Street Landscaping

When planting next to the road it is best to choose an upright or columnar tree. Having a regular tree that may get very big and especially wide is bad. For the first several years it won't be a problem. But once the tree matures it widens and half the tree is leaning over the road with roots cracking the pavement. That is a lot of money in damage the government has to pay for. Imagine street after street of this landscaping nightmare. Yikes! Also my main tip for landscaping jobs. NEVER PLANT TREES UNDER POWER LINES! That is a big no no when landscaping. Unfortunately you see many landscaping companies do this. Unless you are planting a dwarf tree that stays under 15' tall don't do it. Plant a tree at least 10' away from power lines. Some types of popular upright/columnar trees great for street sides and medians are "Frans Fontaine" Hornbeam,  "Arnold" Tulip, "Armstrong" Red Maple, Columnar Oak's like "Crimson Spire" or "Skinny Genes" varieties, another favorite tree of mine is the Ginkgo, my favorite varieties stay more upright unlike the traditional version and other popular varieties, the best varieties are "Fastigiata" and "Princeton Sentry". These are only some of the many species of upright trees to choose from for street landscaping.

Here are some pictures of non-upright street trees VS columnar street trees: (First two VS last three)

NatureMan

Best Boxwood Varieties

Boxwood's are fabulous broadleaf evergreen shrubs. Their tiny green leaves in compact form keeps it's almost artificial look all year round! They can be grown to be small trees or screening. Boxwoods are hardy to USDA Zone 5 (-20°F) a few varieties may grow in USDA Zone 4 (-30°F).

1. "Green Tower" Boxwood. Upright columnar screening tree/shrub growing to 9' tall by 1'-2' wide. 

2. "Green Mountain" Boxwood grows as a shrub, but can be grown into a pyramidal shrub/dwarf tree. It grows 5' tall by 3'-4' wide.

3. "Green Velvet" Boxwood grows as a shrub, only maturing to 3' tall by 2'-3' wide. 

4. "Winter Gem" Boxwood. Grows 4'-6' tall and 3'-5' wide at maturity without pruning (natural form). It has much larger leaves than other varieties and has that more tropical look with it's bigger bushier form.

2 of the Most Cold Hardy Southern Magnolia Varieties

Southern Magnolia's can simply not grow farther north than USDA Zone 6. But there are 2 varieties that can grow successfully into USDA Zone 5. The "Edith Bogue" variety and the "Bracken's Brown Beauty" variety. The "Edith Bogue" variety holds the title for the most cold hardy Southern Magnolia hardy to a whopping -20°F. The "Bracken's Brown Beauty" variety is hardy to -15°F to -10°F slightly less cold tolerant but should take zone 5 fine like the "Edith Bogue".

NatureMan

"Edith Bogue" Southern Magnolia Update 7/14/18

My "Edith Bogue" Southern Magnolia has grown over 2 feet since I planted it not even 2 months ago! I hope this successful growing season leads to good winter hardiness! ❄️🌿

Unique Herbs You can Grow!

Purple Basil: It has the same scent and use as regular Basil but has dark purple foliage making this not only good for cooking, but great for looks too!

Variegated Basil: It's scent not as strong as traditional Basil, but still has a great scent that is fabulous in cooking. Has a great look and "spices" up the landscape!

Purple Sage: It has the same scent and use as regular herbal Sage, this adds great color contrast to your garden!

Tricolor Sage: This variegatd Sage has the same scent and use as regular Sage. It adds great color and design to the landscape and can be mixed with Flowers or simply make your herbal garden more colorful!

Creeping Rosemary: This herb is an evergreen vine or groundcover hardy To 10°F. It has the same scent and use as regular Rosemary. Now you can have a vining herb in your garden or landscape!

How to Deal with Dead Bush with Suckers

It's happened to a lot of us. Bushes die due to colder than normal Winters, or maybe it was drought. Whatever it was sometimes it is not completely dead and the roots may send up new shoots. Don't waste money riping the so called "dead bush" out and buying a new one. Only do that if you are impatient for the new growth to fill in, or it really is dead and has no new growth.

1. Cut back all the dead branches.

2. Water the new suckers more often.

3 It will fill in during the rest of the summer.

Growing Corn 2018

I planted Corn back in early May after the last chance of frost I planted mostly Sweet Corn, but I planted some Indian Corn for Fall decor. You know the old saying you will have a good harvest if your corn is "Knee high by the fourth of July". Well, mine is "Waist high by the sixteenth of June"! I should excpect a fantastic harvest this year!

NatureMan

Air Plants

Air Plants are plants that don't form roots to survive. The only time they form roots is to hold on to tree branches in the wild, but don't use them for survival in receiveing moisture or nutrients. Instead they get moisture and carbon/dirt particles from the air. They do require misting every few days inside. I made a post earier on Spanish Moss which is a type of air plant, tvoand I go into further details on care. Here are my air plants!

NatureMan

Growing Spanish Moss in Indiana

You can find Spanish Moss everywhere littering the trees in Florida. Spanish Moss is a type of air plant. Meaning it does not form roots to stay alive. It uses mositure in the air, and takes dirt and carbon particles out of the air as nutrients. I was in Florida back in March for Spring Break, and got huge clumps off the trees. I have put some in hanging baskets when the last chance of frost was gone here in Indy. Spanish Moss is cold hardy to about 5°F - 10°F. But damage occurs ob the plant around 10°F. I keep it alive by misting it constantly. The clumps I am not using I keep in a box. Half the day I keep it open to the dry air, and the other half I mist it then flip it so the moisture stays and holes so it can breath. Depending on the humidity outside depends on how often you should mist it inside. In Indiana the humidity is usually high, so I mist it 3-4 times per week (give or take). In a desert or places with low humidity outside it will need to be misted everyday. Even if it is 100% humidity outside your home is always lacking humidity. So considar misting even if it's humid outside. It could be 60% humidity outside but only 20% in your house with no breeze to blow any moisture on the foliage. Mist more frequently in winter no matter the humidity, since the air is frozen the humidity is virtually nothing even if it's high. That means your house is as low as the desert if not lower. Winter inside is when Spanish Moss is most vulnerable. It may need misting everyday in the winter even if it's really humid, it's the cold that keeps your house extremely dry.

The first four pictures are of my Spanish Moss in my house, and the last picture when I picked it off the trees in Florida.

NatureMan

Needlecast Resistant Alternative to the Blue Spruce

"Paul's Select" Norway Spruce is a great alternative to the Blue Spruce, which is dying off due to Needlecast. This new Norway Spruce variety has blue needles just like the Blue Spruce. It is a smaller tree growing to 20 feet tall by about 5 feet wide. Much smaller than other Spruces, but grows up to 2 feet per year so you can get that screening/fencing fast, and can provide that good screening/fencing without getting too big. It is hardy to -40°F to -50°F, USDA Zones 2-8

NatureMan

 

White Fir (Abies Concolor) in Indianapolis

The White Fir is a popular Chirstmas Tree and naturally grows out west in the mountains. It has not been known to grow in this area with low elevation, high humidity, hot Summers, shorter Winters (than native Winters), and less cold. There are popular conifers planted everywhere in the landscape here such as Norway Spruce, Blue Spruce, Serbian Spruce, White Pine...
But the White Fir can grow here, it just hasn't caught on yet. In fact it can grow just as well here as many of the other popular conifers grown here. The only problem is that many people haven't thought about growing it or thought it can't grow here because it's native out to the west only in high elevated colder mountainous areas.

I spotted some for the first time in a while. I rarely ever see them, but when I was getting gas I noticed some planted. I remember seeing them being planted about a year ago. So they have survived half of a growing season last year, all lasy Winter, and are still thriving in the new growing season of 2018! White fir is hardy to USDA Zones 3-7. It is hardy to about -40°F (possibly colder). Zone 7 may push the limits of success of growing it, as it can not take zone 8 or warmer.

NatureMan