Texas Mountain Laurel

15 years ago

Everyone says Mountain Laurels are slow growers, but "how slow are they?" Or should I say, "how many Aggies does it take to make a Mountain Laurel grow?" j/k We are a divided house and take every opportunity . . .

Okay, seriously. I just bought a 15" at Lowe's on the clearance rack for about $3.50. Which generation of my descendants will see this thing hit, say, 10 feet in height?

I'm in the Mid-Cities with the oh-so-envied black gumbo clay.

~ Amy

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Comments (12)

birdbite
15 years ago
I've heard some people say that theirs actually grows fast. As for mine...well...it's still the same size it was 3 years ago - about 2' tall. I think they can be finicky about transplanting.
bobbi_p
15 years ago
Our last house had one in a prime location at the corner of the house. It was about a 5 foot straight up stick with no branching. I couldn't stand looking at a solitary stick at the corner of my house, so I topped it hoping to encourage some side growth. It did nothing for 2 years: no growth, no blooms! Maybe if it had bloomed some of those grape Kool-aid flowers, I might have considered transplanting it, but quite frankly, I never know how long I'm going to be in any one house, so things have to perform within a couple of years for me to consider them worth my while in the garden.

I yanked it and put in a beautiful Duranta that bloomed like crazy and attracted butterflies.

Good luck with yours.
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tx_ag_95
15 years ago
I started out with volunteer seedlings from my parents' SA yard about four years ago. They grew slowly in pots, we transplanted them into the yard about 18 months ago, they didn't do much for the first year, but they're starting to grow now, they're about 3' and 4' tall. That said, yours should hit 10' well within 10 years...at least that's what my parents' did in the caliche soil in SA.
plants77
15 years ago
I think 10 or 12 years it should be 10 feet tall. I have one a little larger than that.

They grow slowly as young trees but seem to pick up speed once they get some size and have established roots.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
15 years ago
My experience is the same as 'plants77'. I planted a seedling next door by a bare wall and in 10 or 12 years it is up to the roof top. The fast growth sure surprised me as I had always heard they were slow growers. By the way the soil is thin black clay over limestone. I think that is what they like best.

When we moved into this house I had large wild dug Texas Mountain Laurel placed in the -ell strip. When they dug the hole, I thought -- OMG -- pure white caliche! Then when they took the burlap off the roots of the tree to plant it -- it was the same white caliche -- a perfect match! Needless to say it's done well in that spot.

They may grow well in other kinds of soil too, but this is as far as my personal experience goes.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
15 years ago
... the tree was plants in the same kind of conditions as tx ag's tree.
natvtxn
15 years ago
I had two from seedlings. One in the lower left and one under the oak and above the white pot. Both were about 3 inches tall in Jan 1997.
I agree, it seems after the first 4 or 5 years, they grow faster.Certainly not nearly as slow as a pecan tree.

And they love the caliche. If you drive through the hill county in the spring, you can see them for miles and miles.

{{gwi:1363945}}
prairielaura
15 years ago
Interesting observations. I wanted one just for the fragrance, so I bought a fairly large one at Lowe's for about fifty bucks and put it into a large, large plastic pot near the path to the front door. I water it almost every day. The darn thing has about doubled its size in six months, and the roots are starting to exit the pot. So it's decision time: larger pot, or dig a hole in a very very hostile spot. Or move it where we'll never smell it, which sort of defeats the whole project...
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
15 years ago
Prairielaura, I'd say if it has been doing well in the pot with good soil then it would be safe to plant it either in the ground, or in another pot, in good soil. Maybe it is a clone or a seedling from one grown in 'real' dirt rather than caliche.

The same species of plant can vary in it's preferences depending on where the original plant grew. It's hard to know sometimes. Growing plants is a constant experiment which makes gardening very interesting to say the least and why people gardening under slightly different growing conditions might have very different results with the same plant. We just do our best and help each other the best we can to figure things out.
prairielaura
15 years ago
You're right Roselee, thanks!
aemccarty
15 years ago
I have a TML planted 3 years ago. I has bloomed every year but stayed very small. This year, it finally sent off a nice long central leader branch. It is planted in the black on white caliche on the east side of the house. I think maybe the 3rd year of growth is the charm.
maden_theshade
15 years ago
I've had one in a little pot for a couple of years now and finally found a spot for it. Got the hole started and had the DH pry out a big caliche rock to get it planted last weekend. Now am hoping it will really take off! It didn't do much in that tiny pot. Now it has room to stretch it's legs!