Want to get that tropical look in your yard? Learn how to plant a palm tree. Best Time to Plant Palm Trees Mature palm trees with well-developed trunks can be dug and transplanted from the field. Young palms cannot. The roots of young palm trees are not sufficiently developed, so they are typically planted from […]
If you’ve seen those crape myrtles with ugly knuckle-like stubs, butchered by overzealous improper pruning, you know what we mean by “crape murder.” Not only does this practice of topping trees make the tree look horrible, it makes it weaker and leads to problems down the road. Learn how to prune a crape myrtle tree in […]
Can you grow a fig tree indoors? The short answer is no. Here’s why you wouldn’t want to: The edible fig (Ficus carica) needs full sun in the summer, which is almost impossible to get indoors. In autumn, the deciduous fig tree loses its leaves and goes into dormancy for the winter, when it doesn’t […]
Autumn leaf color is the result of varying levels of chlorophyll residue mixed with other pigments. There are a few reasons why your maple tree leaves aren’t turning red in the fall. What happens to maple tree leaves in fall? A tree’s leaves are green throughout the spring and summer because of chlorophyll, which is […]
The health benefits of indoor plants in the bedroom have been widely studied. Research has shown that bedroom plants that help you sleep can increase your productivity, improve your mood, and reduce pain and stress. Do plants give off oxygen? During daylight, indoor plants increase the level of oxygen in the room, which is a […]
Olive trees have been in cultivation for more than 6000 years. They do best in Mediterranean type climates, where summers are long, hot, and have dry air, and winters are cool and moist. Temperature-wise, olives are adapted to USDA zones 8 and above, and can die when temperatures get much below 15°F. So, can olive […]
Planting trees in the fall offers many advantages over planting trees in the spring. To name a few: “Transpiration is low and root generation potential is high. The temperatures are typically moderate to cool, and are easier on the plants so there is less chance for the trees to be stressed by extreme heat. The […]
Is your plum tree not producing fruit? Or are you wondering why there are no plums on your tree? You can usually tell if your plum tree will yield ripened plums by examining the flowers immediately after the petals fall off. The ovary (which will become the fruit) is located at the base where the […]
Have you ever experienced noise pollution? Whether you live close to a street or are in a closely-built neighborhood, you may have some unwelcome noise that you’d like to remedy. Below is a list of the best trees to block sound and an explanation on how trees reduce noise pollution. Plants are the perfect antidote […]
So, your pecan trees are coming along nicely, but now you notice these little blister-like bumps on many of the leaves. What’s up with that? The bumps on pecan tree leaves are actually galls caused by the leaf’s response to small insects called pecan phylloxeras (Fill-OX-er-ahs). These are true bugs (order Hemiptera), an aphid like […]
Pollarding is a type of over-pruning that entails lopping off the branches of a tree back to the primary “scaffold” branches, leaving just short stumps. The stumps then re-sprout, each with many thin vigorous shoots, producing an upright clump that forms a dense ball of foliage and flowers atop the trunk. A pollarded tree can […]
Sometimes prevailing winds can be more than just a nuisance. We all know strong winds, dust, and blowing sand can be damaging to structures and equipment, but constant winds, even of moderate intensity, can hurt ornamental plants, too. This is where windbreak trees come in to play. This is because plants lose more water through […]