. So glad you discovered some of those "nevers" and hope they do well.

    Reply
  15. Anonymous says

    June 9, 2011 at 2:00 pm

    Inspired…..and lovely.

    Reply

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