Tom Thumb Makeover

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Tom Thumb Makeover

 

A dwarf evergreen magnolia (Magnolia ‘Little Gem’) was planted on each side of the entrance to a building with stark, white walls. ‘Little Gem’ reaches about 4-8m in height. It has a dense growth habit, glossy leaves with a rusty reverse, and creamy white, perfumed flowers in spring and summer. Although the two magnolias are beautiful feature plants, the area still looked bare and needed softening.

Design solution

 

Planting flowers in this situation would only be a short-term solution. Don decided that the best option was to use lush green foliage plants to break up the bare white walls and soften the area. He chose a plant called Euonymus ‘Tom Thumb’ which only grows to around 50cm (20") tall.

 

It grows faster than box and is an ideal choice for a low, compact hedge. It does well in Brisbane, Perth and areas south, and tolerates frequent clipping as well as light frost.

Don used the ‘put and look’ method until he was happy with the position of all the plants.

Then, after checking that there were no telephone cables or water pipes in the area, he started planting into the clay soil which had been enriched with well rotted horse manure. Although the ‘Tom Thumbs’ had well developed root balls, they were not pot bound and Don did not consider it necessary to trim or tease out the roots. To maintain uniform spacing between each plant, he simply cut a stick to the desired size (in this case 50cm or 20") and used it to measure from stem to stem.

Trailer tip:

 

Don recommends spending a little extra money and buying a galvanised trailer. They don’t rust and last much longer, so they are good value in the long term.

Further information:

 

To check the position of telephone cables or water pipes call the Dial Before You Dig Line1100.

Euonymus ‘Tom Thumb’ is available from nurseries and costs around $16 for 200mm (8") pots.