Sarah and I have taken on some small landscaping projects. Our front yard was pretty bland, especially near the house, and we wanted to spice it up a bit.

Our first endeavor was to plant some Anise bushes near the fence on the north side of the house. We recently cleaned out a whole mess of weeds here and just put down mulch. Since it seemed so bare, we wanted to add a little greenery.

The main problem was the width of the area. Most shrubs grow out in somewhat of a radial pattern. They expand equally in all directions. Since our space was about 20′ long by 2′ wide, we had a problem. Anything that expands to cover the 20′ of length will push out way past the 2′ of width.

The solution (hopefully) to our problem was to use a technique called espalier. (pronounced es-pal-ee-AY – I think). By tying the branches of the shrub to the fence, while also pruning off forward sprouting shoots, we could direct the growth of the shrub into the pattern we wanted. Ultimately, if things work out, we will have a fairly 2-dimensional shrub. It will expand to cover the fence, but not grow out into the driveway.

Following the Anise shrubs, we also planted some Skyrocket Junipers…but that story is for another day!