HPez

I find this so entertaining but also disturbingly close to home. With the boom of new construction several years ago in our area, builders wanted a finished look to their landscapes to promote sales! In so doing, they placed shrubs and trees far too close together giving them no room for future growth. An Alaskan blue willow right next to an entry walk looks fine the first year when it is one foot tall, but just wait two years. Once it is six by six, you won't be able to locate the front door unless you chop it in half or rip it out. (A better choice would have been a perennial Salvia.) I agree that picking the right size plant for a garden bed assures a sustainable result but remember, this requires planning, research and some actual thought. While traveling, I have witnessed many similar examples of what not to do! This has inspired me to take pictures of the funny ones and share them in my garden blog! http://centraloregonlife.blogspot.com/

Sage is a very important plant in the Central Oregon garden as not only does it thrive in our dry high desert climate, the deer will not eat it. All forms of salvia, ornamental and culinary do well here and act as very important landscape plants. Pictures of different forms can be seen on my blog: http://centraloregonlife.blogspot.com/, as well as many other tough hardy plants that thrive along side it.