seduced by goumi & buckthorn - but worried re ultimate height
margi1533
20 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (52)
larry_gene
20 years agonewyorkrita
20 years agoRelated Discussions
ISO Advice on Reforestation Projects - Big and not so big
Comments (62)This is really a great thread! I just wanted to chime in a bit. I just finished planting 140 trees on about 1 acre, and it went pretty well. I planted: 25 Common Lilac 15 Manchurian Crab 25 White Pine 32 White Spruce 10 Bur Oak 5 Paper Birch 5 Silver Maple 5 Black Cherry 5 Red Oak 5 Rugosa Rose 2 Red Maple 5 Red Pine 4 Hybrid Poplar In addition, this summer, I planted 4 larger trees... a bur oak, an Autumn Blaze Maple, a Siouxland Cottonwood, and a Red Splendor Crab It will be interesting to see how fast everything grows. The clone of Hybrid Poplar I planted can grow anywhere from 5-10 feet per year.. while the bur oak will grow at a glacial 6-18" per year over its entire life. In 1996, about 60 red pines, 10 white pines, and 10 black hills and blue spruce were planted on our land. In 2007, the tallest Red Pine is about 15 feet tall, the tallest White pine is about 12 feet tall, and the tallest spruce is 7 feet tall. Of course, these were all started from seedlings with no weed control for the first 3 years, and only mowing after that (when we moved in). We no longer mow the eastern portion of the property, where red pines are growing. There are a few clearings among the trees, and some shrubs are starting to become established. Among them are Rugosa Rose, low bush blueberry, chokecherry, and American Hazelnut. To date, not one hardwood tree has seeded. Under our deck, however, about 6 Boxelder seeds germinated, and one vigorous and desperate sapling is about 4 feet tall in its second year. I will transplant it to the edge of our property when the leaves drop... Otherwise, the land we own on a lake is already forested... and it's more of a question of management than anything. I desperately want to clear some of the underbrush (it's nearly impossible to walk through the woods here... so thick with underbrush). Between the Beaked Hazel, tree saplings, fallen logs, grass clumps, and various other shrubs, if yo'ure not tripping and trying to regain balance, you have several small branches trying to enter your head through your eye sockets. You basically have to close your eyes and bore your way through the woods with your hands in front of you, shielding your face....See MoreInexpensive Seed Starting System
Comments (54)As far as shop lights go, do you prefer the ones with reflectors or not? Because the ones with reflectors/chains with which to hang them are NOT $8 and I've been all over my area going to every sort of hardware store I can think of to compare prices. It is either inflation at work or stores no longer carry whatever shop lights everyone has talked about in the past lol The only "shop lights" for uber-cheap that I've seen are the ones that need to be drilled into the wall, i.e. "under cabinet" lighting. But, since I shall have nothing to do today I'm going to try to purchase a cheap set of wire shelving and one shop light and bulbs. I was thinking of waiting two weeks (basically, until my next check) but some of my plants are growing very well and will need to be transplanted and have more space than what I currently have set up....See MoreStory, Understory and Shrub Suggestions
Comments (23)I got my Desert Willow at the Moonlight Madness sale at TLC three years ago. Its not one of the fancy ones, it had no label and was marked down to $3.00 in the cruddy looking, damaged and less than perfect plants section, I call that the Hospital and its where I head first. The weird thing about it is the leaves are very fragrant perfuming the whole front yard at times and people who walk by comment on that along with the looks of it. Smells strong, like a woodsy type of potpourii. I posted this on the Texas site last year and no one had ever run into that so I figured my little native looking, not so fancy DW type has done quite well even if its not as fancy as the one up the street. Its still blooming, has been since early in the season. The seeds sprout easily so if you see one around there with pods you could try that, these trees grow fast. I thought of a few shrub/small tree understudy ideas. 'Forest Pansy' redbud is a pretty tree as an understudy because it gives good color in an otherwise green situation. It has huge deep red leaves and blooms heavy, even on the trunk. Cotinus coggygria aka Purple Smoke Tree, needs at least half day sun but its gorgeous especially when its 'smoking' and looks like its covered in purple haze. It has round red leaves that smell really good when crushed & is well behaved. Three Leaf Sumac aka Fragrant Sumac. I saw several mature ones at the History Museum here in OKC, they looked great and were covered in fuzzy berries. I now have 2 babies cuz I fell in love with it and its tough. Turns red in fall. I'd plant smooth sumac if I had a big space....... but wouldn't dare in a small one. Ribes aureum (Golden Currant) Shepherdia argentea (Silver Buffaloberry) Robinia neomexicana (New Mexico Locust--blooms pink but it suckers) Blackhaw viburnum--- I want one bad. I got a Ninebark but its not doing so good. Obviously I need to move it to a more moist spot. Mine is Physocarpa 'Coppertina' and I really would like to get that nice pumpkin color in my landscape however currently its nearly leafless from drought since its in spot where trees suck the ground dry. I believe as a rule they do quite well in Oklahoma and there's several different cultivars with very nice leaf colors to choose from. I just came in from setting out several starts of the regular type of Nandina I got to dig out from a big plant next door, even though its not native and some purists would scream bloody murder, they will grow in dry shade, have red berries and colorful foliage, they've been planted there previously and did just fine. Come fall or spring its full sun in that dry difficult corner and anything will look better than a nearly bald, half dead Ninebark. I'll dig him up & move him when he goes dormant, poor guy....See MoreCallery pear - why the antipathy?
Comments (76)why, with the enormous range of fabulous small trees available for our delight, would anyone choose to grow one species only? Lack of imagination or interest - most property owners are not hobbyist gardeners - and a belief that formal effects like shearing of trees and shrubs, planting rows of one kind are sophisticated. Also some are wary of plants they haven't already seen having been proven to be able to grow and persist in their area. I can see some basis for this as both warehouse store plant departments and independent garden centers in my area do stock a lot of marginally hardy or outright tender plants which are often displayed among more cold tolerant kinds, thereby seeming to imply that they are all suitable for year around outdoor use of indefinite duration. And speaking of warehouse store plant departments, with their tiny range of plant varieties - those operations now have a large percentage of the US nursery stock sales. I have seen post after post on the internet referring to these as "the nursery". Plus in the current market trees are moving so slowly I wonder why any of the large independent outlets here are bothering to stock any kind of a range or quantity of them. And in fact one of the bigger operations in the area did apparently cut way back on these, so that for at least a few years now their "tree line" has been this little area like is routinely seen at warehouse stores....See Morelarry_gene
20 years agomrtexas
20 years agocarol_the_dabbler
20 years agolarry_gene
20 years agolostman
20 years agolarry_gene
20 years agonewyorkrita
20 years agolarry_gene
20 years agocarol_the_dabbler
20 years agonewyorkrita
20 years agolarry_gene
20 years agooklahawg
20 years agolarry_gene
20 years agonewyorkrita
19 years agolarry_gene
19 years agonewyorkrita
19 years agooklahawg
19 years agonewyorkrita
19 years agooklahawg
19 years agoFlowerFan86
19 years agonewyorkrita
19 years agonewyorkrita
19 years agohjdez
19 years agobmanges
19 years agolarry_gene
19 years agojenn_of_ark
19 years agohemnancy
19 years agonewyorkrita
19 years agolarry_gene
19 years agonewyorkrita
19 years agonewyorkrita
18 years agochills71
18 years agomtilton
18 years agolarry_gene
18 years agooklahawg
18 years agolkz5ia
18 years agochills71
18 years agoJillrob
18 years agochills71
18 years agodemetre
17 years agodemetre
17 years agonecrochildk
16 years agooklahawg
16 years agoyuuwagirl
15 years agoLena M
13 years agojonathante
13 years agorob m
5 months ago
Related Stories
GARDENING GUIDES10 Tips for Beginning Gardeners
With a simple sketch, basic tools and the right plants, you’ll be on your way to growing your first flowers or edibles
Full Story
larry_gene