Category Archives: Flowering trees

Flowering trees, garden design, trees

How to have a Sense of Place in your garden

Leave a comment

Recently I got to enjoy this beautiful October weather walking among the redwoods, mixed oak woodland and open fields watching hawks soar overhead and listening to migrating warblers in the trees.  I was not here in Santa Cruz county, however, but Pt. Reyes National Seashore-a similar but different environment. What struck me was how the gardens of the local residents reflect where they live.  There was a sense of place to the landscaping. 

Our gardens reflect where we live, too.  What can we learn from our surroundings that will help us in our own gardens?

Look to the horizon.  Check views from every possible angel. Borrow scenery if it’s attractive or screen eyesores and distract the eye from them.

Highlight existing features. Develop designs that retain and enhance elements on site like interesting rock formations, meadows, existing trees and native woodland plants.

Consider all aspects of your outdoor space. What are your favorite flower and plant foliage colors?  What patio materials do you like -flagstone, wood, gravel, pavers? What is your favorite season- spring flowering trees and bulbs or fall foliage and berries?  How many hours do you spend enjoying the garden-  sitting, reading, working, relaxing or entertaining?

Whatever landscape design elements you use in your garden, remember they can be broken into smaller parts to make them more manageable- paving this year, planting trees next year, then shrubs, perennials, garden art. Installing a garden is about the journey.  There is never a finishing point.

Important in any design is your choice of trees. More than any other living feature in your landscape, trees contribute to your sense of place. Imaging how different this area would look without the redwoods, spreading oak trees or tall ponderosa pines.

A tree that looks good and thrives in many types of gardens while requiring little summer water once established is the Strawberry tree or arbutus. A relative of the madrone, this evergreen tree is interesting year round. In the fall and winter, clusters of small white or pink, urn-shaped flowers hang from rich, reddish-brown branches with shedding bark. Fruit resembling strawberries ripen in the fall and attract birds. The handsome glossy green leaves emerge from red stems and contrast nicely with the bark, flowers and berriies. Growing to about 25 ft tall they accept full sun or part shade. What’s not to love about a tree with ornamental bark, dainty flowers, decorative edible fruit and handsome foliage?

Another tree to dress your garden for fall is Prairifire flowering crabapple. Birds love the berries and the 1/2 inch fruit remains on the tree for a long time after leaves drop providing food well into winter.  Many of the popular crabapple varieties of the past were highly prone to fungal diseases but this one is among the new disease- resistant varieties now available. Prairifire bloom later than most crabapples with long lasting bright red flowers. Even the red leaves lend color to the garden when they emerge in the spring. If your looking for a small 20 foot ornamental tree with spring flowers and fall berries, this is a good choice for your garden.

Let your landscape express a sense of place to your garden.

Flowering trees

Fast Growing Trees for Shade

Leave a comment

Midsummer heat can be brutal. Without shade from trees, the sun can turn a garden from an oasis into a spot not fit for man or beast.  If you need to plant a tree that grows really fast and will provide shade quickly consider one of the following. They’ll sprout 2-4 feet in a single year with good care.

Tropical looking trees not only provide shade but have a look of coolness about them. Their large leaves ripple in the slightest breeze and beg you to enjoy an icy beverage below their canopy. Catalpa’s are among the few hardy deciduous trees that can complete in flower and leaf with subtropical species. Purple Catalpa has all the bells and whistles. Their huge heart-shaped leaves are 10-12 inches long. Young leaves emerge deep blackish-purple, then turn purple-toned green in summer. Large upright clusters of trumpet-shaped 2" wide pure white flowers are lightly speckled with yellow and purple and bloom in late spring and summer. This tree grows 30-40 feet in sun or light shade and needs moderate water.

What do you get when you cross a catalpa with a chilopsis tree from the desert? You get a  Chitalpa – a rapid growing 20-30 ft. tree that combines toughness with beauty. From late spring through fall, clusters of frilly, trumpet-shaped pink or white flowers appear. Chitalpa’s like full sun and need only little to moderate water.

If you want a good lawn tree that casts light shade, I have two suggestions:  Silk Tree and Golden Honey locust. Albizia – aka Silk tree- aka Mimosa grows fast to 40 ft. tall with a wide canopy. Often it is kept pruned to 15 or 20 ft so it’s pretty powder pink flowers that appear in summer can be enjoyed up close. Birds are also attracted to the flower clusters. Silk trees are especially beautiful when viewed fro an upper deck or window.

Golden Honey locust has beautiful fern-like golden-yellow new foliage which is showy against the deep green of the more mature leaves. Foliage casts filtered shade allowing growth of lawn or other plants beneath its canopy. Fast growing to 35-70 ft. This variety has few or o seed pods and is thornless.

California pepper trees are beautiful in the right spot with gnarled trunks and light, graceful branchlets. Give them room to spread away from paving and other plants. This is a great tree to shade a play area or gravel patio. Fast growth to 25-40 ft. This tree requires little to moderate water.
 
Other fast growing trees are Raywood ash, Evergreen ash, Purple Robe locust and Chinese evergreen elm.

Remember, most trees grow fast when young, then slow down as they mature. Encourage this growth spurt with deep watering and regular fertilizing.

California Native Plants, fall foliage, flowering shrubs, Flowering trees, garden design, perennials

Pacific Dogwood & Plants with Seasonal Interest

Leave a comment

Driving east to Yosemite recently, I was reminded of how diverse botanically and geologically is the state of California.  Leaving the redwood forest here, I passed tawny grasslands and oak studded foothills to a mixed evergreen forest up in the Sierras. Many of the same plants grow here- buckeye, solomon seal and western azalea. I was hoping the native Pacific dogwood would still be blooming and was not disappointed. Huge white flowers, resembling butterflies, covered these small trees. I last saw them a couple of years ago when they wore bright red fall foliage. This got me thinking. What other plant are interesting in more than one season?

    

 

                            Here is a table of trees and shrubs to add to your garden

name flowers? fruit berries? Fall color? interesting bark?
Dogwood yes yes yes yes
Golden Raintree yes yes yes yes
Maple no no yes yes
Crape Myrtle no no yes yes
Redbud yes no yes yes
Fringe tree yes no yes yes
Katsura yes no yes yes
Crabapple yes yes no no
Persimmon no yes yes yes
Nandina yes yes yes no
Japanese barberry no yes yes no
Smoke bush no yes no yes
Blueberry yes yes yes no

Other plants that make a bold statement in the garden are big-leaved perennials. If one of your garden beds or borders need something to quickly enliven the scene, look to giant leaves to give contrast. Often a planting will have too many similar flower or leaf sizes and end up looking fussy, overly detailed and chaotic. That’s when large architectural plants come to the rescue.

Ligularia dentata form 3 ft. clumps in partial shade. From midsummer to early fall, 3-5 ft. stems bear 4" wide orange-yellow daisy-like flowers. Their leaves are the most striking feature. Othello has deep purplish green, kidney-shaped leaves almost a foot across while Desdemona has leaves with purple undersides and green upper surfaces. Ligularia clumps can remain undisturbed for years and stay lush and full from springtime through frost.

For borders in the sun, cannas add drama. They stand bright and tall with huge leaves on 4-6 ft. stems. Some like Pretoria and Tropicana have striped leaves and others have bronze leaves like Wyoming and Sunburst Pink. Flowers range from orange, red, pink, yellow, cream and bicolor. Canna leaves are useful in flower arrangements but the flowers themselves do not keep well. In the garden border, canna foliage, backlit by sunshine, positively glows.

Red bananas are grown for the impact of their beautiful leaves which range in color from deep claret brown to re-purple to green. Plant them in full to part sun in an area protected from the wind to avoid shredded leaves. Ornamental bananas grow fast to 15-20 ft and make a bold tropical accent in any garden.