After replacing and moving almost every plant in our yard since moving in, I am finally getting around to changing out the shrubs right in front of our house. The previous homeowners had planted six privet bushes in two clumped arrangements with a Loropetalum in the middle. It has been a constant battle to keep these under control, considering they are in front of windows that are only 2 feet off the ground.
My mom suggested Indian Hawthornes for this area, so that is where I started my search. A Pike Nursery employee told me about a variety that was developed at UGA called Georgia Petite. It grows to 2.5 feet high by 3.5 feet wide in a mounding form. I was sold, but the problem is that all of the nurseries remotely close to us are unable to get them in stock. I found two 1-gallon shrubs at the Roswell Pike, but I will need three more.
We brutally cut back the shrubs in the bed, and I pulled out two of the privets to make room for the new Georgia Petites. I put in some new garden soil while I was at it, so hopefully they will be happy. Our front shrub bed looks somewhat of a hot mess at the moment, but eventually I think it will be beautiful and easy to maintain.
Here is the best picture I could find of what the shrubs looked like in the spring, before we manhandled them with shears. Standing down at the street, the shrubs covered the lower half of the windows and had grown together in a tangled mess.
