Ms. Nancy's Emerald Green Arborvitae

I generally shy away from linear plantings and tight pruning. It's just not my preference. The need for both was warranted in this instance. It was about 7 years ago when I met the couple who own this home in Birmingham, AL. They were looking for a planting that would screen their view of the side of the neighbor's house. Emerald Green arborvitae was the plant they wanted to use and as I looked at the site, it was obvious to me that their choice of plant was a good one. I also knew that there were cultural requirements that would have to be met in order for those plants to do well....good sunlight, drainage, proper spacing, watering, correct pruning, etc. One of the first things I checked for on this job was the condition of the soil. It was, as I suspected, poor. Really poor! Thick, gummy clay. Over half of the labor for this job was used in removing the clay for each individual hole to a depth of close to two feet and replacing it with sifted, loamy top soil. That alone was not going to correct the drainage issues. Simply removing an amount of clay and replacing it with soil would be akin to creating a bowl of water for the roots to sit in. Not only did we replace the clay, but we also went to the trouble of incorporating the good soil into the clay sitting deeper than 2'.

It was also going to be important to plant the arborvitaes shallow. It is important to plant most plants slightly shallow, but in this instance, I planted so the top of the root ball was sitting about 4" or 5" above the existing soil line. There are some nuances to consider when planting this shallow that I won't go into, but we were very careful and conscientious while doing the install. Once the planting was complete, its success was now going to be totally dependent on the maintenance. The homeowners have been great in this regard. They keep the plants properly watered, and Ms. Nancy, my plant buddy, keeps a watchful eye on all of her plants. Two or three years back, she emailed me telling me that she noticed one of the arborvitaes losing its vivid green color. I identified the problem to be spider mites and we took care of the problem in short order. The most important maintenance measure performed, especially in the last 3 or 4 years, is the pruning. I've been the exclusive pruner on these plants for their lifetime. When I prune most conifers (Emerald Green arborvitae being a conifer), I realize that they are not like other plants (broad leaf plants) in that they do not respond to heavy pruning. You have to be alert when pruning a conifer and not cut too deeply or the plant may not respond with new growth. This is somewhat of a challenge for this particular planting as we went with a fairly tight spacing (just under 3' from center to center). You can't let this planting go unpruned for too long if you are wanting each plant separated from the other or else you'd potentially be pruning on wood that wouldn't produce new growth. Prune too deeply and you might be looking at bare patches that would never fill in. Another important aspect of pruning these arborvitae is to prune so your plants (I'm really talking all woody shrubs, here) are leafy to the ground. It is common to see plants that look like lollipops or maybe they are bare at the bottom. This is because the plants are being pruned improperly. Anyway, probably way to much time spent on a type of planting I generally don't "get into", but this one is nice, largely due to the plant savy of Ms. Nancy. Hey, this planting looks so good that a lawn company used it on the front of their brochure to highlight what great work "they" do...no kidding!

Kitchen Window Fun!

One reason I enjoy this time of the year is because that call to do a little fruit tree pruning will typically come in. What's fun about pruning fruit trees? Well, you've got a point there, but the side benefit is that you've got clippings that can be brought indoors to eventually bloom into quite a nice bouquet. Fruit trees, from my experience, are best, but you might have success with other flowering plants such as flowering quince, forsythia, and jasmine. Take a few stems as the flower buds appear to be beginning to swell and put them in a vase of water. Sit the vase in a window and enjoy! Experiment with different plants (what about azaleas or roses) and let me know if you're having success!


Photo Right: This grouping of peach tree stems didn't show any color at all a week ago.

Spacing Indica Azaleas

PHOTO: G.G. Gerbing Azalea

The old tried and true Indica azalea is, for much of the South East (zone 7b, 8, and 9), especially from Birmingham to Mobile here in Alabama, a durable landscape plant that doesn’t seem to be losing much of its popularity as newly developed, heavily marketed plants find their way into the local nurseries. Indicas, with their large, showy blooms that appear in mid spring, are not only a popular natural area plant, but also finding a home as a mid sized foundation plant. Why not! They are evergreen, offer pleasant looking foliage, and if pruned properly, stay full of leaves from the ground up. Add to that the ability to grow in shade or quite sunny conditions, and you’ve got a real winner.

There are an array of Indica varieties to choose from. My experience is that some Indica azaleas, like Formosa and Pride of Mobile, are probably more suited to South Alabama than other varieties. The two Indica azaleas that I have used extensively and like the best are G.G.Gerbing (white) and George Tabor (shade of white, pink and lavender).

When laying out Indica azaleas to install, spacing is important. Decide how you want a planting to look in, say five years. A grouping of three gallon Indica Azalea, for instance, might look very satisfying with a two and a half to three foot spacing (from the center of the plant to the center of the next plant), but in five years, you will find it difficult to even walk between your plants to prune them. If a solid, hedge-like mass of azalea is what you want, and the challenge of pruning a closely spaced planting doesn’t scare you (it does me), then the decision to create a more mature looking landscape, initially, might have been worth it.



PHOTO: George Tabor Azalea

A four and a half to five foot spacing (or even more), on the other hand, can be beneficial in a number of ways. A generous spacing will allow each azalea to grow with good air circulation. This means that the likelihood of your Indicas developing insect or disease problems is lessened. Maintaining a generously spaced grouping of azaleas will be easier, as well. While Indica azaleas can grow to well over ten feet tall and wide, keeping their size to about half of that is quite doable. With five foot or more spacing, your plants can be allowed to grow to a nice five foot tall by five foot wide size without needing drastic pruning to keep them there, and each azalea will have distinct form while the grouping, as a whole, will look full.

Of course, proper spacing is important with all plants. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been called in to prune an over planted landscape. Some of these landscapes are less than five years old and it is nearly impossible to maintain them because of the improper spacing. There are times when the best option is to cut the plants to the ground and let them come back up as a new looking, bushy plants. This technique will then have to be repeated every few years. As an old fashioned hand pruner, to resort to that breaks my heart, but, I’m sure the landscape looked outstanding for the first couple of years.

Top Ten Crape Myrtle No-No's

Crape myrtles are popular in our region of the mid to lower South and rightfully so. Unlike the in vogue nature of plants such as Bradford pear and Leyland cypress, crape myrtles actually have positive ornamental characteristics that far outweigh any negatives associated with this Southern horticultural heavyweight. Among the characteristics that have many wanting at least one crape myrtle in their yard are the distinctively showy blooms, the exfoliating bark that ultimately reveal an often colorful muscular trunk, and the superb fall foliage that can range from delicate yellows to intense reds. When it comes to negatives, the crepe myrtle itself can usually be held without blame. Many times, it is the owner of the crape myrtle that has committed the no-no, and so, without delay, here is my list of the Top Ten Crape Myrtle No-No's:

PHOTO: Nachez crape myrtle - possibly the most used and well-known of all crape myrtle varieties.














10. Selecting a plant that requires massive pruning to fit into it's space - Today's crape myrtle is much different than those that our parents enjoyed. We have a multitude of varieties available to us with enhanced cold tolerance, improved insect and disease resistance, and most importantly, we have crape myrtle varieties that, at maturity, grow as small as one foot tall, to giants that can reach 40' tall. With all these choices, it is upon the designer/installer to chose the appropriate plant. For instance, if you have a space where you want a white crape myrtle that grows to about 10' tall, then you should be looking for a semi-dwarf variety. Named crape myrtles usually are tagged with information that tells you how large they are going to grow or you can do a little research online and find out what varieties fit the parameters you've set up. When looking for a white crape myrtle that grows 10' tall at maturity, you don't want to buy a Nachez, for instance. Nachez crape myrtles will grow over 30' tall and will quickly become too large for your space. The better choice would be one of the white semi-dwarf crape myrtles, like Acoma.
9. Buying a plant labeled red or white or pink or purple - I've seen this from time to time. A crape myrtle simply tagged, "pink". This is a sure sign that you are probably not purchasing an improved variety and it is your guess as well as anyone else's as to how large it's going to grow. Your best bet is to steer clear and seek out a named variety.

8. Not buying a plant that is insect or disease resistant - Insect and disease has, in the past, been quite the bugaboo for crape myrtles. Aphids and powdery mildew were among the most bothersome agents of doom when it came to crape myrtle decline. Now, with improved varieties available to the public, you can pretty much purchase crape myrtles secure in the thought that they will grow well and you won't be treating them every growing season. Of course, the disclaimer is: nothing is absolute and sure as I talk about improved insect and disease resistance, there are isolated cases. Crape myrtle lists are out there that will signify certain varieties as being more hardy than others if you really want to cover all your bases.

PHOTO: Tuscarora crape myrtle - Here it is used as a street tree. Tuscarora crape myrtles will grow to 20' tall by 15' wide and have huge flower panicles (12" by 8") that are dark coral pink for about 70 days during the summer. Nachez, Tuscarora, Tonto, Souix and a score of other crape myrtles are from what is referred to as the Indian series. This series of crape myrtles is readily available at reputable nurseries and are highly recommended.







7. Improper spacing - When planting a grouping of crape myrtles, attention should be paid to spacing. One characteristic of crape myrtle that can be enjoyed is the graceful branching habit. A way to diminish this characteristic is to plant too closely together and planting too closely together inhibits air circulation (which is helpful in fending off disease) and makes the landscape appear cluttered. As I've mentioned, every crape myrtle has a mature height it will grow to, but they also have a range that they will grow to in width. For example, Acoma crape myrtles are usually listed as growing to about 8' - 10' high and to about 10' - 12' wide. So, if you are planting a grouping of three Acoma crape myrtles, you probably don't want to plant them closer than 10' or 12' apart.
6. Planting in too much shade - I've seen crepe myrtles growing in too much shade and they always look unhappy (yes, I occasionally think of plants as having human emotions :-)). Now, a crape myrtle will grow nicely in just a little shade, but know that the more shade it is subjected to, the fewer number of blooms you will have, the less foliage you will have during the growing season, and the more the crape myrtle will grow leaning toward the sunlight.
5. Not keeping your crape myrtles pruned up - As you will see when you get to rule No. 1, I am not a big fan of pruning crape myrtles. I do, however, encourage limbing up and the removal of dead and intersecting branches. The limbing up process does not apply so much to the more dwarf and shrub varieties of crape myrtle and much as they do to crape myrtles that you want to look like multi-trunk or single trunk trees. The limbing up procedure is where you take smaller limbs growing out from a main trunk and prune them off flush with the main trunk. These limbs are typically going to be located on the bottom 1/3 of the plant and, when removed, give the crape myrtle more of a tree-form appearance. Also, removing dead limbs and branches that intersect, rubbing against each other, is a way to improve the overall health and attractiveness of the crape myrtle.
4. Underplanting with too much plant - I most definitely encourage underplanting crape myrtles, especially when they are planted in natural areas or as part of a foundation planting. What you want to avoid, though, is underplanting with material that overwhelms the crepe myrtle. For example, large hollies or conifers don't look good under crape myrtles. Try using low growing plant material to plant under a crape myrtle. Ground covers and other low growing plants are great to plant under crape myrtles (Asiatic jasmine, English ivy, Autumn fern, dwarf azalea, etc.).
3. Clashing colors - When it comes to crape myrtles, too much of a good thing isn't necessarily good. Typically, in my landscape designs, I may have a singular crape myrtle plant or perhaps a grouping of several crape myrtles of one variety, but rarely do I incorporate multiple crape myrtle plantings of different varieties. If you have a grouping of red crape myrtles in your yard, for instance, and you insist on going with another grouping of a different color crepe myrtle, you might avoid using purple. More importantly, I would keep in mind the colors in your landscape in relation to when and where your crape myrtle is blooming. For instance, you may not want to plant summer blooming yellow hypericum under your Souix crape myrtle unless you enjoy the interplay between a medium pink and yellow. Opinions about colors in the landscape are of a subjective nature and all I can do is offer my opinion. I lean toward what I'd call "kinder combinations" with white being the great equalizer. I prefer using different shades of pink together or white with just about any other color. I'm OK with magenta combined with pink while I try to stay away from purples with red, lavenders and pinks with yellow, etc.

PHOTO: Chickasaw crape myrtle - a dwarf variety. This established plant from an Auburn University research center in about 2' tall.


2. Having a rogue crape myrtle - Seeing a planting of 4 pink crape myrtles and 1 purple one is more of a pet peeve for me than anything and it is often beyond the buyer's control. Sometimes plants simply get tagged incorrectly. With crape myrtles, when you are buying a group of one variety, take the time to examine each plant, even if they are tagged the same. You can sometimes spot a rogue plant by noticing that its habit of growth is different from the others or the leaves seem to be of different size or, if it is fall, that the fall color of one plant is different from the others. Still, if you realize that you've got a wrong colored crape myrtle....please! Replace it!!! (How's that for drama?).
1. Crape Murder - Who ever came up with that saying has given landscape professionals a catch phrase for the ages. And why not? When you top a crape myrtle, you are acknowledging that your crape myrtle was not properly selected or that you are a status quoer! (I just invented a word!!!). If you are a crape murderer, I still love you. I just don't want you within a mile of my yard if you have pruners on your body. :)

A brisk, sunny day in Vestavia, Alabama

A very nice couple and long time clients of mine allowed me to plant some of my favorite plants for them a few years back. Today, I stopped by to do some pruning and thought I'd take some pictures of a few of the plants that were looking especially nice.


When it comes to pruning, I try to make my cuts in such a way as to promote the health and looks of the plant. I'm a big believer in hand pruning (with my trusty Felco pruners) as opposed to using shears, electric or otherwise, because you have so much more flexibility. If you are trying to get a natural looking pruning job when pruning Hydrangeas, for instance, shears are just not going to get the desired effect. Even with hollies such as these Needlepoint hollies in the picturee above, using hand pruners allows you to make cuts deeper inside the plant while still maintaining a manicured look, if that is the desired result as it was with these. And as always, I do my best to prune in such a way as to have plants such as these stay bushy all the way to the ground. This is what you want when pruning plants along your foundation or fence. Much of the same principles go for the pruning I did on the Green Robusta junipers, as well, except fot the exception of making deep cuts. With almost all conifers, such as cypresses, cedars, and junipers, you've got to be careful not to prune into wood that is too thick. They just don't respond well to heavy pruning.

OK, enough on pruning! Here are a few plants at this Vestavia home that I thought you might enjoy seeing:

Green lace-leaf Japanese maple. I planted this plant about 5 years ago. As I remember, it was a two gallon plant and was probably no more than 2' tall by 2' wide when I planted it. It is slow growing, but has managed to grow nearly 4' tall by 6' wide. Red varieties of Japanese maples get all the love at the local nurseries, but the green fellas have a lot to offer, as well, including outstanding fall color and a nice contrast to other plants such as these Parson junipers that are planted around it.


Lady Banks rose is a thorn less rose that is well suited for trellises and training on walls. The garage door was such a big part of the front of this home that we felt something growing up and over it would help provide a soft effect. Lady Banks rose only blooms once a year, in the spring, but the flower show lasts for a good three or four weeks and the plant is evergreen. Another good reason to consider it. The homeowner has done a very good job of keeping it growing over the garage doors (in this case, with masonry nails and ties) and it requires some pruning of limbs when they hang too low. Lady Banks rose is available in yellow and white blooming forms.



And finally, the ol' standby for what to use as a small tree in a small yard has to be Bloodgood Japanese maple. When I planted this tree five years ago, it was probably about four or five feet tall with limited branching. One key to the success of any tree planted in a turf situation is to create a mulch ring or mulched natural area around the tree which eliminates mower or weed trimmer damage. As far as pruning goes, I occasionally remove lower branches so mowing isn't a hassle and to allow light to the grass below. There are lots and lots of worthy upright red Japanese maple varieties to chose from and Bloodgood is certainly the grand daddy of them all and continues to be a great choice for the landscape.