Screening the ugly was one of my challenges
after moving into our new home.
Although beautiful in countless ways,
my 2-acre corner has a couple of eyesores...gasp!!
It's not nice, but unfortunately it's true.
One of the glaring spots is right in the middle of the yard
(cue Dragnet theme...Dummmm Da Dum Dum Duuuuuuum!)
...the well head.
Of course, the white PVC pipe doesn't help camouflage the situation.
There is absolutely no way something this ugly
and unorganic has a place in my landscape!
I have to hide it!
As I was wondering what to use to screen this unsightly piece of scultpure,
I remembered my friend, Chang, a gardener from Vietnam,
who shared the most amazing starts of Pride of Barbados with me.
These would be the perfect screen for the un-WELL-come eyesore.
Can you see them?
They're the little tiny green things...
one at the top of the photo and one at the bottom of the photo,
flanking the obnoxious white PVC.
Once grown, these pretty little trees will be the perfect screen!
I don't have a photo of a mature tree in bloom but you can see it here.
Also called a Dwarf Poinsiana,
or officially named Caesalpinia pulcherrima,
this graceful tree boasts amazing orange-red or yellow blooms
year-round in tropical areas or in summer-to-late-fall in areas that experience frost. GORGEOUS!!
However, I'm not ultra patient and I want this eyesore hidden NOW!!
I need a cloaking device!!!
In case you didn't know,
a cloaking devise is "a form of stealth technology
that uses selective bending of light (and other forms of energy)
to render a starship or other object completely invisible",
according to Wikipedia and Trekkies!!!
I'd show it to you, but you can't see it!!!
So, keeping with the orange-red theme,
I picked up a lovely Cape Honeysuckle bush from a local nursery.
THIS IS BETTER!!!!
Although you can still see the nuisance from 3 sides,
the honeysuckle hides it from the street view.
WHEW!
This attractive bush is native to South Aftica
and grows 6-8', although if permitted,
it might also sprawl to a very large size.
The tubular blooms are orange, orange-red, apricot to yellow
and are formed throughout the year.
The bright bloom clusters attract hummingbirds and various pollinators.
If pruned to maintain a dense shrub appearance,
it provides a protected space for nesting birds.
In time, both the Cape Honeysuckle and
the Pride of Barbados
will mature into gorgeous specimans,
and no one will know the well head even exists...except us!
14 comments:
Always a recommendation. Good choice.
Kim - isn't it always the way? Some big honking chunk of pipe, right in the middle of everything! LOVE your choice for screening - beautiful and grows fast (IF there is such a thing as 'fast enough'?).
Your garden is so beautiful, there was no need for screening anything.
But again... you are always looking for perfection Kimberly.
Have a great day.
Costas
Eyesores always need hiding, and I think you've made good choices for hiding the well head. I've not seen the red cape honeysuckle, it is really gorgeous. I have the orange and the apricot. I also have the yellow dwarf poinciana.
Happy Gardening in your new home/acreage.
FlowerLady
Beautiful choices for hiding your pipes. I have a seedling dwarf poinciana I am going to plant out soon even though I know it's only for the summer. Lucky you to be able to grow it year-round.
Love that cape honeysuckle. I picked it up from a local nursery too one month ago since I thought the flowers are so lovely. but After I bronght it back, I realized this will grow quite big, and I don't have a proper place for it in my tiny garden, so I had to exchange it with more bromeliads :) It is a perfect fit to that spot to hide the pipe. Good Choice!
There's always something to screen, seems like. Last year I finally planted something to screen our a/c units. I'm always afraid of drawing attention to it instead of hiding it. Looks like you made some good choices.
Nicely done. In case you have to point out the well head, you can just point to the lovely red flowers and say "Over there".
I envy your choice of plants in your tropical zone. The colors are outrageous. Love, love the honeysuckle, Is is a shrub or does it throw our runners like a vine?
We have one of those ugly well heads, too. We spray painted ours green and planted daylillies around it. I wish cape honeysuckle was an option for us, it's a beautiful plant!
Good job, it will be hidden on all sides in no time!
It's almost as if contractors aren't gardeners - don't they *think* about these things???
(Well, obviously, they don't, but good for you for figuring out ways to work around them!)
An excellent choice. There are many things we want to hide. I am trying to put some shade to the verandah with banana, but the plants will take a year to mature...
Great choices for screening the eyesore. I love that cape honeysuckle, it looks beautiful.
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