Archive for the ‘Transplant problem’ Category

Winter Daphnes Can Be A Rewarding Challenge

Native to China and Japan, winter or fragrant daphnes (Daphne odora) open to light pink or white flowers in winter and early spring in the southeastern U.S. and Pacific Northwest (USDA hardiness zones 7-9). Their welcome floral fragrance will pervade through your garden for nearly two weeks starting in late winter. Winter daphnes grow 3 to 4 […]

Getting A Sourwood Tree Going

Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) is one of our most beautiful U.S. native trees. Trees often grow multi-stemmed or shrub-like to 20-30 feet or in tree form to 35-40 feet high and narrow in spread. Trying to establish a new tree can be challenging. In the wild sourwoods are often found growing in shallow soils on steep […]

Butterfly Weed Named 2017 Perennial Plant Of The Year

Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), aka butterfly weed, is a long-lived tuberous rooted perennial indigenous to the southeastern U.S and mid-western U.S. and Canada (USDA hardiness zones 3 to 9). It grows in dry/rocky open woodlands, prairies, farm fields, and along roadsides. Individual plants typically grow as a clump to 2- 3 feet high and 1 -2 feet wide. Unlike many […]

Japanese Snowbells Worth A Try

  Japanese snowbells (Styrax japonicus) is a graceful, slow growing, low branched spring flowering tree. At present snowbells are not popular with U.S. gardeners , mostly because of unavailabliity (USDA hardiness zones 5-8). Snowbells  are lovely understory trees, similar to our native dogwoods (Cornus florida). Small, pendulous, slightly fragrant, bell-shaped white flowers appear in May. Small white […]

Should You Plant In Fall?

            Should you plant in the Fall? It depends what region you live in, what month in fall, and what species you’re planting. If you live in the mid-Atlantic, coastal New England, or Southeastern U.S., fall is an excellent time to set most hardy plants. Most (not all) trees, shrubs, perennials, […]

American Yellowwood Deserves To Be Planted More

    American yellowwood (Cladrastis kentukea) is a beautiful native tree which  is rarely planted in U.S. landscapes (USDA hardiness zones 4-8). Yellowwood is a tree for all seasons. It is both a lovely shade and flowering specimen. Long white wisteria-like flowers appear in mid- to late-May. It eventually matures into a lovely 35 to […]

Trees And Shrubs That Grow In Poorly Drained Soils

If a section of your landscape is poorly drained, there are a number of trees and shrubs that will adapt over time to short periods of wet or soggy soils. Plant roots must survive in low oxygen soils. Your choices of plants are not lengthy; few landscape plants will not tolerate root suffocation for even […]

Black Gum Should Be Planted More

  U.S. native black gum (Nyssa sylvatica), aka sour gum or black tupelo, is a medium to large shade tree. A young tree has an attractive pyramidal habit and dependable fall color. In the past transplanting black gum has been an issue, but modern advances in growing and planting practices have been solved. New cultivars […]

Shagbark Hickory

Most tree lovers don’t plant U.S native shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) (USDA hardiness zones 4-8). Instead, they often inherit one when purchasing property. Shagbark hickory is notoriously difficult to transplant and grows very slowly in its early years. Like oaks (Quercus spp.) and beeches (Fagus spp.), hickories are long-lived, often standing tall in an open […]

Moving Large And Mature Trees

Perhaps tree lovers can’t plant wonderful trees such as shagbark hickory (Carya ovata), American beech (Fagus grandifolia), or white oak (Quercus alba). They can purchase property with the tree(s) growing on them. Most nurseries do not grow these difficult species or guarantee their success after planting. But, all is not lost! Modern nurseries, backed by […]