extreamly close proximity planting?

[Philphine]

I'm not sure if that title quite explains what I mean.

I mean like if you've ever been in the woods or some unmaintained area and you see different types of bushes/plants growing pretty much on top of each other. I'm considering trying it on purpose and wondering if anyone has.

what made me think of it is having a couple of snowball bushes I want to plant hopefully this fall, I like them, but they do their blooms in about late spring and then they're just bushes.

but I've been out in some wooded areas lately and thinking about how things are growing wild and on top of each other. I was at lowes and noticed a bush that is blooming right now (I don't remember what it was), and thinking if I planted it with my snowball bush as much in the same hole as possible, hopefully they would grow kind of as one bush (I know not iliterally as one bush) with one thing blooming as another loses it's blooms. maybe even find a third bush with a different blooming time also.

so do you think it could work? has anyone done similar? thanks.

 

[Chuck]

What happens when only one side of a tree gets sunlight? It is very sparse isn't it? The same thing will happen to your bushes too. If you put 3 bushes in the same hole with the same growth habits and they live you will end up with 1/3rd of 3 bushes on the outside and a very sparse if any center. Interesting concept though.

 

[firelily99]

Plants do need room to grow. We see the competition for space above ground but the roots can also get over crowded. This leads to less oxygen, water and other nutrients, causing the plant to be less healthy.

 

[Philphine]

so when I see it in the "wild", it's more of a luck of the draw type thing? what if maybe after a few years of the bush growing, I let like some morning glories and/or moon flowers grow up into it. would they choke the bush out eventually?

 

[Chuck]

so when I see it in the "wild", it's more of a luck of the draw type thing? what if maybe after a few years of the bush growing, I let like some morning glories and/or moon flowers grow up into it. would they choke the bush out eventually?

That would depend on the bush and how much sunlight it required to survive. For instance, some bushes and trees are what is called understory plants, meaning that they thrive in shade and partial shade. Put them out in direct sunlight and they won't. Other bushes and trees thrive in direct sunlight. Put them in shade and they don't thrive.

 

[firelily99]

Morning glories typically don't have a vast root system. In the wild the game is different for the plants, the become much more adaptable to their environment. With the bush its like Chuck said, its all about the sunlight.