A Tell of Two Camellias - Redux

A Tell of Two Camellias - February 2026

Nearly five years ago I published an article about these two gorgeous Camellias - it follows below, after what's next.

Since then, the previous owners, who I always enjoyed, sold the property and referred me (so, thankful) to the new owners. 

I worked on a Lady Banks Rose for the new owner and then she wanted to address the Camellias, once, at least, again.

I initially raised the canopies and pruned away the root suckers and water sprouts, but both Camellias had grown quite well and filled out and in - they were getting quite busy and dense inside.

The owner is quite plant savvy and wished for me to thin them out for health reasons, as well as aesthetics. Sounded great to me - proper pruning and plant care. Our heart and mind were in the same place. I was excited.

The pruning, more so, where to prune, was intense, requiring much thought and review along the way; yet, well worth it.

These two Camellias are of different species so I had to work with their individual branch structures.

I usually don't attempt to shape the crowns of trees (actually, these now, tree-like shrubs), as it's usually futile, but I did so with what they would allow as the plant often dictates what it will physiologically allow when pruning. These aren't Boxwoods or Azaleas.

I am also pleased to know that the pruning I performed years ago allowed these two to form the shapes they are now.   

This is a beautiful property and I feel assured she will think through, walk through and experiment with all the changes she envisions. 

Please read the original article below.

A Tell of Two Camellias

Camellia One - After, 2021

There was and is a property I have passed by, viewing, for many years, for which I had always shown praise for the wonderfully mixed variety of plants, their orchestrated placement and the maintenance of same. 

Then, one day, I received a call from the owner after she saw a presentation I had done over Zoom for the Richland County Master Gardeners. I would have preferred to have done so in person. Nonetheless, I was excited she contacted me.

In disbelief (I never know until I give a closer look.), she had at least two plants which needed to be addressed, two Camellias.

Camellia One - Before, 2021

Camellia Two - Before, 2021

They both had become unruly shrubs because of their unknown need to sprout suckers from their roots - not so common with Camellias or their brethren, Sasanquas. 

Some odd things happen in the plant world, even in the best conditions. One need only recognize such and respond accordingly.

It may take a few more months before these wonderful trees appear to be what they were meant to be, but they will. They are now on their way.

This was one of my most challenging and best-result pruning projects in the last several months and I wish to thank Karen and her husband for the opportunity. 

This is why I continue to do what I do. If I could only find these most-rewarding situations, year-round. I love pruning. It's where I live.

In the meantime. I will continue to address what needs addressing. Our scope goes well beyond the obvious. 

Coming Soon: Gardening and Plant Myths - There are Plenty.

Camellia Two - After, 2021

Nor the Light of Day

Before

The story behind this neighbor's home is tragic.

For many years, the owner would not allow those closest to her, even family, enter her home, nor the light of day.

I will avoid much of this story out of respect, except for her being found deceased in the home after several days of her passing.

A relative inherited this situation and is trying to manage what was not only neglected on the outside, but equally or even more so with the interior and the structure.

Before

It has consumed much of his time, his thoughts - what to restore, what to repair and to what extent in order to sell the property, and in what condition. It doesn't help that he lives over an hour away, has a family and a business to manage.

We discussed addressing much of the plant life, but he simply wanted the front portion of the home beautified, somewhat, and visible. At this point we weren't aiming for well-manicured.

The before photos were taken in 2025 and the after photos were shot this February.

Before

Not visible are the many vines and other unwanted growth we removed from the house. We also discovered the water meter, an irrigation box and a hose bib, among other things, during our work.

There was much pruning and plenty of unwanted-growth removal.

He didn't want to address the trees and shrubs surrounding a deck (Believe it or not.) at the rear of the property; however, the deck area needed to be cleared for access to and provide safer passage to the rear doorway.

He mentioned clearing an area from the fence gate to the side door. He is envied by no one - this task still mostly ahead of him.

This property is across the street from mine and I have slowly experienced its degradation. It is comforting to now see most of the home I viewed so many years ago.

I look forward to seeing him most any Sunday morning as he visits to clean out and care for what he can, while I have a cup of Joe, but I am certain he looks forward to the day when his travels take him elsewhere.

Feel free to select any photo for a better view.

After

After

After

 

From Ominous to Oasis

Oasis - After

Caveat: Many of the photos displayed will not be appreciated without viewing the "before" images.

This area of interest here had so much potential; however, it had not been maintained or perhaps, haphazardly maintained, for many, many years. 

The beauty, or the centerpiece rather, is this massive Japanese Maple with three codominant stems, each which also branch off at least once again at the lower portions of the tree...she is gorgeous.

Oasis - After

The other plants of interest are the understory Camellias and Sasanquas.

The other addition or detractor (more in a moment) is a mature Crepe Myrtle that somehow made its way into the scheme of things.

Oasis - After

If you view the before photos you will realize it is difficult to distinguish one plant from another. In fact, a fair portion of the foliage you see is not that of the plants I mentioned. It is the foliage of wisteria, Virginia creeper and smilax. I was well protected from the sun as I worked until I removed much of this unwanted growth which constituted much of the crown of both the Japanese Maple and Crepe Myrtle.

Oasis - After

The crepe Myrtle was an issue as it was encroaching the crown of the Japanese Maple and it had been murdered (arbitrarily cut back) at two different heights, but fortunately, only once. Most every cut was not a sound pruning cut as was with most other cuts with all plants, so I had to repair many cuts.

The concern was whether to remove the Crepe Myrtle or prune it for future growth away from the Japanese Maple. She is attractive from most angles, particularly from the street, so I chose to keep her.

Ominous - Before

Otherwise, there was a lot of hand-and-knee work, hand pruning - high and low and getting inside of plants.

Also, I raised the canopies of the Japanese Maple and Crepe Myrtle, while lowering the crowns of the Camellias and Sasanquas.

It's fantastic see light shining through majestic trees, which also means the air flow they so badly need.

I told the customer, on the right day, she should grab a chair, her favorite beverage and enjoy reading a good book in the midst of this oasis.

Most of this project was performed in the middle of summer, but fall is a wonderful time to address such projects and many other issues.

 

Ominous - Before

Ominous - Before

Made in the Shade

Shade Plant Bed

The phrase, "Made in the Shade", has many bloviated explanations; yet, it simply means living comfortably.

Typically, when I design plant beds for sun-loving plants, particularly for a home's foundation, there may be some symmetry (not always, at all), but never just one or two plants types alternated or otherwise.

If it is to be an independent or what I call an island plant bed, in the middle of the lawn, I definitely kick up the mix of plants...much more interesting, appealing. Designing plant beds depends on back-drop, the intended appeal or pizazz, and the desires of the property owner. Yes, there is more to consider.

You may wish to read "Wow! She Nailed It!", before I ramble on.

I have been restoring and maintaining the plant life on this property for over two years. I conferred with the customer about my plan to install several plants in this area saying it may seem random, with no two plants being the same. She agreed. Planning this wasn't random, but I wanted it to look natural as this is not a formal plant bed, simply a natural area her lawn service keeps edged.

Shade plants typically aren't as showy and colorful as their sun-loving cousins, particularly in regard to blooms (if any) and foliage. But, with the proper location, they do live quite comfortably. And, most are simply pleasing to view.

Fortunately, via nature and some cultivators (plant breeders), there are many which are colorful or interesting by texture or form...very attractive shade plants.

Most of the following plants (in this location) receive some filtered sun in the morning and a little bit more in the afternoon...a month later, all are doing well and growth has been noticed.

• Heart Throb Dwarf Hydrangea
• Gold King Aucuba
• Foxtail Fern
• Sum and Substance Hosta
• Tiki Pieris
• Goshiki Holly
• Hosta (Unknown - there are only 300 species - I can't know them all)

Hopefully soon, and definitely next year and many to come, the owner will look out upon this area, enjoying, living comfortably.

Fall is soon upon us and it is a wonderful time to do so much with your landscape (more to come in later articles), particularly planning, designing and installing new plants and plant beds.

As we don't live in North Dakota, many of the plants you will enjoy, will be much happier in the ground on your property rather than struggling in a pot in a nursery. 

So, plan now, plant sooner and enjoy earlier, and avoid the spring chaos. 

Plant of Interest - Lady Banks Rose

 

Lady Banks Rose - Rehabbed

Winter is an opportune time, as a homeowner, to consider new or different plants to install on your property in the coming season.

The following, in a series of articles, is to introduce you to a few plants of interest, perhaps ones for which you are unfamiliar.

The Lady Banks Rose (Rosa banksiae 'Lutea') is a vigorous, thornless, climbing rose plant with deep green foliage on slender branches.

Its miniature yellow double blooms have a slight fragrance offered through spring, summer and perhaps early fall here in the Midlands of South Carolina, where it also tends to be an evergreen.

I have installed, pruned and even rehabbed many Lady Banks Roses. Examples are provided below.

Parameters:

Sunlight: 6+ Hours

Size: 15 to 20  feet tall; width will vary based on support and training (see below) and pruning

Growth Rate: Fast

The Lady Banks will require support such as a trellis, an arbor or other structure.

Applications: Screen, specimen plant, espalier, exterior wall cover.

If you are considering creating a new plant bed, restoring an existing one or simply placing a few new plants on your property, please contact me, Doug, at 803-553-5757. 

We can begin planning and/or establishing new plant beds now to get a jump on the Spring rush.

Lady Banks Rose - Rehabbed

The following images, as well as the one above, are of Lady Banks Roses, at my church, whereas the philosophy (not mine) was to flat-top most every shrub, regardless of species, to a certain height. One will not recognize a Lady Banks Rose, of any maturity, at three feet tall.

I demanded no further trimming of the Lady Banks Roses and installed trellises to train them to.

You may notice the dense lower growth as this is what they were subjected to for many years. In a few seasons, along with my pruning, they will be more gorgeous (more natural) than they are right now.

A properly trained and pruned Lady Banks Rose should possess a vase shape with cascading branches of many wonderfully yellow petite flowers.

Lady Banks Rose - Rehabbed

Lady Banks Rose - Rehabbed

Keeping My Bay Laurel at Bay

 

Bay Laurel - After Three Years of Rehab

I've had this beautiful Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis) for many years and for the most part, I would be concerned about her height. 

She didn't need pruning often and this was a task I definitely enjoyed. The scent she emits is quite nice and I also had a Rosemary plant in this cool kettle pot just beneath her...olfactory bonus.

However; a few years ago, I realized it's spread (width) was more of a nuisance as it was not making taking the trash out so easy. I keep the trash and recycle bins to the right, hidden from the street by the fence and a Sasanqua. It was beginning to get difficult opening the bin lids.

I surveyed the Bay Laurel and realized it had three co-dominant stems. So, I removed the one closest to the issue, basically removing one third of the plant.

Bay Laurel - Halfway through Rehab

She was none too happy about this. She looked awkward, but I had a plan. I let her do what she wanted to do for a while and then pruned the new growth to promote future growth in a lateral fashion toward the area I had just eliminated. 

I couldn't have replaced the one co-dominant stem I removed, but I could definitely balance the plant over time.

I truly wasn't rehabbing the plant because of an issue she had (I've done so many times with other plants.). I basically caused the need for rehab by asking her to do something she did not want to - lose a third of her branch structure. 

I wanted to make her fit in the space to meet my desires so I must care for her in a different fashion until all looks well.

Bay Laurel - After 1/3 Reduction

I've pruned hundreds of plants with various objectives, but this is one of the most severe.

Some of the branches I have coaxed have now matured and are putting out new growth to complete her natural shape.

After another pruning in spring, she should be back to her natural shape and most future pruning should be for aesthetic and health reasons.

Patience is definitely a virtue.

Another Japanese Maple Rehab

Japanese Maple - After - (Click image to enlarge.)

No. This is not all I do. I wish.

Over the past several weeks I have done a fair amount of pruning and we have also been working on restoring and cleaning out many areas and beds, installing new ones, while also performing some basic housekeeping on some properties.

The usual problem, once again, as with many japanese maples I come upon - they have become blobs. They have been ignored, improperly cut or sheared. The latter should never be done to one of these jewels.

This one was victim of some cutting to control her size and for an easier path on the walkway. This poorly executed task produced this mess - the blob that hid her gorgeous and unique branch structure.  Arbitrarily cutting or taking trimmers to japanese maples (and many other plants) is like hiding that expensive Christmas tree and all its beautiful ornaments with tinsel. 

This japanese maple, created by Mother Nature, with very few flaws and lines nothing short of majestic, simply needed some proper attention.

She can now show off and live in all her glory to be shared by the proud owner.

Japanese Maple - Before

Lori is No Longer with Us!

 

Lori (such an original thought, ahem) was the name I gave this Loropetalum which came to hover around and protect my mail box.

She is (was) actually two loropetalums and I have spent many years shaping/trimming her and occasionally getting inside of her and performing some earnest pruning because I trimmed her so often.

I have received remarks from "Tacky" to "I love her", regarding her. This photo was taken a few days ago and she was always gorgeous, but more so, when she had the reddish-purple foliage and those small pink flowers. 

She had housed the mail box for years, sometimes to the frustration of the mail carrier if I didn't stay on top of making the mail box easily accessible.

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds...unless some gorgeous loropetalum is comforting the mail box. Unless they are scared of waking every day and can't perform a task while working without yapping on their phones or texting.

Nonetheless, Lori's time had come. You can only hold back the DNA of a plant for so long and she wanted to be a bigger girl than we anticipated. Not only was she minimizing the parking space in the driveway, she was making it difficult for friends and family to view the driveway and turn in or back out.

I now know how many of customer's feel about heirloom or cherished plants. I knew Lori had to leave us and the first cut was the deepest, the most difficult. We had enjoyed one another and she served us well, but it was her time. She probably was tired of me "keeping her at bay", anyway.

After tearfully removing Lori, I didn't replace her (not possible), but I reworked the bed borders and installed two Cinnamon Girl Distylliums and one Soft Caress Mahonia...all gorgeous in their own right.

Not the same as Lori, but more manageable and just as gorgeous, as time goes on.

I've considered replacing the mail box or at least it's covering. I wasn't quite able to clean it completely without completely destroying the fabric, but it now has this wonderful patina (for lack of a better term, as it's not metallic).

The original design does now show through so I am going to leave it alone.

Another bonus; my tiny front yard seems somewhat larger.

Now I have to get busy restoring the back yard and its much larger beds. That's what winter is for, for me.

Two More Majestic Japanese Maples

Japanese Maple - After

This Japanese Maple, this girl (I ignore PC pronouns when writing. The words don't seem to mind. She is a she.) was a mess and she will never be the big girl on the property, nor was she meant to be. 

She is a among a variety of well-placed and orchestrated plants, plant beds and vignettes on a new customer's rather vast property aligned along a pond.

She receives the needed light in a shaded area. Her placement was so apropos.

The owner revealed to me, knowingly, as beautiful as the property is, it needs some changes and restoration. We, together, will address such, even if it goes whimsical. This could get fun. Thank you, Elaine.

Japanese Maple - Before

There is the beauty of so many gorgeous plants for which we choose to adorn our properties. We are selfish, but we do need to care for them.

All trees and shrubs, beyond their health and well-being, can benefit from pruning which takes advantage of their branch structure and growth habit.

The Japanese Maple is one of those plants, gorgeous as can be, having inconspicuous flowers which produce a samara - two (typically) fruit-seeds  encased in a thin paper-like tissue shaped like a wing so that it can travel further and propagate.

Japanese Maple - Before

This wonderful mess is on a different beautiful property, but her interesting branch structure was not being enjoyed. 

Beyond being tasked with pruning this japanese maple, I was also charged with trimming and shaping (gum drop) about 13 japanese hollies and pruning several japanese yews (shown) down to almost nothing. Put simply; the other tasks were not as interesting as working on this girl.

Soon the reduced japanese yews will put out new shoots and foliage, becoming small under-story plants for the japanese maple.

Japanese Maple - After

For more articles on japanese maples, please go to https://shootsandmatters.blogspot.com/search?q=japanese+maple. This includes a few Customer Plant Selection Reviews which contain japanese maples and many other plants as well, but you may find them helpful, nonetheless.

Can japanese maple leaves make for a delicious appetizer or hors d'oeuvre?

Some say, "Yes." And, I wouldn't mind trying one.

See the video below.

Japanese Maple - After

Bon appetit!

 

A Tale of Two Camellias

Camellia One - After

There was and is a property I have passed by, viewing, for many years, for which I had always shown praise for the wonderfully mixed variety of plants, their orchestrated placement and the maintenance of same. 

Then, one day, I received a call from the owner after she saw a presentation I had done over Zoom for the Richland County Master Gardeners. I would have preferred to have done so in person. Nonetheless, I was excited she contacted me.

In disbelief (I never know until I give a closer look.), she had at least two plants which needed to be addressed, two Camellias.

Camellia One - Before

Camellia Two - Before

They both had become unruly shrubs because of their unknown need to sprout suckers from their roots - not so common with Camellias or their brethren, Sasanquas. 

Some odd things happen in the plant world, even in the best conditions. One need only recognize such and respond accordingly.

It may take a few more months before these wonderful trees appear to be what they were meant to be, but they will. They are now on their way.

This was one of my most challenging and best-result pruning projects in the last several months and I wish to thank Karen and her husband for the opportunity. 

This is why I continue to do what I do. If I could only find these most-rewarding situations, year-round. I love pruning. It's where I live.

In the meantime. I will continue to address what needs addressing. Our scope goes well beyond the obvious. 

Coming Soon: Gardening and Plant Myths - There are Plenty

Camellia Two - After

Those Wonderful and Majestic, Yet Somewhat Dreadful Japanese Maples

Mother

Yes, those wonderful Japanese Maples; those I love to spend time with, observing what they are, where they are going and what they can be.

These wonderful and majestic trees and shrubs are somewhat bewildering to even the most learned and artful pruner.

These are the plants on which I cut my teeth before I began studying arboriculture and horticulture.

I was told I had a knack for working with them before I had a clue what I was doing. But, even then, I loved doing so and a few customers said so, as well.

The one you see in the photo above I named Mother because she is the matriarch of a property which contains about 15 other Japanese Maples, all, I have cared for. Mother is about 20 feet tall and I can't take credit for her early development, yet I have worked with and pruned her for the last six years. She is gorgeous, rare and expensive. She's probably worth over $15,000.00 ($25.00 when planted about 25 year ago) even if one were able to successfully remove and transplant her.

Most of my acquaintances, friends and customers shy away from whatever they should do with Japanese Maples and these wonderful things that can become nature's most gorgeous messes, if ignored.

Several weeks ago I began to document many of the Japanese Maples I have worked with. I did not take the time to adjust the photos for light or contrast. The changes may be slight or extreme. My pruning can deal with current health, aesthetics, future growth or simply to make space within a plant bed or landscape. 

I have named a few of my favorites along the way.

Crazy Girl got my attention from the beginning several years ago when I realized she was special and then I started doing what I call a jagged cut (prune) - it showed off her desire to produce so many new shoots of varying lemon and lime colors on her lateral branches. Now she's grown up and I gave her a more formal pruning (with some liberty) to show off her legs.

Japanese Maples are so fun to watch grow and if need be to help them along the way or to maintain them once they have established themselves.

No photo can illustrate the beauty of a Japanese Maple compared to walking around one in person or experiencing it throughout the shadows and light of the day, or its changes throughout the year.

Crazy Girl - Before

Crazy Girl - After

Stretch- Before

This is one of my favorites because of her branch structure. I had to rehab her after the lawn service decided to cover her bed with rocks.

Stretch - After

Before

After

I often do what I call gap layering to show off some of the branch structure on some interesting dwarf Japanese Maples to reveal their branch structures.

The Dwarf Trio

Before

Before

After

After

Satellite - Before

Satellite - After

Tressa - After

Tressa - Before

MJM - Before

MJM - After