While we may be accustomed to seeing trees standing all by themselves in yards across neighborhoods, it’s actually better tree care to grow other plants and flowers around trees. But how many of us actually consider how to landscape trees when we create our yard design? Not many at all! Most people don’t even know […]
Temperatures are falling, colors are changing, holidays are passing, and winter is approaching. Before you hunker down and settle in for the season, you should consider how to keep safe trees. While nature has built in some organic winterizing processes, there are also steps you can take to winterize trees to protect them from pests […]
The major types of blueberries grown in the United States are lowbush (hybrids and cultivars of Vaccinium angustifolium); highbush (hybrids and cultivars of V. corymbosum),and rabbiteye (hybrids and cultivars of V. ashei). (Crosses between lowbush and highbush – called half-high – have recently been introduced as well.) Lowbush The lowbush blueberry is native to Canada […]
Looking to attract wildlife to your yard through your landscaping? Want to help restore natural habitats? If you’re a nature lover, then you’ll love finding beautiful landscape accents that also attract wildlife like bees, butterflies, and birds. Not only can carefully-selected flowering bushes offer food for bees and butterflies, but some shrubs also offer great […]
Choosing the right trees for your yard is important because it’s a long-term decision. Given the long lives of trees, you should make sure you understand the purpose you want your front yard trees to serve, as well as the details of the trees you choose. For example, you need to know the tree’s size, […]
There are more than 500 named pecan cultivars, but just a handful are widely planted. For the homeowner or small scale orchardist, the important differences between pecan cultivars include: pollination type; timing of flowering; size of the nut; shell thickness; tendency to bear in alternate years; age at first bearing; season of nut maturation; and […]
Your mother probably propagated her favorite flowers in a glass of water on the windowsill. That works fine for some plants, but there are many kinds that require more effort to propagate from cuttings. Some require MUCH more effort. Of course plants can be propagated from seed, but seeds often produce new plants that are […]
Pollination is the transfer of pollen grains from the male part of a blossom to the female part of a blossom. Fertilization occurs within the ovary when a sperm cell from a pollen grain unites with an egg to produce an embryo which then develops into a seed. After fertilization, the ovary that contains the […]
So, you have blueberry plants, but you don’t have blueberries. What’s up with that? Are your blueberry bushes in full sun? If not, you will be disappointed. Like most plants grown for food, blueberries do best in full sun (at least 6 hours). They can take some partial shade, but too much shade will decrease […]
A Tree’s roots serve two important functions: They anchor the tree in the soil so that its photosynthesizing parts (the leaves) are elevated and exposed to the sun; and they take up the water and minerals that the tree uses to make carbohydrates for food and proteins for everything else. (Roots also must absorb oxygen, […]
Thuja ‘Green Giant’ is a hybrid between the American native, western red cedar (Thuja plicata), and the Asian native, Japanese arborvitae (T. standishii). It was discovered in 1935 growing in a seedling bed in Denmark where they had been growing both parent species. Green Giant was introduced to the United States at the National Arboretum in 1965. Thuja ‘Green Giant’ […]
Plants that grow on other plants or objects solely for support are called epiphytes (or air plants). Epiphytes attach to trees, rocks, and other objects, but do not take energy, water, or nutrients from them. Instead, epiphytes produce their own energy by photosynthesis, and get their water and nutrients from the air, the rain, and […]