Gee, do you think I overplanted?

One more inch and I start running over it with my car.

But I still can't bear to cut it back.

Comments

[Catherine/gardenerprogress]

I like how it looks, luckily catmint can probably take getting run over :) Your catmint stands up better than mine. I'm sure a lot of my garden is overplanted, but I like when it looks full.

[annbb/TSannie]

Gorgeous! Just cut back the stem you (might) run over. That works!?!

[Susan aka Miss R.]

Even with its thug like qualities, I use Nepeta here often in place of lavender since rots out due to wet winters and artificial overwatering. Another plus for Nepeta is its deer resistance.

[tina]

Nah, it looks great!

[VW]

Is that your beloved Walker's Low? I've got three of them starting to bloom in my front yard. I just love them and understand why you hesitate to cut them back!

[Michelle]

So pretty! Maybe you should park in the street?

[Jan (ThanksFor2Day)]

I like it like that and wouldn't cut it either! If it's a real issue though, the good thing is you 'can' cut it and it won't harm the plant at all;-) I didn't realize you'd changed your blog name! I like it. Is 'blue' the new green?? (ecologically speaking, as in blue planet -green planet).

[Town Mouse]

Oh, I have the same problem with a Salvia leucophila 'Pt Sal Spreader'. I did not plant too many, but it does not seem to recognize that it can't spread wider than the side strip. I'm not the best driver (backward, at least), so I've run over it multiple times. Seems to work just as well as pruning.

[Susan (garden chick)]

Catherine, like you, I enjoy that overplanted garden look, but not so much an overplanted driveway!

Annbb, I think I may be running over them already.

Susan, I agree, unless clients are anti-catmint because they don't want to attract neighborhood felines, I will almost always choose it over lavender. Less fussy, way longer blooming and I love the shape.

Tina, that's my problem - it looks so great I can't bear to cut it! My neighborhood HOA pays for front yard maintenance and of course they have no idea what to make of my no lawn, over planted yard. I actually raced outside yesterday when I heard the hedgetrimmers going to make sure the gardener didn't cut it. He looked at me like I was crazy.

Michelle, I appreciate your "plants before autos" point of view! I am not the best driver and already take up more than 1/2 of the garage with my car, so for completely different reasons I think my husband would love to kick me out of the garage.

VW, I am realizing by your comment that I must have mentioned this particular cultivar more than once. Yes, this is my "beloved" Walker's Low. (Although it isn't really all that low.) Time to branch out? I'm open to other cultivar suggestions!

Hi Jan - nice to hear from you! I started a new gardening resources website (you can see the details if you go back a few posts) called Blue Planet Gardening, and I am gradually renaming all of my websites and blogs. The blog is the easiest, so it came first. Just can't decide whether or not to hold onto Garden Chick - after all, I'm not the only one out there.

Townie, I think I'm running over mine as well, but if so, it's bouncing back with no problems.

[Rob(ourfrenchgarden)]

Hi Susan

I planted catmint last Fall (Fall is an American word for Autumn by the way) and am quite amazed how quickly it has grown, spreading with gusto in it's first season.

Isn't it the perfect perennial, just ties everything together.

Why did I not grow this many years ago? More fool me.

For the record, mine is Six Hills Giant as I was completely unable to find Walkers Low over here. Walkers Low was a reccommended variety by, wait for it, you got it, yep, it was you.

cheers
Rob

[Troy]

More importantly, look at those Anigozanthos. Advance Australia Fair!

[Susan (garden chick)]

Rob-
First, thank you for the translantion. Had you said Autumn, I would certainly have been confused.

Second, VW also mentioned my love affair with Walker's Low - I must rave about this plant more than I realized. So until Mr. Walker starts offering me a percentage, I may have to start endorsing other cultivars.

Third, Six Hills Giant rocks!

Troy, No kidding, the kangaroo paw is fabulous, but the background does not do it justice. Can you imagine if my neighbors took out the last owner's odd interpretation of a Japanese garden and put in a grouping of Calamagrostis 'Karl Foster'? Now that would be something!

(Carl and Gladdys, any chance you are reading this?)

[Cindy]

did you overplant? i say no! looks amazing!

[James]

In my dictionary there's no such word as overplanting. If it needs to be pruned, your car tires will do a surprisingly good job of pruning just what needs to be.

[wayne]

Is there any room for weeds in there? if so you have not over planted. my creeping thyme would have to get across a very wide sidewalk to get to the street I park on. hmmm.

[joey]

It's stunning ... you did well :)

[Susan (garden chick)]

Cindy, James, Wayne and Joey - I like your thinking! No such word as overplanting (which I think is actually true, just tried to look it up) and I'm just doing my part to promote weed suppression!

[Ninja Granny]

Way to late to respond to this one but I can't resist.

While I can appreciate more formal and minimalist gardens that are not at my home, I love to see plants spilling over walls and blurring the rigid geometry of driveways and walks. I never saw a fence that didn't look better to me with something growing all over it.

But "over-planting" is a very meaningful term to me, in the dictionary or not.

When I was young the most likely result of having a "professional" landscape done was a garden that looked almost finished at the point of installation with absolutely no chance that it would not go down hill from there as the plants actually grew. Maintenance was all about selective up-rooting.

Well, "selective up-rooting" is a part of my personal gardening style. I have never in my life had a garden that was either entirely wonderful or entirely predictable. But....

That is why, even after a lifetime of trying for "the perfect" I am endlessly surprised when something really works in an amazing display....and I appreciate those special results because they are not entirely predictable.

I think of this example you provided as one of those amazing gift moments. It just worked and it doesn't matter that it will not last forever.

[rochelle]

no - I like it!!...so much better than clients who want to make sure their plants don't touch each other...I never understand that...

[Susan (garden chick)]

NG, Love it! Is "selective up-rooting" a gentle euphamism for "digging up and throwing on the compost heap?"

Rochelle, I'm a big fan of the spill over effect as well, but fear I am straying into take over territory!

[inadveretent farmer]

You know when you're a gardener when your first thought is "Gee I would get a smaller car before I could bear to cut even one of those lovelies back!" Kim

[Susan (garden chick)]

Kim, its fun to hear from you! How are things with the kids and the camel?

You know, I just noticed when I came home this afternoon that the edge of the flowers are brown from being run over. So I now know exactly how much leeway I have!