acuba japonica

[as posted to the Grove listserv]

I've been trimming back the row of acuba japonica out back.  despite my having taken about a metre off the top, if past experience is any guide it will all grow back quite soon, perhaps even within hours.  it is well suited to the Grove:  it is shade tolerant, doesn't need much in the way of upkeep, grows quickly and makes a fine natural hedge because it is not deciduous.  unlike most of our ornamentals it doesn't seem to have a secondary use as deer fodder.

my longer term objective is to remove them but I really am not comfortable bringing about the destruction of any harmless life form if an adoption alternative is available.

these plants need a good home.  with all the recent construction about the Grove surely somebody among us would like to have a hedge-in-a-hurry.  a good specimen (which is to say, one whose top I haven't hacked off) can be seen in the Grove Road median behind Lee and Marlene's cottage next door.  that one is on Town property so please leave it alone -- but I have plenty to share.