Halfway into the second spring since the renovation of the planting surrounding the upper circle patio, I am overjoyed. The tear out and replanting started to make room for construction of the sunroom that replaced our shabby two level deck. The sunroom has been a four season joy, and I haven’t regretted the planting renovation for a moment.

The decades old planting that was torn out was a sore point in the garden, long overgrown and more a space filler than an ornament. Ostrich ferns covered substantial space to one side with a large holly and a wide spreading but declining globose blue spruce filling much of the opposite side beside the deck.

Despite Barbara’s dislike of the entire overgrown mess, I was convinced that a bit of pruning was all that would be necessary to make room for the sunroom crew. And, then I changed my mind. In a day, I chopped and dug until the ferns, holly, spruce, and a stubborn nandina were removed. I left behind two clematis that climbed the tall nandina, but with little hope they’d survive my disturbance.

At least a small part of my decision to rip out the old planting and start anew was the spark of inspiration that there would be adequate space for a ‘Moonrise’ Japanese maple (Acer shirasawanum ‘Moonrise’, above) where the spruce was chopped out. I waited years before finding a ‘Golden Full Moon’ maple that was planted in the koi pond garden, and I’d planned and decided against several locations for ‘Moonrise’. One minute, the spruce stayed. The next, ‘Moonrise’ was on its way.

Besides the ‘Moonrise’ maple, there was no grand design for the newly cleared area. Except, it can’t look bare and newly planted for long. So, the largest ‘Moonrise’ and ‘Butterfly’ Japanese maples in the garden center were planted, and fill in perennials were closely spaced. The two clematis have revived vigorously with one climbing into ‘Moonrise’ and the other requiring an obelisk. Of course, I’m still adding, but I couldn’t be happier.