These Trees Won’t Crowd Your Space
I hope you’re ready for another “what’s in the stack” article. That’s right, I’m at it again, whittling away at mounds of newsletters, periodicals and what-have-you. Before I deep-six this stuff, let me pass along a few bits and pieces of information that I’ve gleaned from this latest stack.
Trees for limited space
How often have you heard “pick the right plant for the right place,” meaning trees that won’t grow into power lines, root systems that won’t break up sidewalks and a branch structure that won’t dwarf the entire yard. Courtesy of the winter issue of PlantAmnesty, here are a few limited-size specimens to add to your list of street trees:
Red Cascade Mountain Ash (maximum height 20 feet, width 8 feet): This is literally a carefree tree and rarely do we see trees so narrow. This beauty could fit in just about any space.
Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry (20-by-15): Like all serviceberry, this plant has small white flowers followed by black berries. It does have a tendency to become quite twiggy with age.
Crimson Sentry Norway Maple (25-by-15): If you are looking for the dark purplish leaf of the Crimson King in a smaller version, this is it. And this offspring doesn’t take up the entire south-40.
Sugar Tyme Flowering Crab (18-by-15): Like most ornamental apples, Sugar Tyme is a profusion of fluffy white blossoms in the spring, followed by a show of small red fruit. One important factor: it seems to be resistant to most apple diseases.
Prairifire Flowering Crab (20-by-20): What’s in a name? Blossoms of pinkish-red and leaves of purplish-red. Thundercloud plum, move over. This outstanding specimen is also touted as being resistant to apple diseases.
Karpick Red Maple (40-by-20): Though it has outstanding yellow to orange fall color, perhaps the best selling point is its tolerance of poor drainage.
Cleveland or Chanticleer Flowering Pear (40-by-15): Clusters of white flowers and green glossy leaves turning to purplish-red in fall are only a couple of this tree’s selling points. This upright sentry is tolerant of poor drainage and resistant to fireblight.
Bessoniana Black Locust (30-by-20): Normally, I wouldn’t recommend black locust, but this one caught my eye. Not only is it a small tree, but it’s tough and tolerates dry locations.
Globosa Globe Ash (20-by-20): This is a very formal tree that maintains it shape with little or no pruning. Green leaves turn yellow in the fall.
Warrenred Pacific Sunset Maple (30-by-15): This is a tough little tree from tough ancestry. Green leaves turn yellow and orange-red in the fall.
Other newsy items
We have a new garden club in our area Inland Northwest Gardeners. It is for men and women who love gardening, landscaping and conservation. If you are interested in joining or for more information, please call the organizers at 624-2750 or 534-1165.
If you enjoy geraniums, I have a nursery just for you. Killdeer Farms features specialty geraniums. For a free catalog, simply write the nursery, 21606 NW 51st Ave., Ridgefield, WA 98642; (360) 887-1790.
You will be amazed at the geraniums offered: Bird’s egg flowered (small, colored dots on the petals), cactus flowered (narrow, rolled, twisted petals), carnation flowered (petal edges that are toothed or serrated), fancy leaf (bi- and tri-colored), fingered flower (round with symmetrical petals), golden leaf (leaves in various shades of gold, yellow, brown and bronze), rosebud flowered (with the flowers resembling little buds) and stellar (unusually shaped petals).
The catalog includes a list of miniature and dwarf geraniums, ivy geraniums, Marthas, scented and some rare pelargonium species from South Africa and Australia. Oh, for a sunroom.
Are the tips of the leaves of your spider plant or dracaena turning brown? I found this bit of information in the garden column from a Dallas newspaper. Both plants dislike fluoride. Fluoride is found in perlite, the little chunks of white stuff included in many potting soils.
By the way, too little water, too much water and too much fertilize will also cause tip burn. Salt from the water and fertilizer will also burn.
And finally (at least for this stack), I see there’s a new product touted as a cure for septoria leaf spot, powdery mildew and other common diseases. It goes by the name of Soap-Shield, a product from Gardens Alive. It is an organic copper-based fungicidal soap.
According to the news release, Soap-Shield combines a soluble copper fertilizer with a naturally occurring fatty acid. The copper and fatty acid combine to form a true soap, which effectively penetrates fungus disease such as blight, anthracnose, septoria leaf spot, downy mildew and powdery mildew.
Soap-Shield is available from Gardens Alive catalog, 5100 Schenley Place, Dept. 9538, Lawrenceburg, IN 47025; (812) 537-8650.
And Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Phyllis Stephens The Spokesman-Review