Replacing a tree
A main focal point of my yard has been a Young's weeping birch. It is about 20' high and almost 20' wide. It was planted in '83, fit the spot perfectly and is so pretty!
It is also dead :( Birch borers got to its little insides and girdled it under the bark, despite last year's desperate call to the nursery and a Merit soil treatment. This year only one branch has leaves.
I need to replace it and of course I won't plant the same thing. Any suggestions? Can't be bigger than this tree, should have lots of attractive features. Anybody know about a weeping crab-apple? I have heard of such a thing but never seen it.
Thanks guys for your ideas.
zone 6 gardening in the woods with 30,000 deer
zone 6 gardening in the woods with 30,000 deer
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(post #15402, reply #1 of 17)
If you want to replace it with something lovely but a lot less prone to disease, you might try a kousa dogwood instead. They have virtually no disease or pest problems, are roughly the same size as you mentioned, and have a lot of nice features. Lovely flowers in May/June, nice red berries after that, and then red to purple colors in the fall. The tree form is nice too.
(post #15402, reply #2 of 17)
I'm sure there are weeping crabs, but another tree you might check out is a weeping beech. I have seen pictures of some that are just gorgeous. I have a weeping Japanese flowering cherry that is in pride of place in my front yard that I love, but it has been there for about 10 years and is still only about 12 feet tall.
Edited 5/1/2009 9:51 pm ET by 1946
(post #15402, reply #3 of 17)
If you are truly gardening with 30,000 deer, you might not want to consider a crab. Deer tend to like'em. I have a beautiful weeping crab...Red Jade. Buds are pink, they open to white with a touch of pink on the reverse. They hold their 1/2" red fruit until spring, when the birds finally finish it up.
Maybe a Morus chapparal - weeping mulberry (sterile) would be a good option. I think they are resistant. I have also notice a "draping crab", Morning Princess to be fairly deer resistant.
Another tree you might consider is a pagoda dogwood - cornus alternifolia; although deer do nibble on dogwoods.
(post #15402, reply #4 of 17)
A problem with weeping mulberries is that you can't grow *anything* under them at all. It's an inky, lifeless area below. And growing things near them can be challenging since they cast a light swallowing shadow.
Jeana
Never try to baptize a cat.
(post #15402, reply #6 of 17)
Not necessarily so! They can easily be trimmed upso their canopy is however far from the ground as you like, I would say at least a foot, but I have seen them trimmed up as high as 3 or 4' and their canopies can be thinned to your taste. The male 'Chapparal' is sterile. AND they have quite a "WOW" factor.
(post #15402, reply #7 of 17)
They can be trimmed, but they continue to grow through the year and they look like they've had a "bowl" haircut. And aside from their very dense shade, they have root thirsty, extremely dense root systems.
When they're young, they can be charming. I wanted one desperately, so my parents got me one for my 8th grade graduation. I loved it! Within 10 years (when I no longer lived at home), I wished my parents would remove the monster. It overwhelmed the front of the house and truly, nothing would grow under it. My dad had always pruned it up (I hated that), but with maturity, you can't sink a shovel under one and even the most tenacious weed won't grow under it.
They have a great architectural look, but they're NOT for normal-sized yards or people who want to plant under or close to them. Eventually, they get huge.
Jeana
Never try to baptize a cat.
(post #15402, reply #5 of 17)
Hi Sarah,
Would you want to try a Kwanzan cherry? There is an old one in our yard from which DH has taken quite a few root cuttings which seem to take OK and which produce flowers in a few years.
Kwanzan cherries are hardy to zone 5. They don't get very tall but they do spread out some. I don't think their life span is all that long (perhaps 35 - 40 years) but they make the most beautiful display when they're in bloom.
Northern Virginia, Zone 7A.
Northern Virginia, Zone 7A.
(post #15402, reply #8 of 17)
Thank you guys for all the ideas. I think I'm after something pretty and kind-of see through, since there is a lilac on the far side that I am enjoying right now.
Re: deer, I really really wanted an apple tree, so I planted a macoun in the front yard. I had it inside a stupid looking little fence for 6 years to keep the deer out, and I pruned it from a whip to have branches that start at about 5' and go up, so that most of it is far beyond deer reach now. But finally the fence is gone, and this year for the first time it is blooming. Yay. I am still spraying it with deer spray, but when the fruit come, it will be in danger. I don't know if we'll ever get to eat apples, but at least the tree lives. So I'm willing to work for something the deer want, but it is a pain for sure.
zone 6 gardening in the woods with 30,000 deer
zone 6 gardening in the woods with 30,000 deer
(post #15402, reply #9 of 17)
For something "pretty and kind of see-through" you can't beat a tamarix. They are light and airy looking, have lovely pink bloom, and the deer totally ignore mine. You can grow them as small trees or large shrubs. I started mine as a tree, but a bad wind storm snapped the trunk so we just cut it off at the bottom and we now have a large fluffy bush, about 8 feet tall.
(post #15402, reply #11 of 17)
They're on the invasive species list. Have you had any experience with them seeding around?
(post #15402, reply #14 of 17)
I had no idea tamarisk might be considered invasive. Just where are they invasive? I have never seen one seedling anywhere. Things that are invasive in some areas are absolutely not in other areas. I was surprised to read on another posting that butterfly bushes are invasive some places. I got one surprise seedling and I was so excited to find that. We tend to have quite dry summers here and long, very long, winters so I think maybe we have less of a problem with some things that areas like the Pacific northwest might find very invasive. I have read that English ivy is very invasive and the farthest mine has traveled is up the side of my garden shed. Now barberry is very invasive here but it is one of the few things that grow rampantly in my little woodland.
(post #15402, reply #15 of 17)
I just checked the USDA db, and they list it as a noxious weed for Montana, NM, SD, Texas and Wyoming. So you're right; it must just be out west. And you're also right about barberry; Michigan has it listed as a noxious weed.
Edited 5/8/2009 10:10 pm ET by Catskill Deb
(post #15402, reply #16 of 17)
You're absolutely right, the climate definitely affects which plants are invasive where. There are exceptions, of course; dandelions are everywhere I think, and I don't know of a region where purple loosestrife doesn't invade wetland environments. In addition to the butterfly bush problem here, the English Ivy is a real menace. I was out with a neighbor gathering firewood in the Cascade foothills last Saturday and saw a large stand of it choking out some Alders in a location that is at least fifteen miles away from the nearest deliberate planting and a good seven from the nearest home. On the other hand, as I've mentioned before, Barberry is not a problem here at all, nor is Burning Bush (Euonymous alata), though I know it's a real problem in other parts of the country. As a landscape contractor who plants 100's of things every year, I try to play close attention to the invasive lists. The disturbing thing to note is that some things that weren't invasive for years are becoming so (butterfly bush and English Holly among them), so I sometimes wonder if what I'm safely planting now will become a pest a few years down the road. Quite a dilemma!
Marty
"The plants have been good to us." Lester Hawkins
Marty
"The plants have been good to us." Lester Hawkins
(post #15402, reply #12 of 17)
Thank you. I have never even heard of tamarix. I'll have to look it up.
zone 6 gardening in the woods with 30,000 deer
zone 6 gardening in the woods with 30,000 deer
(post #15402, reply #10 of 17)
Sarah -
there are three weeping flowering crabapples grown in Oregon that I know of:
'Weeping Canzam', 'Huber' and 'Louisa'
Marty
"The plants have been good to us." Lester Hawkins
Marty
"The plants have been good to us." Lester Hawkins
(post #15402, reply #13 of 17)
Do you know their disease resistance?
zone 6 gardening in the woods with 30,000 deer
zone 6 gardening in the woods with 30,000 deer
(post #15402, reply #17 of 17)
Sarah, sorry for the delay; I had to contact my supplier today to get that info. All three are "fair" for scab resistance and excellent for everything else.
Marty
"The plants have been good to us." Lester Hawkins
Marty
"The plants have been good to us." Lester Hawkins