Question
I have semi-circular stand of bamboo in my backyard in on a slope in full, blazing sun, Zone 7. Even though the climate is closer to Southern Mediterranean, I've tried to create a Japanese feel to the space. Fronting the bamboo are some chamecyparis cultivars (Mops, dwarf hinoki cypress), a couple of varieties of low junipers (Tam and Blue Ice), Indian Hawthorne, a couple of tall Hibiscus with large blooms, and in the front some Knock-Out roses for summer-long color.  A dry streambed of rocks runs along the front.  I have a lovely weeping cherry stuck in there, but it doesn't seem to fit into the area. Plus it suffers in the hot summer months. It just sort of sits there, not tied to the rest of the plant material. Can you suggest a drought-tolerant evergreen to plant around it to set it off?  Or -- since this garden is the focal point of my backyard, and the cherry only blooms for 2 weeks, what about transplanting the cherry to another spot and replacing it with a beautifu,l all-summer-long blooming, low-growing weeping crepe myrtle? And if I do transplant the cherry (at the appropriate season, of course) does it adapt well to such treatment?  Any suggestions would be most helpful!

Answer
Hi there!

 You could plant a Podocarpus Maki on that spot.
It not only has beautiful dark green leaves, but it also bears some wonderful cashew shaped, cherry colored little fruit.

Cherry trees would transplant well, if you dug them up in the fall or early spring.

Good luck!

  Carlo