Category: Virginia plants

If I asked you to tell me about crape myrtles, what would you say? My guess is the first thing you’d mention is the fact that the flowers are pretty spectacular (because they are). You might even say that it blooms in the summer, unlike most other trees and shrubs (right again – you’re good).  

BUT – did you think about the trunks? Hear me out.

Unexpected reasons to love crape myrtles

Crape myrtle blooms are gorgeous, but they don’t bloom all year. Heck, crape myrtles are deciduous, so they’re going to drop their leaves in the fall. They’re buck nekkid until spring! Since we tend to place crape myrtles in prominent spots, it’s a good thing they have some 24/7/365 assets.

Some crape myrtle varieties, like ‘Natchez’, have cool, exfoliating bark. There’s even a sweet color contrast, with the cinnamon-colored bark and the more silvery smooth bark.

The trunks offer two more reasons to love crape myrtles. First, most tree-form crape myrtles – I don’t personally like the shrub form, so we’ll ignore them – are multi-trunked and vase shaped. It’s a useful shape in the landscape. We can use crape myrtles in layered plant beds, along driveways, and in all sorts of ways.

One other reason to love crape myrtle trunks is that the older the tree, the thicker and gnarlier the trunk becomes. If you live in a relatively new, suburban neighborhood, it’s entirely likely that you’ve only seen crape myrtles with trunks like fairly straight pipes. Go visit an older neighborhood with mature trees and you’ll see exactly what they have to offer.

My first time visiting Colonial Williamsburg was shortly after MJ and I moved to Virginia. Crape myrtles don’t grow in my home state of Rhode Island, and they sure as heck don’t grow in San Diego or Phoenix. At first, I was baffled by the old crape myrtles twisting and heaving along the brick sidewalks. What WERE these cool things??? Then I looked more closely, and examined the leaves, and I was hooked.

Here’s a great example of a situation where the trunks are what make the crape myrtles worth having. I was at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden this week, and came across these beauties. Look at the size of those trunks! And the twisty shapes? AMAZING. 

I hope that’s helped you see the value and the beauty in crape myrtles in more than just their blooms. If you need help with your landscape and want someone who can love both the conventional and the unusual parts of a plant – contact me today! I’d love to talk with you about your project.

One of the benefits of being quite possibly The Most Approachable Guy in the World is I get into a lot of conversations. When these conversations are with folks from the gardening community, and the subject of native plants arises, it gets really interesting. Oftentimes the question arises, “why won’t more professionals use native plants in their landscape designs?” The answers are actually really simple, but at least they reflect a reality that (I think) is changing.

Why wouldn’t a landscape pro use native plants?

The scarcity of native plants

The situation has improved drastically since I moved to Virginia in 2005 but it can still be hard to track down native plants at retail garden centers. There are certainly some natives, like Sweetbay Magnolia and Itea, that everyone loves and wants more of, but the overall selection tends to be pretty lean at retail. I think it’s a classic chicken and egg scenario. Garden centers would stock more native plants if they felt the demand was there, and the demand would be greater if people saw cool native plants for sale at the nursery. But there’s a big reason why you may not see as many natives for sale…

The aesthetics of young native plants

Don’t misunderstand me, I think native plants can be gorgeous. Here I’m referring to what they look like when young and full of potential, sitting in that pot of soil. In the trade there’s what we refer to as “retail ready” plants. This refers to plants that are full and beautiful and downright irresistible to even the most jaded “I have a brown thumb” non-gardener. It’s as close as we get in this industry to exciting packaging.

Because the retail demand for native plants isn’t that high (yet), a large proportion of them are being grown for commercial and municipal projects. When you have a crew of volunteers planting 1,200 native plants in a remediation area, it’s ok if they look like a stick and two leaves. Getting a walk-in retail customer who doesn’t know plants to get excited by that plant sitting on the shelf with a $20 price tag is a whole other ball of wax.

When we’re getting paid to do an installation for a residential client, they have a certain expectation of what their yard will look like once we’re done. That expectation is based on the big, full landscape plants that we’re all used to. Even my hardcore native plant fans get a little disappointed when they see what a one gallon sumac – which was maybe all we could get – looks like.

You may say “that sounds like a crappy excuse full of weaksauce and mumbles, Dave” but the fact is that we’re only as good as our last job. How can we best delight that customer, whom HGTV has trained to want an amazing transformation?

The economics of using native plants

I have this client, Janice, who was a delight to work with. She wanted a majority of native plants in her landscape but was flexible enough to allow some non-native plants as well. Her job turned out beautifully, and we’re adding to the landscape a bit at a time.

Janice referred me to a friend of hers who had a DC-area landscape designer draw up a set of plans for a garden that was all natives and edibles, and was looking for someone to help oversee the installation. I usually hate getting involved with projects I didn’t design (you diva!) but this was a super cool project. Then I looked at the plant list and specification sheet.

Given what was called out there were a lot of plants that were only available really small. The biggest tree was 3 feet tall, and most everything else was one gallon or smaller. I require a certain amount per day to be on site and I told them up front, “you’ll be spending more on me than you would on the plants. I can’t add enough value to your project to make it worth you spending that money.” I referred her to three other contractors in here area, and none of them could make it work either.

The majority of planting jobs are completed by landscape companies that are set up for medium to large projects. They have certain overhead recovery requirements that they have to hit to be profitable and stay in business, and that can make dealing with small jobs difficult. Those companies are going to look to use plants that they can source readily, ideally from one vendor, and complete the job as efficiently as possible while leaving behind a project that looks “finished”.

Are there companies that do great work with natives? Sure, but they’re often harder to find because they’re small. The perfect outfit for doing a planting job with a lot of perennials and small plants is often a professional gardener or horticultural maintenance company. These are folks rolling up in a small pickup or transit van, not a massive dump truck with a bobcat on the trailer.

So what’s the answer?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t use native plants. Even though I take a more nuanced approach to native plants than some, I still love them and think we should use more of them. So how do we address the issues I raised above?

• First, I’d love to see retail garden centers get in a broader selection of native plants and also promote the heck out of them.
• I’d also love to see growers work on getting native plants to market a little prettier. Yes, they’re doing a thankless yet important job by propagating these plants, but they also need to think like marketers. Why would weekend warrior Bob grab your plant instead of that burning bush?
• More native plants and more mature native plants would go a long ways towards helping move them, but we do still need to change attitudes towards what a finished job should look like. Even something as simple as getting great jobsite photos of plantings 1) right at install 2) 6 months later and 3) a year later, and posting them prominently, would be great.
• Those of us in the industry need to find and/or develop the small operators who can rock these jobs out. I believe that even if we nail the first two bullet points, it can all fall apart if the busy homeowner doesn’t have someone he or she can hire to get it all done.

The bottom line? Landscape pros don’t hate native plants. They just require a bit more outside-the-box thinking to go from wanting it done to enjoying the finished landscape.

 

 

The great thing about this time of year is that the days are cooler (well mostly, it’s supposed to hit 87 today), the humidity drops, and we start to shake free from summer’s brutal grasp. The not-so-great thing is that most plants are done blooming by the time my birthday rolls around in early October. What’s a gardener who loves plants and colors and such to do? Luckily there are some fall landscape plants that continue the show well into the cooler months. Here are a few – 8 to be precise.

My favorite fall landscape plants

1. Beautyberry

There’s something magic about beautyberry (Callicarpa). As summer fades the bright purple berries come out, and they persist past when the leaves drop off, leaving bare stems covered in clusters of bright purple berries. Calliacarpa americana is described as having a spread of 3-6 ft high and 3-6 ft wide, and it seems to do pretty well in everything from full sun to moderate shade. It’s a winner for me, and I haven’t met anyone who doesn’t love it.

2. Winterberry Holly

When most people think of hollies they think of the evergreens with dark green, glossy leaves and red berries. Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) has the red berries but it’s a deciduous holly. Similar to the beautyberry above, winterberry drops its leaves to reveal massive sprays of berries, except that on winterberry they’re a bright red. The photo above was taken in December so you can see just how much mileage you get from this amazing shrub. When choosing, read the tag as there are several different varieties and they vary from 3 ft to 12 ft in size. You’ll probably want to know which one you’re buying.

3. Oakleaf Hydrangea

Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) doesn’t take center stage for long but when it does, it’s worth it. The leaves turn a deep burgundy color that’s made all the more amazing by the fact that they were just “meh” green leaves all season. ‘Alice’ can get up to 8 ft tall and wide; ‘Pee Wee’ is smaller, 3-4 ft high and around 3 ft wide. Just be aware that ‘Pee Wee’ really will get to that size, so plan accordingly. Luckily they transplanted well for me.

4. Solidago

Goldenrod, aka ‘Solidago canadensis‘, is one of my favorite fall perennials. Late summer is when it starts the show, producing thin lines of yellow akin to a blonde Poirot’s mustache. Here in Virginia you’ll see it in ditches and fields everywhere in fall. There are also wonderful commercial varieties, my favorite of which is ‘Golden Fleece’. And for those who would say “but my allergies…” I was told that goldenrod and ragweed bloom concurrently. You see the goldenrod, so it gets blamed for what the ragweed does. Stupid ragweed.

5. Fragrant Sumac

I’ve ignored sumac (Rhus) for much of my career. Especially here in Virginia it pops up so easily in disturbed soils that I wrote it off as a weed. Dummy. ‘Grow-Low’ (Rhus aromatica ‘Grow-Low’) is an especially charming variety for several reasons. It stays short, topping off at around 1-2 feet, but it spreads about 8 feet if allowed to. When crushed, the leaves give off a pleasant fragrance (thus the genus name ‘aromatica’). But we came here today to talk about fall color, and that’s what sumac is all about! When the leaves change, expect them to put on a show with a blaze orange going to red that’s hard to miss. Even better, ‘Grow-Low’ is something a lot of your friends won’t have seen so you can expect a lot of “whoa what is THAT?!” at your next fall BBQ. Because sometimes plant lovers just want to show off.

6. Dwarf Fountain Grass

NOTE: be sure to check with your local extension office to see if Pennisetum is considered an invasive in your area!

What a lot of people don’t realize about dwarf fountain grasses (Pennisetum alpecuroides) is that they’re ok singly or in small groups, but they are amazing as a massed planting. Come fall, the sense of movement that the delicate grasses evoke is amplified with the huge foxtail-looking plumes that grace the tips. My two favorites are the ever popular ‘Hameln’ and the purple-tinged ‘Moudry’. Expect both to make 18-30″ high and wide at the max.

7. Maples

There are approximately 1.5 gazillion maples to choose from, give or take, but several are well suited to providing spectacular displays of fall color. ‘October Glory’ (Acer rubrum ‘October Glory’) turns a brilliant red in the fall. ‘Commemoration’ Sugar maple (Acer saccharum ‘Commemoration”) turns an orange that would make a duck hunter’s safety vest feel inferior. Even the yellows can be bold and brilliant. I’m unsure what the one across the street from our house is (pictured) but I adore it. It should go without saying that maples get big, so plan accordingly.

8. Southern Magnolias

This may seem like an odd choice. How exciting can an evergreen tree really be? Thing is, Southern magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora) holds up visually really well throughout the season. Even hollies can look a little grayed out as mid fall heads towards winter, but the deep glossy green leaves somehow manage to hold up.

Magnolias are also extremely versatile. What do I mean? Your “typical” ones like “DD Blanchard” get huge, up to 50 ft tall and 35 ft wide. But you have dwarf magnolias too, like ‘Teddy Bear’ and ‘Little Gem’ topping out at around 20 feet tall and 10 feet wide. An added bonus is that ‘Little Gem’ can be trained to grow on a trellis, giving you a unique evergreen screen for a small space all year long.

If you haven’t jumped into plant geekery’s deep end yet I hope this list was helpful. On the other hand if you have, what are some fall and winter plants that make your landscape great?

When I design a landscape there’s an order of operations that I always follow. Hardscape elements (decks, patios, walls, etc) get designed first, followed by trees, and then shrubs and perennials. The reason for this is simple: shrubs and perennials can be shifted relatively easily at the time of planting but trees are big enough that they potentially impact everything around them. That can mean limbs growing to touch houses, tree canopies growing into one another, or walks and patios becoming all but unusable. Proper tree placement is critical for a landscape design that will work for decades.

Things to think about when choosing and placing trees

People

People are the #1 most important consideration when deciding where trees should go. What good is it to have a beautiful front walk if people have to step off the path to get around it? Here are some considerations to bear in mind:

• Will the tree drop a lot of unpleasant debris in a busy area? If you have a sweetgum tree you can forget walking barefoot in the summer. An American holly overhanging the bed where you change out annuals all season long becomes a prickly menace.
• If the tree will overhang sidewalks or patios, can it be limbed up to allow people to pass, without making the tree look hacked up?
• Will the tree provide shade or screening or another benefit to the people who use the space?

Structures and hardscapes and other man-made items

Trees can impact everything around them and not always for the better. You need to think about how a tree can negatively impact the permanent structures and spaces around them.

• Is the tree known for weak wood? Weak trees can drop limbs in the slightest storm, potentially damaging whatever’s underneath. Bartlett pears are so notoriously weak that we call them “rental trees”.
• Will the tree, at maturity, be canopying over the house? This can be a gorgeous effect. It can also be deadly.
• Does the tree’s natural shape make sense with where you’re planting it? Some trees branch out more laterally (parallel to the ground) than upright. These will give you many fewer years before you’re pruning branches away from the windows.
• Are the trees you’re considering known for shallow or aggressive roots? Nature is amazing. It happens slowly over time but those innocent tree roots can heave sidewalks.

It’s enough to make you consider trees “the leafy menace” or something, isn’t it? Except that with a little planning and forethought it doesn’t need to be that way. I love trees and can’t plant enough of them. Here’s how you can use trees to create successful, beautiful, long lasting landscapes.

What can this tree do for you?

You can’t control for the other factors unless you have a solid idea of what you want your tree to DO. Are you looking for a shade tree? A specimen evergreen? A screening tree? What about a flowering tree? Unless there’s a tree you’re in love with that you’re designing around, start with the goal and find the tree that fits that. Think of it like buying a car. If what you’re looking for is just reliable transportation that holds a lot of stuff, that could be any number of vehicles on the market.

Know the tree’s size and growth habit

One of the saddest statements I hear (right before we agree to rip out a healthy tree in the absolute wrong place) is “we had no idea it got so big!” You guys. It’s 2015. We have the internet, do some research. Even plant tags can be wrong.

Who can you trust? There’s a lot of bad info on the internet, and bad information when it comes to tree sizing can spell disaster for the innocent homeowner. Here’s what I look for:

• In print, it’s really hard to go wrong with Dirr’s Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs (Amazon affiliate link). It’s an industry bible, and at 900+ pages it could be a great multitasker.
• Online, your safest bet is often sites that end in .edu BUT you want to make sure that it’s a college or institution near you. What’s invasive in Florida could be an annual in Minnesota. Plants behave radically differently in different parts of the country, just like people. Example: you drop a New England Patriots fan into a bar full of Dallas Cowboys fans and he’s probably a pretty quiet and reserved, friendly guy. Drop the same Pats fan into a bar in Dorchester and you’ll have a very different experience (much love to all my family in New England!)
• Another resource that I use a lot is the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Plant Finder tool. If you type in the plant you want to learn about, and you’re in most temperate regions of the US, you’ll find a phenomenally detailed page of information that includes USDA hardiness zone, size, growth habits, and a ton of info on the plant and sometimes even its history. If you’re not in Missouri it can be helpful to balance their info with that local to you, but it’s honestly what I turn to first. I’m at the point where I’m probably going to become a member because Catholic guilt compels me.

Look up (what they NEVER do in horror movies)

There’s a variety of street tree called “Wireless” Zelkova, so named because it’s been bred to be appropriate for planting under power lines. If you’re planting ANY tree near powerlines you need to consider what the eventual size will be and how it will potentially conflict with the power lines. Because if the tree does conflict with the lines, the power company will send a crew through and you may end up with something that looks like this:

Avoid the heartache, consider the surroundings.

How do I figure tree spacing?

Tree spacing comes down to a little research and a little math. Here’s how we do it.

Let’s say that because every %^&%^& suburban home in America apparently needs a pointy evergreen on the corner (pet peeve alert), we went to the nursery and decided to bring home a Nellie R. Stevens holly. Missouri Botanical Gardens’ Plant Finder entry on Nellie R. Stevens says it has a spread of 8-12 feet, which I think is conservative for here in Virginia. This is why I recommend cross referencing with a source local to you as well. Exhibit A:

Anyhow, let’s go with the higher number, 12 feet. That’s the eventual (projected, typical) diameter of the tree, meaning the radius is 6 feet. Unless we’re planning to shear this tree every year, you don’t want it any closer to the house than 6 feet. 7-8 feet gives you a safety buffer, and lets you get behind the tree more easily to prune the tree and maintain your home.

“But Dave!” You exclaim. “That puts the far side of the tree 18 feet from my house! Our property line is only 15 feet from the house, that won’t work!”

Yep. That leaves you with two choices. Find another tree, or commit to shearing the heck out of that thing every single year so you can plant it closer. Have fun when that Nellie R. Stevens holly reaches 20-25 feet.

Long term pruning

The above example highlights the fact that with a commitment to pruning, you can cheat the system. For this project I needed something that would fill in an otherwise dead, boring corner, and I wanted something that would pop against the white brick. I wanted a ‘Bloodgood’ Japanese maple. The problem is that they want to get 15 feet across and we’d have to put it pretty close to the house.

Doesn’t matter. In this case, knowing how I wanted to maintain the garden was part of the landscape plan. It’s a slowish growing tree so every year we just do a little pruning to keep it off the house and it just keeps getting prettier and prettier.

What about spacing trees for an allee, or a screen, where I’m repeating trees?

The same principles apply if you’re doing a repeat planting of trees. For an allee, if you want the branches arching into one another you can plant them rough the mature diameter apart. The tree has a 20 ft mature spread? Place the trunks 18-20 feet on center. Want space between the trees? Add some feet to that dimension.

For screening trees you’re walking a fine line. Too far apart and you’ll be waiting forever and a day for any privacy, but too close and you’ll have unhealthy trees. Take a tree like an Emerald Arborvitae, with an average width of 4 feet. Planting them 4 feet on center gives you good start and they’ll fill in nicely. If you’re starting with small trees you may be tempted to halve that, but I wouldn’t.

And when deciding how far apart to plant Leyland cypress, my preferred method is to leave them at the nursery and let them become someone else’s problem.

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That’s a quick overview of selecting and planting trees in your backyard. This is one of those questions that comes up time and time again, so hopefully this helps. If you want more info like this but delivered right to your inbox, sign up for my newsletter in the box on the right! You’ll receive my newsletter twice a month and that’s it. No crazy sales spam in between, and I never sell, rent, or share my lists. Let’s make some beautiful landscapes!