High Country Gardens review

Note: After my hearty criticism of the landscape of British nobility (which actually works well enough in England but is a poor model for the bulk of America) I further degrade the Brits by unapologetically appropriating some the best of their humor (ahem, humour) today.

Like the knights who say “Ni”, I demanded* a shrubbery as sacrifice** from the folks at High Country Gardens in Santa Fe, New Mexico. One*** that looks nice, and not too expensive.

I found the website for High Country Gardens to be attractive, informational, and easy to use. Plant descriptions were well-presented with illustrative pictures; preferred soil, sunlight, and water conditions; mature plant size; notes on features such as fragrance, attraction of wildlife, and resistance to browsing; and often recommendations for suitable companion plantings. I was also quite impressed with the "Plant Finder" feature that allows the user to select plants best suited for their conditions and their desires.

HCG conveniently allows you to select the week you desire to receive your plants and promises to deliver them in time for weekend planting. The plants I received were well packed, shipped at a reasonable expense, and arrived via UPS when promised. All plants were in good condition, with very healthy root systems and ready for planting.

Included with the plants were helpful, albeit self-serving, planting instructions. The instructions recommended several soil amendments, conveniently sold by HCG, but completely unnecessary at least for native shrubs. In my thinking, it is better to select plants that are well adapted to the site rather than attempting to adapt the site to suit the plants. Further, the recommended amendments are more likely to hinder, rather than help, the adventurous gardener who attempts to grow these shrubs in areas with more fertile, acidic soils that receives significantly more rainfall than the soils in which they are native.

Despite this one grief, I am quite happy with HCG and I would definitely consider purchasing (insert pause) another shrubbery**** to place beside this other shrubbery, only slightly higher, so we get a two-level effect.

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*Perhaps ordered is a better word.
**OK, it was I who paid.
***Or maybe eight.
****Or a perennial, but definitely not a herring.