I am not one to readily give up on a plant. The back side of a decades old blue, globose spruce (Picea pungens ‘Glauca Globosa’) has gone bare alongside a conical common boxwood (Buxus sempervirens). The boxwood has long encroached on the narrow path, and the spruce spreads several feet over the small, circular patio (below).

Certainly, unsightly, bare branches and obstruction of paths and patios are reasons enough for their removal. But, I waited years for this space to be filled, so minor matters of dead branches have not convinced me to update planting in this area. In an overly full garden, when one plant must be removed this often exposes another bare side, and possibly another, so taking care of one problem often becomes a much larger project. I opted to live with it.

But now, construction will soon begin on a sunroom to replace our underutilized deck. A tall holly that borders the deck must be limbed higher or removed, and once this ball is rolling, the next steps will be to widen access to the path from the driveway that will be necessary during construction.

As this redesign and replanting is considered, I hope to avoid the shock of moving from overgrown to sparseness. A recent, substantial addition of garden space to remove the small, overly damp and weedy lawn in the lower, rear garden is my guide to this planned renovation (above). The new garden has filled quickly with tall growing perennials that are likely to be relocated when featured Japanese maples and dwarf ginkgo mature. A variegated canna fills the biggest gap that will one day be filled by the pendulous ‘Elizabeth Lustgarten’ dogwood (Cornus kousa ‘Elizabeth Lustgarten’).

When the spruce, boxwood, and probably the holly beside the planned sunroom are removed , the priority will be to find a single plant to dominate the space. If all works out, this will be a ‘Moonrise’ Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Moonrise’). This maple is best suited to part shade and beginning with a tree of substantial size the area get will off to a good start, with a Japanese maple that will not overgrow the area. The fillers to give a more mature look from the start will be easy, though I expect the change from overgrown to barely filled will be jarring to my eye.