I wonder if old foliage covering the trunks of two yuccas (Yucca rostrata ‘Sapphire Skies’, below) should be removed. This is not a plant health question, but an aesthetic one. There’s no right or wrong. I’m certain the preference is completely personal.

My thinking is that keeping the browned leaves doesn’t look bad, and in no way is this garden manicured, so why clean up when informality is preferred? As much as I hate to admit it, a third, shorter trunked yucca was discarded a year ago without considering that it could have been easily transplanted elsewhere. In haste, poor decisions are made. I am too often hasty.

I don’t really mind that there are two yuccas, an even number that is heresy in garden design, and if this would catch someone’s eye today it won’t for long once the yellow leafed elderberry (Sambucus racemosa ‘Lemony Lace’) grows more to join the colorful jumble beside the stone patio (above). The combination with the purple leafed smoketree (Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’) will be tamed regularly so it doesn’t quickly overgrow the area, and both shrubs will be limbed off the ground to keep lower plantings for a real mishmash of texture and color.

The red horse chestnut (Aesculus x carnea, above) just behind is someday likely to grow too large, so I annually consider when is the right time to remove lower branches. Now, I enjoy the flowers close up, but conflicting shrubs and horse chestnut will soon demand this pruning. I see no reason to be proactive.