Archive for the ‘Street tree’ Category

Don’t Plant These Trees In Your Landscape

Invite landscape trees to your property that will be long-lived, seasonally beautiful, and low maintenance. Gardeners are looking for all kinds of plants that invite pollinators and songbirds to their property. We also wish to avoid critter proof and invasive plants. Below is a list of notoriously bad tree choices in most urban yards and […]

American Elm Continues To Be Planted

American elm (Ulmus americana) is a medium to large deciduous tree, typically growing to 60-80 feet tall with a vase-shaped, broad-rounded crown. It is native to eastern and central North America. Once widely planted as a street and lawn tree, its populations have been decimated by Dutch elm disease (DED) over the past century. Numerous […]

Tall Stewartia

Tall Stewartia (Stewartia monadelpha) is a deciduous flowering shrub or multi-trunked small tree that grows 20-25 feet tall with a pyramidal framework when young. As the tree ages, horizontal branches open up more. Tall Stewartia is a native of Japan and is indigenous to cool mountain forests. Stewartias are members of the Theaceae botanical family which include […]

Chinese Pistache – Great Yard / Street Tree

Chinese pistache tree (Pistachia chinensis) is a small to medium size 25–40-foot landscape tree, an ideal size for a yard or street tree. Chinese pistache is native to China, Taiwan and the Philippines (USDA hardiness zones 6-9). It is related to the edible pistache nut tree (Pistachia vera). (Botanical family: Anacardiaceae). Foliage consists of pinnate compound, […]

Chinese Fringetree

Gardeners are waking up to the tough as nails Chinese fringetree (Chionanthus retusus). (USDA hardiness zones 5-9). It has gorgeous foliage, showy snow-white flowers in the spring, and exfoliating bark. Native to Korea, China, and Japan, this low maintenance multi-stemmed large shrub or small deciduous tree is becoming easier to purchase at U.S. garden centers […]

Tulip Poplar

Tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), aka yellow poplar and tulip tree, is a large stately deciduous tree of eastern North America (USDA hardiness zones 4-9). This fast growing native typically grows 60-90 feet tall and it is not unusual to see tulip trees over 100 feet. It is also an important timber tree. A member of the magnolia family, […]

Why Newly Planted Trees Die

The loss or decline of a newly planted tree or shrub is usually a result of multiple factors. One of the worst mistakes is planting trees or shrubs too deeply – whether they are planted by a home gardener or a landscape professional. I’ve witnessed both. Surface roots are deprived of oxygen the deeper trees […]

Summer Blooming Trees

Other than crape myrtles, few trees bloom in July and August. Here are four exceptions: Chaste tree, Sourwood, Golden Raintree, and Franklinia. Chaste Tree (Vitex agnus-castus) is a 10-15 feet tall, vase-shaped, deciduous shrub or a small 15-20 feet tree. The species is native from southern Europe and Asia. It is often mistaken as a purple-flowering […]

Stop The Chop

Crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) is a species of small, beautiful tree native to Asia, and are popular in Southern U.S. gardens (USDA hardiness zones 6-9). Before planting a tree or shrub form, do your homework first. So many landscapes wind up with severe and senseless pruning. Crape myrtles wind up with weak shoots and poor […]

Three Hybrid Oaks Grow Tall And Narrow

Where space is limited, such as along a narrow thoroughfare or snuggled up near a downtown building, here are three (plus two others pictured here) columnar oaks that you can depend upon. Beacon® is a hybrid swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor) discovered by famed plantsman Dr. Michael Dirr and introduced by J. Frank Schmidt Nursery in […]