Last week we stopped by one of our favorite destinations in Door County: Linden's in Ellison Bay. We made many visits to this wonderful shop/gallery in all its Madison incarnations, and brought home more than a few treasures.
But what made this visit special is that both Brian and Jeanee Linden were at the gallery. We could tell how long it's been since we last saw them by how much their sons had grown — and how much their landscaping around the gallery had grown as well. Their shop is well-worth a drive up the penninsula, but it was the lansdscaping that caught our eye on this trip.
Pagoda dogwoods (Cornus alternifolia, above and the two images below) trimmed the way we often see on the East coast. In this instance, however, the layered wedding-cake pruning gives them more of an Asian ambiance.
Such hard pruning also causes lots of growth making for a dense specimen — despite the space between layers — as this side view shows.
I've always loved this Hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) which was a small specimen the first time I saw it outside the Linden Gallery. Now it's large enough that its wonderful shape is obvious at first glance.
Though it twists and turns naturally, you can increase this effect by opening it up with pruning, too.
