Botany Buddy

In the last three weeks I have been visited by about thirty friends from distant places dating back over thirty years.   Some of them I don’t even remember not knowing and even though I hadn’t seen some in five to ten years it seemed as though a single day had not passed.  Most have married or should have been allowed to, and some we here to see one get married.  About the only thing that was different was some of us were a little softer physically and mentally.  However none of us were any softer in our passions.  When you get a group of artists, musicians, chefs, designers, and gardeners together you know you are in for aesthetic overload.  I have to thank Michael and Anita for choosing Asheville as the location for their special day.  There couldn’t have been anyplace more appropriate for such a reunion.

It was definitely a spiritual time and this in particular is a spiritual time of year for me.  Lately I have been completely enthralled in my writing for the update, but I have also been rediscovering my camera.  Two days a week I have been spending in the field capturing what has probably been the best blooming season I have ever encountered.  This has allowed me to capture from bud to bloom to leaf and to seed hundreds of varieties of plants.  In the process it has reconnected me to the people who introduced me to some of the plants, and the people I introduced the plants to.  This has been a true rediscovery of myself and I can never thank enough the people that have allowed this happen, just like I can never thank enough the people who first made these introductions to me.  There is an old saying that it is bad luck to thank someone for giving you a plant, you just give them one back and give one to someone else.  Gardening is without a doubt about giving and bringing people together rather than thanking them and going on your way.  Things and people always seem to keep coming around like the seasons in a garden.

This spring has also allowed me to reconnect with people I have never met.  In my excursions  I have visited private and public gardens as well as nature herself.  I have even just cruised neighborhoods scoping out that one missing specimen.  Twenty years ago this is how I first honed my craft with mentors and friends like Duane Hoover of the Kaufmann Gardens and so many others.  However no one made me better understand my craft better than those I studied that came before me.  Tommy Church, George Kessler, Frank Lloyd Wright and John Brookes are some of my favorites, but nothing influenced me more than the biography of Fredrick Law Olmsted.  I had read books about his work, but this was the first one that was really about him.  It is no garden book.  It reads more like a Western novel about someone who eventually found his was in a garden, and he was always the first to admit that he was not a Landscape Architect, just a lover of the arts and the land.  As a product of the liberal arts myself, I always related to him the most.

This spring I have been spending two days a week scouring the grounds of The Biltmore Estate, camera in hand and brain in the clouds.  Like the kid I was learning my craft in the parks of Kessler, and finding my way in the gardens I was creating, it is like Olmsted and I are connecting again after all these years and no time has passed.  Along the way I continue to meet new people as they find me crawling out from under a plant, trying to get that perfect picture of the bark.  Every once in awhile when I look beyond the picturesque gardens and soak in the pastoral, I realize Olmsted put that there too and I continue to meet new plants.  There is no one more responsible for the introduction of some the worst invasive species to these mountains than Mr. Olmsted, but I have not doubt he loved the land as much as I do.

I am sure that if he knew then what we know now, he would have moved from defining sustainability as related to money, to creating things that are sustainable without it.  He saw the plants as a palet to fulfill the visions of his designs, strong in Architecture, but grounded in the patterns of nature.  They were like the books on a shelf or the art on a wall and he brought a greater appreciation of them to all of us.  He saw sustainability as a plan to care for the land buy using it to generate the money to pay for the art.  I am sure if he were alive today, he would see that the plants need to take care of the land so we don’t have to plunder it to pay for the gardens we create.  In the end, he made us more aware.  He just wasn’t aware of the consequences of his actions, but without them we would not have come to the awareness we have today.

As I near submission of the next update, I will not jinx things and thank Mr. Olmsted, Oregon State University or the University of Arizona, but I will be sure and give them some plants back.  Most importantly, I’ll be sure and share them with others, because plants and people definitely go together.  In the end, without growing together we will never learn together.

It’s an age old question that can apply to many things.  Names are something we take for granted, but in reality they are the fundamental basis of all communications.  When we think of names we think of what we call one another, our pets, our children and our places.  In reality though ever word in every language is in essence a name.  Even a verb is the name for an action that takes many words to explain, that is why they all have definitions.  Imagine trying to give someone directions without a name for the action of “turn”.  Most importantly though, we use names to explain relations.  First names, last names, family trees, nationalities, and the names for the relations between these things are what derive and keep order in our world.  Even further they are the signposts to how we navigate and determine our possible impact on and place in the world. Names of course vary among languages and regions.   Different words (names) are used to describe the same thing in different languages and locations.  In the end, regardless of differences in language, the objects and actions being described by their name can be recognized for what they are and the variations in language can be translated.

The scenario where this doesn’t work is in living beings.  Verbs can vary in how they are performed, but that can be described with adverbs.  Physical objects like rocks or furniture can vary in visible traits or molecular makeup, but that variations are qualified with adjectives to help further describe the object.  Even these can easily be recognized visually and translated between languages and cultures because the “name” is essentially the same.

Where absolute accuracy is essential and qualifying additives cannot do justice to a name is when it comes to living beings.  When it comes to people, accuracy doesn’t seem to be such a problem because we are all unique and have a free will.  We will always act individually even within a community and the genetic heritage of our name has limited capabilities in determining or predicting how we will act.  People can even share the same names, but be easily qualified with adjectives or descriptors because every human is distinct.  With people and even domesticated animals, the genetic code may vary slightly within our species, but our wills, personalities, relationships and souls make us all easily discernible from one another.

With other less discernible species such as grasses, lichens, trees, fish, birds and non-domesticated animals the species may be discernible as a whole but the identity of individuals within the species is much less clear.  More importantly the collective impact or necessity of the species has an even greater effect on the world and nature as a whole.  Names of these species describe a collective whose members act on a collective instinct (or possibly conscience) instead of individual free wills.  In the end these names represents more than the one.  They give insight and understanding into the collective nature and cultural background of the species as a whole.

To answer the the title question:  Everything about and everything something and what it impacts is in a name.  A good name captures both the essence and esse of what it describes.  It captures the traits of what makes the thing being described unique (essence) as well as the intrinsic presence that makes it identifiable for what it is (esse).   Where meaning gets lost is when variation occurs in the naming itself rather than the translation of the names.  In the plant world people work in both common and botanical names.  The botanical name is a Latin based name that is used not only to identify the plant, but also gives insight into the breeding and heritage that led to it’s creation.  It is is written in Latin to provide a universal language whose meaning will not be lost in translation world-wide.  This allows us to see what the species is, where it has come from genetically, and what it might do in nature or the situation we put it in.

Common names are regional and based on local peoples’ experiences with the plant rather than the culture and cultivation of the plant itself.  Common names are extremely descriptive, but subjective and should never be used when striving for accuracy of any kind. There is much debate about what people like to use, and whether the botanical name is important if you are not a professional horticulturist or botanist.  However, you really can’t know the plant well enough to responsibly plant in nature or a landscape without the information provided by an accurate botanical name.  Common names may tell what a plant has done, but cannot give sure insight of what it is capable of doing.  Accurate and exact botanical naming of all species (not just plants) is crucial the the protection of nature itself as well as understanding it.  Nothing has been more influential to the spread of invasive species and disease than improper naming that occurs in the commercialization of plants and the mis-education that improper naming provides.

Over the last fifteen years, with the rise of genetic testing, efforts have been underway world-wide to cleanup this mess, and bring order to this problem. The Integrated Taxonomic Information System is one of the efforts that has been working across borders and oceans to make this happen.  The ITIS is a collaborative effort of governments and  academic systems, that crosses borders and oceans, but is greatly limited by the inertia and limited funding of the respective institutions.  There are others that specialized even more into areas such as fungi, cacti, wattles, and regional ecosystems.  These groups have a passion and sense of urgency but don’t have cooperative and interconnected systems to make some of this possible.  This problem isn’t limited to the plant kingdom, it is pervasive in the animal kingdom as well, and both do relate to one another.

Most of the early misnaming has been created by the limitation of communications.  Most botanical naming was done long before the Internet was ever created and the commerce of species became a worldwide phenomenon long before there was a world-wide-web.  As a result duplicate species are being sold and shipped with different names throughout the world.  Even more damaging, multiple species are being distributed throughout the world with the same name, and this is where the greatest danger lyes.  People are shipping and using plants all over the world for uses they are not suited for or with potential impacts that they are totally unaware of.   What is in the name they are buying or selling is actually of another name.  The greatest responsibility  lyes in the breeders and distributors of these species to accurately identify what they are selling, and to accurately identify what they are breeding them from.  Unfortunately, until the system is completely cleaned up and connected this cannot be done.

Commercialization has not only led to the spread of misnamed species, but people are breeding new species and varieties from already misnamed species at rates ten times faster than the original species were discovered.  When we started Botany Buddy it was created to help communicate and educate between the “classes” (for lack of a better name) of gardeners.   The tools we are creating are meant to bring the same language to educators, botanists, growers, purveyors and gardeners in a way that is easily accessed and understood by all.  Our original iPhone app was created to educate, communicate, and identify information to the user and for the users to be able to communicate it to each other.  In the end it has communicated just as much to us.  With users in over twenty counties and on every continent we have communicated with botanists all over the world to help us design our new database and systems.

Just this week we finished proofing the final taxonomic database for the upcoming web based app.  With about 60,000 species ACCURATELY represented we can now add data, photos, and even more species to the database and know that we can truly represent the species’ family heritage.  When we started this our intent was to add a thousand or so trees at a time, and just build on the library we had in the original app every so often.  In the end we realized we needed to add the ones we have now into nature’s library and to create our own Dewey Decimal System to manage it the information in it.  As a result our final product will be a tool that has literally “thousands times” more information than our initial release and will be formatted to grow at any given moment and with more accuracy than any other resource I have found in existence.  This capability would be totally impossible if it were not for a name.

Personally I like to be a little incognito in my gardening circles.  Those who “know” me know not just my name, but my botanical name as well.  I would venture to say those who read this blog regularly are probably getting to know me on that level to some extent.  The other day I was at garden center and watched someone selling an ornamental grass.  This person did not know my botanical name.   The customer asked if the plant would spread by seed.  The sales person said, “No this is Kirk Alexander Maiden Grass and is a hybrid that was cultivated by a local designer years ago.”  I pointed across the highway to about a 1/4 mile long stretch of maiden grass growing in a ditch, and said, “That may be Kirk Alexander in the pot, but those are his parents over there and they didn’t arrive until after Kirk did.”  Needless to say they looked at me like I was nuts, but that is what is in a name. If we know where we come from we know where we might go.

People are all hybrids and we may be determined not to become our parents, but it in the end both the best and the worst of them tends to come out in us.  Obviously I get my verbosity from my father.  He always used to say “the mind cannot absorb more than the seat can endure”, so I will wrap this up.  This trait about me you could definitely predict if I had a botanical name.  Our naming task has taken far longer, more mental energy, and more patience and determination than almost anything I have ever done.  It is and has to be the foundation of everything we do going forward to really be a great reference.  I like superlatives, and this may be the most important and responsible work I have done in the last thirty years and hope will help the world for hundreds of years to come.  That is what is in a name.

It’s that time of year again, and if you have read me before, I have already chimed in on my support for your local garden center when you buy your Christmas tree.  I always like to support my local businesses, and this is one year where they could really use your help.  Where I live, this is usually a pretty “green” option as well since we are in the heart of Frazier Fir county.   The trees in our local nurseries usually come from less than an hour away.  However,  some people want to make the “greenest” decision when it comes to this ritual, and cannot imagine that  “Sustainability” could require cutting down a living tree.  Since being sustainable is contingent on those who have to do the sustaining, I thought I would put together this little guide to help you choose the best and “greenest” tree for you.

THE WORST:  Artificial Trees. These are without a doubt the most damaging to the environment.  I know that common thinking would be that not cutting down a tree would be the greenest option.  However, this is without a doubt the worst.  Artificial trees are loaded with PVC and toxic fire retardants.  Most are made in countries with little regard to water pollution and the manufacturing plants themselves do more to damage the environment that the toxins used to make the tree.  Even worse is the shipping.  Most of these trees are shipped half way around the world before they ever make it to the states. Then they are shuffled from state to state and warehouse to warehouse before they ever make it to your door.  Besides the “green” aspects of this, when it comes to sustainability you are lucky if five cents on the dollar actually makes it into the local economy.

THE ALMOST AS BAD:  Cut Trees From Box Stores. This year’s tomato blight should tell us a little about this.  In their desire to  get the cheapest possible tree to sell these companies will not hesitate one second to ship a Frazier Fir from coast to coast to save a penny.  Secondly, as evidenced by the tomato blight they will have little regard to shipping exotic invasive species such as Woolly Adelgid with them.  Since Christmas trees are “harvested” they have little regulations regarding interstate shipping of diseased plants, and with the condensed harvest season their is no way such regulations could be successfully enforced.  On the sustainability side, once again, this does little for you local economy unless you happen to live in Bentonville, Arkansas.

GETTING GREENER:  Cut Trees From A Local Garden Center. Obviously I am a little partial to this one for convenience and support of the industry, and if grown locally these trees can be extremely green.  However, many of these will often be dyed, and garden centers like to get all crafty and carry “Boutique Trees”  That tend to come from different parts of the country.  My favorite tree is actually a Noble Fir, but since moving to Frazier country I have given that option up to be green.   As for sustainability, these trees are usually bought from coops or regionally which cuts down on shipping, and puts more money back into the local economy.

YOU WOULD THINK THIS GREENER:  The Living Tree. Growing in popularity has been has been the living tree that is brought inside for a short period of time and then taken out to be planted immediately after the holiday.  Sounds “green” to me.  However, the amount of labor and chemicals that go into growing a live tree for retail sale is far greater than what it takes to grow a cut tree.  The water to keep them alive while out of the ground must be figured in.  The shipping of the soil means they can only get a fraction of the trees on the truck, and the chances of them actually surviving this torture is about 30 percent.  Very few places handle evergreens properly at this time of year, and even fewer homeowners will, even if they have the best of intentions.  Add to all of that the terrible timing of trying to plant in frozen soil and getting it backfilled correctly, this just rarely turns out as intended.

GREENER AND CAUSAL:  Local Roadside Stands for Charity. Lately it seems like the local roadside stands have been taken over by local charities, and to save money these are almost always stocked locally or regionally.  Grant it these are typically lower grade trees and they are never as pretty as the prime stock that goes to your local garden center, but if this is the season of giving this is a good way to go.  You are less likely to have artificial dyes, the shipping should be limited, and you are giving the proceeds straight back to your community.  These are also usually bought from the same folks that are supplying the box stores without the damage to the environment caused by the shipping, and since these are second grade trees you are saving them from a burn pile.

THE GREENEST COMMERCIAL OPTION:  The Local Tree Farm. Going to a local tree farm, picking out the perfect specimen, drinking some cocoa, and strapping it to your car for the sentimental journey home is without a doubt the “greenest” and most sustainable commercial option.  The shipping is limited to a drive you would make anyway.  Cut your own growers tend to use far less chemicals, and machinery.  You don’t have all the over the road trucking, and every dollar goes right to the person that grew the tree.  You also know that they are going to plant another tree right in its place because they are dependent upon it for the continued revenue.  These growers are also going to practice selective harvesting since you are choosing the tree.  They wont be clear cutting field and plowing mountain tops to keep up with the box store demand.

THE GREENEST OPTION:  Cut Down an Invasive Species: There are many parts of the country were cedars, certain varieties of spruce and pines are actually invasive species and need to be removed.  If you happen to know someone with some land that will let you cut one down, take them up on it.  You know they haven’t been sprayed or pruned and what is a nuisance to them can create a great memory for you.  At the same time you will be doing something good for the environment without taking anything from it.  This option also happens to be the cheapest.

What is the “greenest” may not be the best for you.  Allergies may prevent you from having a cut or living tree at all, and your travel, schedule, or specific traditions and needs may dictate less green options.  The important part is that you choose your tree thoughtfully because it will be creating memories in the days ahead for many years to come.  Hopefully this list will help you make the “greenest” decision you can and bring even more meaning to your holidays.

“There are places I remember all my life though some have changed, some forever not for better.  Some have gone, and some remain.  All these places have their moments with lovers and friends I still can recall.  Some are dead and some are living, in my life I’ve loved them all.” – The Beatles.

We all have those places, people and moments that will be with us forever.  The memories keep coming back like the chorus in our favorite songs or the the threads interwoven in our favorite fabric.  The same is true in nature and our favorite landscapes and places.  There is something in their presence that keeps coming back no matter how much they change or even if they are gone to remind us of the pure innocence yet wildness that takes us away in their midst.  When it comes to the plants and animals in those places I have loved them all, but there is one tree that all my life has emerged, returned and in some cases is gone, yet in my life I’ve loved it more.

The Beech is a magical tree for me.  As a small child growing up in a small college town, I lived next to one of the greatest gardeners the town had ever known.  I was about six years old and he was in his sixties, and in his yard was the only Beech in town.  He had planted that tree from a small mail order twig some forty years earlier.  It’s branches were rarely touched with a pair of pruners and draped all the way to the ground.  When he first took me inside of the canopy to show me the glory of the bark, it was like entering some hallowed Cathedral and once inside that seemingly old man turned into every bit of the six year old I was.  Like so many other people and places they are both gone from my life now, forever if not for better.  Yet I am sure that tree still remains, continues to provide magic to someone and sparks fires in the hearts of gardeners.

Like so many people that have come and gone from our lives, Beeches keep coming into mine.  When I first started learning the basics of design and a vast knowledge of plants under the tutilage of my first mentor (now the director of the Kauffman Memorial Gardens), one of our favorite journeys was to a giant Purple Beech.  It resided in the garden of an old science library with some of Cupernicus’ original handwritten journals and the toys he created to prove his theories.  That Beech’s bark still brought out the six year old in me.  When I first had my calling and knew for the first time I had to go into design, I was sitting under an American Beech originally planted by George Kessler as I was overcome by one his greatest designs.  From the comfort and protection of that Beech I was able to see how he had physically and emotionally moved me through the landscape and how I could someday do the same for others.  When I came to Asheville to buy a new home to settle, as we entered the Smokies from Tennessee, the golden leaves of juvenile trees in winter lit up the under story of the mountains.  They led the way like gold coins sparkling in the forest all the way through the gorge.

Now as I sit on the side of my mountain, many of those places and Beeches are gone forever, if not for better.  But for having known them I am a better person, and I have loved them all.  Just as is true for having known the people who introduced them to me along the way.  Now I am surrounded by Beeches, and the people and places I love are the fabric of my life.  Sometimes I take them for granted and need The Beatles to remind me they won’t be there forever.  As I built Botany Buddy this summer, when I needed to get away I would retreat through the grove of Beeches outside my back door to journey to the creek and escape.  Yet somehow, I managed to forget to include them in the original library.  For that I apologize to everyone, but especially to the Beeches.  Sometimes we just need our favorite songs to remind us of the love that surrounds us here and now because it might not be there forever.

“But of all these friends and lovers there is no one compares with you, and these memories lose their meaning when I think of love as something new.  Though I know I’ll never lose affection for people and things that went before.  I know I’ll often stop and think about them.  In my life, I love you more.” - In My Life – The Beatles

What happens when you combine politics, various county governments, Academe and community organizing?  Usually not much.  Having been been raised in Academe and involved in plenty of politics, when I first heard of a BYGL I definitely had my preconceived notions.  In fact the first image that came to my mind was the Spoofhound.  That was the name of my high school mascot. Rumor had it in the early days our football team was so inept at coming together and working as a team that the coach said they all looked like a bunch of  Spoofhounds.  The name has stuck as long as anyone can remember.  Of course when the teams are good everyone tries to change their name to “The Hounds”.  However being a dog lover I have always been fond of the name Spoofhound.  I couldn’t have been more proud of that name when they recently gained national notoriety for an act of selflessness that became a network and Internet sensation and showed how greatness can be reached when unlikely partners come together to do something good. (story)

When I first heard of  ”The Bygles” (at least that is what I call them), I have to admit I imagined somewhat of a Spoofhound effort in the purest sense of the name.  After all how could so many competing entities possibly come together to beat the odds for the benefit of everyone.  Anyone who has worked in horticulture or been a gardener knows that when you are working one on one with an extension agent it can be a wonderful experience.  However, if you knew what it requires to allow that to happen you would be surprised you had the chance to meet with an agent at all.  Typically University Extension Services are are funded by a combination of federal, state, and local or county funds.  Most are also usually torn between a university system and local governments.  This makes it really easy for someone be turned into a research assistant or someone who has to do the biddings of a politician trying to seek reelection.  Yet somehow through personal care and a love of their jobs by individual agents those of us on the receiving end are rarely aware of this paradox.  These agents are friends, educators, and ambassadors between the farmer in the field or the gardener in their yard and many different figments in ivory tours that hold the fate their existence in a very fragile web of funding and interests.

Somehow in the story of  ”The Bygles” all of these odds are overcome to create an effort more worthy of the name Superdog than a Spoofhound.  BYGL is a statewide newsletter put out weekly through the growing season by The Ohio State University Extension Service.  This seems like no big deal.  All of our local agents put out at least monthly newsletters, or at least most do.  However this one is different.  Every week during the growing season agents from every county in the state come together via conference call to discuss not only what is happening in their districts, but how diseases, insects, and trends are acting across the entire state and their region of the country as a whole.

For one day every week these people bring all of their local perspectives but put aside their local agendas to see how they can address these problems as a state and on a statewide level.  After the meeting everything is compiled into one document and not only faxed out to all of their various members and users, but also put together online where the report can be accessed.  Not only can the report be accessed, but through the effort of some dedicated agents and university staff, wonderful photos are taken and information is gathered to tell the story as it needs to be addressed today and not just recycled from some old files.  Not only that, they reach outside of their own circle to other agencies and resources, and all the appropriate links and references are included so people can quickly find what they need.  As a result they are able to address problems and needs for the entire state as an ecosystem rather than one county at a time, and over come all the bureaucratic odds.

As gardeners our biggest challenge is learning the ecosystems we work in and learning how to help the plants and animals in them to work together for the good of the entire garden.  Gardening can be challenging, but working across all the various bureaucratic boundaries, and hierarchies to pull this off has to be harder.  One of  ”The Bygles” likes to say “Information is not Education”  As someone with a philosophy degree, I have to agree.  Having managed lands in many states and across state and county lines, I have become familiar with many extension services and their resources.  They are loaded with information and are extremely valuable resources, but BYGL is definitely designed for education, not just to disperse information.

The last BYGL was just published for the season until next spring, but I highly recommend you check this site out.  I would be proud to call this dog a Spoofhound in the greatest sense.  *Note: when you go to this page the links to older newsletters are at the bottom.  The links at the top are under construction as they are archiving this years content.

Whenever I start talking about landscaping with nature people start to get all squeamish and think “Oh no…another weedy looking woodland garden.  Don’t get me wrong, I love a good woodland garden.  Real ones hardly even require planting.  What I am talking about is using nature as your guide in design.  I have been designing landscapes for over 20 years now, and the last five I have been blessed to do most of my work in the nature of the Southern Appalachians.  However, before that I spent fifteen years designing several hundred gardens in the heart of the city and the heat and cold of the Midwest.  Even in the most unnatural of places I learned that the more you emulate nature, the more beautiful things will be and the easier they will be to take care of.  After all, nature is beautiful and it does a good job of taking care of itself if we don’t screw it up.

There are some key things that nature does itself that when you look at the greatest of landscapes you will always find.  I could never squeeze everything into one post, but there are some key things that if approached from the outset will make the rest fall in place.  If we take nature’s lead on how it designs and plants its gardens we are bound to succeed and it is bound to be beautiful.  What I will explore are the main aspects of landscapes, how nature creates them and how we can emulate them.

The first thing that nature lays out in a landscape is the flow.  To understand this we have to understand that in nature and in the landscape it is the water that determines flow.  Where the water goes in nature so does the wildlife.  The migratory patterns of the birds and the animals are all tied to the water and their need to get to it.  In the garden it is people that flow, as well as the birds and animals that visit…including our dogs.  I like to make my paths and walking areas follow the drainage in the garden.  In high traffic areas I will make stone paths or place stepping stones inter-planted with “steppable” plants or ground covers.  In open areas, if I have grass at all, I will take water across it as well.  As water creates the valleys and flat areas in nature, doing this in the garden serves the aesthetic need of making the garden look like it was meant to be there.

As for the animals in the landscape people tend to take the easiest possible path, and so does water.  From a practical standpoint, the water won’t washout your beds or puddle and breed mosquitoes.  It will create moisture along the paths were smaller plants that require more water go, and it will dry out other areas for evergreens and shrubs that are more sensitive to water.  Animal migration can also create flow in nature and the garden.  The two most prominent animals in your landscape are dogs and mailmen.  Dogs are like the deer and other animals in the landscape that create migration paths that don’t follow the water.  If  I have a dog in a landscape, I will always leave a little maintenance path behind shrubs along a fence.  This allows them to patrol their landscape and creates airflow behind the shrubs so they don’t die out on one side.  With a privacy fence I also like to leave a small strip of lattice along the bottom to let them see out and increase air flow.  As for mailmen, I can’t remember the last time I did an urban landscape that didn’t have a path for them to go door to door.  Not only does it keep them from trampling the plants, but it gives an excuse to pull down the height of a house with the plantings without adding so many plants it looks unnatural.

Nature has two main types of scenery that you encounter, and so does any good landscape.  Olmstead called these the pastoral and the picturesque.  The pastoral are the wide open sceneries that allow you to get lost in the sunset and your mind to escape.  It brings out the grandness of the landscape.  In urban setting everything is usually boxed in and strictly defined by property lines.  These pastoral scenes don’t often occur naturally so you have to lead the eye to them.  The easiest way to do this is use tall things closer to your gathering areas to screen the neighbors beside you and taper down your heights to the corner where you can see the furthest.  Always make sure that what is in that corner is shorter than what is just behind it outside of your yard and this will lift your eye back up and create that escape.  The tapering of heights to the furthest point will also create a sense of perspective making your space seem larger than it is.

The picturesque are those scenes where your eye gets stuck and you are looking at a space like a framed picture that creates a scene.  In nature this may be a giant boulder you walk up to on a hike.  You get stopped in your tracks then totally engrossed in the lichens, ferns and wild flowers growing from its cracks.  Its becomes like an entirely different world to explore inside of another.  The same can happen in your garden by planting in the cracks of a wall or having a collections of planters or a piece of art on a fence.  Even a planter next to your door where that gutter makes it hard to grow anything else can have the same effect.  One thing to be sure of is to repeat the elements in that planter in the landscape around it.  By splashing a few of the impatiens in the pot on the ground around it, it will tie it into the rest of the landscape.  It will be just like the ferns that grow on that rock that also grow on the ground around it and lead you down the trail and on into the forest.

Plant diversity is crucial to any healthy natural environment and also any good garden or landscape.  Diversity comes in many forms.  What I am going to focus on here is the layers of a landscape and how they are dispersed.  Nature creates this diversity and uses the plants to care for the space and the animals in it.  So should you.  I like to relate the levels of the landscape to music.  Good music has always found its roots in the rhythms of nature and so does any good art, especially a natural one like landscape.

These rhythms come it two forms.  The first rhythm can be found in the layers.  Nature, good gardens and great music all have an upper, middle and lower range.   In nature this is made up of the trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants.  Neither nature nor a garden is in its complete form without all of these.  The trees provide the canopy and determine the amount of light and moisture hitting the ground, soil type and everything that will grow below it.  The trees create the homes for the animals and the home for everything below it.  Think of them as the ceiling and walls of a room.  Just like nature does, when designing plantings you should always start with the trees because they determine everything else.

The mid range is the shrub layer, and can also include smaller flowering trees.  They provide food for most of the wildlife. They also also create the depth of the landscape, just like midrange creates depth in music.  The shrub layer will do the most to take care of space for you just like it does in nature.  When you come across an thicket of huckleberry in the woods, it always looks perfectly groomed and placed as though it has been meticulously pruned even though man has never touched it.  Besides creating depth in terms of space and layers they also create new spaces to discover behind and around them providing for a sense of discovery and surprise.  This layer is not only rich in space creation.  It is rich in performance as well because these plants provide elaborate flower, berry , fall color and bark shows that create a tapestry of their own.  Not only do they provide the most fodder aesthetically, they also do the most to feed the birds and other wildlife.

The low range is the final layer.  In music it is the base that rolls along, providing the rhythm for everything else and fills the voids of the down times.  In plantings it is the herbaceous layer.  I would hardly consider a tuba or tympani to be similar to a Hosta or Astilbe, but they are.  If played properly they both are a delicate presence in the back ground that emerge and steal the show when everything else is down.  In the garden and nature the perennials quietly hold the ground while the mid range shows off all spring, then they tactfully take their turns showing off their color as the flowers of spring fade away.  Then they roll into a crescendo heading into fall only to step aside for the finale of the trees with fall color.  They are the fabric that holds the ground in place and takes care of the space for you.  Then they give you that little extra right when you need it.

Along with the layers all good music, nature , and gardens have rhythm.   The patterns in all great music, art and gardens can all be traced to those of nature.  The arts and particularly music really exploded in the last century when people stopped trying to create things just for the sake of creating them and started looking for inner meaning.  The rhythms of  jazz embody this and the greatest artistic nod to nature of all has to be syncopation.  When gardeners realize that everything doesn’t have to spaced in 4/4 (formally and perfectly symmetrical) that is when their lives get easier, and much richer.  Trying to make a garden embody a rigid structure is like trying to make a marching band embody dance.  It is next to impossible and everything has to be completely lined up all the time.  It is even worse in a garden because  it is even harder to make a plant do what you want than a teenager.

Plants need to be spaced to move you through the garden like the rhythm in music.  Then they will move you through the garden like music moves your feet.  Syncopate it…Put the weight of plants in one place to provide structure where you need it, but then repeat it tapering off in the direction you want the eye to move.  If you plant five in one place, plant three a little bit over from there and maybe more even a little further over.  This is how nature does it and it will intrinsically add depth to the aesthetics of your garden, and the movement to keep it interesting.

Nature doesn’t plant in intertwining plant sausages so why should be.  Think of the sausage method like the landscape at McDonald’s, it may be showy, but it has about as much depth as the food they are trying to sell.  I would much rather sit down to four hours of French cuisine with depth and rhythm that feeds my soul as well as my body.  Nature doesn’t plant its flowers in blocks of 300 only to be ripped out and replaced three times a year.  It plants them where the weeds would grow to take care of the space so they can dance with one other and the other plants in the forest to provide the richest show possible.  Out of the symbiotic relationships the ecosystem creates to grow emerges an equally complex combination of  outright beauty.

I could go into many other areas where nature is the best guide.  You could use materials that are native to your region.  Be it plant or rocks this always provides a sense of cohesiveness.  There are all kinds of great cues to follow when using water in the garden.  However, what I wanted to do here was help you learn to take your cues from the world around you.  Draw from not only from what makes nature beautiful, but what makes it work, and let it guide you in your own garden or artistic endeavors.  We have to quit creating gardens for the sake for feeding them, and start creating them to feed our souls and the world around us.  Most importantly when nature has created them for us, we need to quit screwing them up.

When people ask me how to water their plants I usually turn right around ask them for instructions on how to raise kids.  The point being you can’t know what to do for a plant until you get to know it like a person.  Raising plants is a lot like raising kids, and once you learn what works best for both of you the better off you both will be.  Too often people think that plants are like hardwood floors, that they need to be waxed at certain intervals, need to be kept perfectly clean, and that given the perfect routine treatment will always look shiny and new and age perfectly.  What they need to learn is that plants are like people and they need nourishment, security, and love; sometimes even tough love.

The overall goal of watering should always be to help plants get established quickly, and develop a healthy deep seated root system to deal with the trials and tribulations that lie ahead.  While you want to be diligent at giving your plants what they need to get established, you also want them to start to take less and less care from you.  If you have the right plant in the right spot, they should eventually be able to care of themselves.  That journey begins with security.  The best security a plant can have is not knowing that you will run out and water it at the drop of a leaf, but rather that it has plenty of water in the soil around it, not just in the hole that you put it in.

During the average growing season, most established plants can use no more than one inch of water per week.  To be able to stick to this you need to make sure that all of the soil in and around the planting area has a deep base of adequate moisture.  If it does, as the soil dries out immediately around a newly planted plant moisture will move from the surrounding soil to the soil in the hole through osmosis.  If you plant a plant into to an area where all of the surrounding soil is dry, when you water all of the moisture will move the other way and you won’t be able to retain moisture around the plant.  Whenever you are going to be planting an area, you should always water the entire area thoroughly.  Think of it as getting the nursery ready for that newborn you are about to bring home.  In the end it save you several trips to the store (or in this case hose).

The key to establishing healthy plants is the same as for kids.  You want to love them, but you don’t want to spoil them. Plants that are watered too frequently will not achieve the necessary root growth they need.  Instead, they will develop a shallow root system that you have to constantly water, and the roots will never get out on their own.  Nature very rarely waters more than once a week and manages to sustain itself and withstand times of extreme stress.  Even in those times of extreme stress nature will usually adapt and turn out stronger in the long run.  By having thoroughly watered soil, not only will moisture move toward the plant as it is needed, but the roots will move out to it in search of what they need. Watering too frequent and not deep enough will train the roots never to leave home.  Beyond just water needs deep watering will also help retain the nutrients in the soil by not washing them out of the soil because watering all of the time.

Anyone who knows what it is like to love a child should be well prepared to give a plant the love it needs.  Just like you want to make sure your child has everything they need to succeed in life you want to do the same for your plants.  The worst thing you can do for either of you is constantly react to circumstances.  In the end sometimes plants and children both need a little tough love.  Even if your plants have everything they need in the subsoil on the hottest of days they are going to wilt.  The last thing you want to do is run out there an water them.  That wilting action is triggering an natural response from the plant to dig in and grow the roots they need.  As long as that soil has the water the plant needs it will find a way to get it.  Just like your kids sometimes need to work through things, your plants need to do the same.

For those who need a little more specific information, these guidelines should help you be sure your plants to get established and encourage the  root growth they eventually need to make it without you.

Whenever installing a new plant be sure and water all of the soil around the hole. It is imperative that the root mass of new plants always be kept moist, as well as the soil around the holes they are in until active root growth begins. Adequate moisture needs to be maintained until the roots actually leave the hole that was dug for installation and penetrate the surrounding soil.  The best way to accomplish this is to actually water the hole you dug for the plant before you put it in it.   Actually fill the hole you have dug for the plant entirely with water and let it seep into the surrounding soil.  You will want to do this repeatedly until water begins to hold in the hole or seep out very slowly.  When you are planting the plant, water the plant while it is still in the container or burlap before putting it in the hole.  It is much easier to make sure it is moist before it is underground and covered with soil.  Once the water you put in the hole has drained, place the plant at the proper level,  and back fill the hole with soil halfway up around the root ball.   Once you have lightly packed the soil to hold the plant in place, fill the rest of the hole with water again.  Be sure and let the water soak completely in before back filling it the rest of the way.  Not only will this ensure the soil is wet, it will also remove any air pockets in the hole that could later cause roots to dry out or the plant to settle and lean.  Once you have finished filling the hole with soil, water it one more time.  The most common shortcut you will see a professional landscaper make is not following this entire process.  After 25 years in the landscaping business I would not be exaggerating if I said that 80% of the times that plants needed replaced or replanted it was because the installer skipped these simple steps and it wasn’t properly watered during planting.

Watering new plants after planting may be required more than once in the first week.  You should check daily to see if the plant needs water, but don’t water daily.  Stick your finger into the root mass of the plant as well as the soil around it and see if they are both wet.  If you find the soil is dry give it a little water.  If it is wet whatever you do don’t water even if the plant is wilting or showing signs of stress.  The only thing that will help it is growing the roots it needs to make it on its own.  Watering when it is not needed will actually prevent this.  You may have to water new plants a couple times a week in the first two weeks as the stress of planting can cause them to use more water, but ideally by the third week you should never have to water more than once a week.

Watering of established plants should not be needed (or performed) more than once per week, and combined with what nature gives they should not need more than the equivalence of 1 inch of precipitation per week.  If your soil is adequately moist beneath the  surface and all you need to do is supplement that top inch.  Watering too frequently will only keep the plant’s roots from reaching out for the moisture that is there.  In reality if you are using native species in a place with the proper light exposure, and in the right zone in terms of hardiness range, you shouldn’t have to water a plant at all after the first season.  In times of extreme drought you may want to water established plants, but good winter watering (the step below) should prevent the need for any sort of frequent watering.

Winter Watering isn’t something people usually think about.  However a plant has more of a chance of dying in winter from a lack of water than it does in summer.  The water that fills the tissue of a plant’s trunk and branches is actually what protects it from extreme freezing temperatures.  When matter freezes it expands.  When the cells of a plant expand, the gases inside can expand more than the tissue itself and cause the cells to explode.  If the cells are filled with water it displaces those gases and keeps them from expanding too far.  If a plant freezes when it is dry, it can literally freeze-dry the plant, making it impossible for the cells to retain water again.  The best way to prevent this is to actually water in the fall or early winter before the ground freezes.

Once the leaves and perennials are down for the season and you have chopped them up for mulch, it is actually the easiest and most efficient time of year to get water in the soil.  The water doesn’t roll off the foliage of the plants and lands directly where it needs to go.  It also is less likely to evaporate when using a sprinkler because the temperatures are lower.  Best of all the plant isn’t using it to grow (other than roots), so even in winter a good saturation can last a couple of months.  If you happen to get a warm spell in January or February, I actually recommend watering deeply a a couple of times over winter to establish that deep ground moisture before spring arrives.  It is much easier to do it in January than in the spring or summer than when the water is actively being used by the plants and foliage is emerging that deflects it.

Wilting and watering do not always go hand in hand.  I alluded to this earlier.  When a plant wilts, not only does it reduce transpiration, it is a natural reaction to reduce the amount of energy going to the leaves, and to divert it to other activities such as blooming, fruit production or root growth.  All of those are crucial to the survival of the species, and the plant will instinctively focus on those things when it senses stress.  Wilting is also a natural response in extreme hot and cold temperatures to reduce the amount of wind or light reaching the foliage to prevent desiccation.  More often than not, wilting is sign of healthy developmental activity in stressful situations.  If a plant wilts and is wet do not water it, the plant is just doing what it needs to grow the roots to succeed in life.  Think of it as tough love.

Stunted and shedding leaves can be indications of both positive and negative conditions other than moisture issues.  In the first months and even years after planting, leaves may shed or remain stunted and small to offset the lack of roots lost during transplanting.  Usually after several months or even a year, the same branches with stunted leaves suddenly show what seem like over-sized leaves, often three or four times the size of others. This is an indication that the roots are finally leaving the planting pit, and the plant is beginning to get established.  Burnt edges on deciduous foliage may be the result of a fungus rather than drought, which water will only exasperate.  When evergreens yellow and drop needles in the fall it is often a result of alkaline soil, and they are trying to acidify their own soil.  Watering them if wet will only cause root rot.  Just because you see these things happen it does not mean a plant needs water.  If you see these symptoms and the soil is moist you may need to dig a little deeper to find our what’s wrong.  We’ll have another post about how to do that digging later.

The main thing to remember when watering is the more frequent and less deep you water the more often you will have to water.  The sooner you learn what your plants really the need, the less you will have to give them, and the less they will eventually need. To some extent, your plants can be taught to live with your schedule, and the sooner you teach them to the better off you both will be.  Think of that deep watering you give your plants a couple times this winter as that Sunday afternoon pot roast or chicken and dumplings you make for your family on a cold winter day.  It will keep their little cells warm on those cold winter days, and help built the muscles they need get through the summer ahead.  It is also like the hearty soup that allows them to pull in all those nutrients from the soil below to fight off disease and stress.  Think of watering you plants as caring for someone you love…and they’ll be sure and love you back.  Plants are like people, so don’t treat them like a hardwood floor.

When Americans think of endangered species we rarely think of trees.  We think of birds such as the Ivory-billed Woodpecker or Spotted Owl, or maybe some fragile flower, crustacean or reptile.  Even more familiar to most Americans are the animals that we have hunted and caused the demise of ourselves, such as buffalo, wolves and bears.  All three of those we have tried to right our wrongs and reintroduced into their native habitat.  Hopefully we have made those efforts because it was the right thing to do.  Maybe it is just because we were able to see the damage we had done by no longer being able to reap the rewards of what we were destroying.

As people look at non-hunted species, sometimes they don’t see personal responsibility because they don’t kill them with their own hands.  Sometimes people don’t realize that something else they are reaping may be what is causing the devastation to something that seems unrelated to them.  Groups got really upset when people tried to protect the spotted owl by protecting the forests they inhabit.  The argument what that individuals had a right to profit from the forests, and the trees that gave a home to the owls were needed to make a living.  However while everyone focused on man vs. owl, they missed the forest for the trees.  No one realized that before they were done arguing that debate the trees that provided that habitat would endangered as well, making both the man and the owl lose.  Sometimes we have to realize that just because we have right to do something it isn’t necessarily the right thing to do.

The following is a list of American trees that have lost over 95% of their native habitat and are now considered endangered.  These trees are actually being produced more in commercial production now than they are reproducing in their natural habitat.  I wanted to bring this list to light not just to highlight some amazing trees.  I wanted to highlight how they have gotten to the situation they are in, and the importance every being has to one another when it comes to sustainability.  

Castanaea dentata (American Chestnut):  This tree is one of the most known stories of  eco-catastrophe in our countries history.  The Chestnut was the most coveted of all lumbers in the early part of the 1900’s.  As a result was the clear-cutting of almost all of the Southern Appalachians.  The practices were horrid, and reminiscent of a scene from a slaughter house, but of trees.  Lumber that wasn’t seen as fit to mill was left in place leaving entire mountains looking like salvage yards.  Stumps were left in place, and all of the ground vegetation was smothered under the debris.  Erosion was rampant, and as a result these wastelands became a breeding ground for what would become the Chestnut blight.  Species such as the black bear were almost completely lost, deer populations dissipated, and without the nuts to forage or forest to find protection from hunters Elk eventually disappeared.

Today you can still find a few old growth American Chestnuts hiding away, but for the most part they have disappeared.  They are definitely no longer a force in an ecosystem they once ruled.  You can find sprouts coming up as under growth in poplar/oak forests, but the blight usually sets in once they reach about 2″ in caliper.  This tree was once a staple of the forest.  Its nuts fed almost every creature that roamed the forest floor, including humans.  Today it is just trying to regain a footing.  There are active breeding program at Universities throughout the Southeast trying to develop disease resistant varieties, but for now it remains on the brink. 

Ulmus americana (American Elm):  In the first half of the 1900’s this tree was the most common street tree in the United States.  It’s arching branches formed cathedral ceilings over almost every street in every city.  It become an icon of American urbanism and the America Beautiful movement.  It fell victim not to greed of harvesting, or destruction of its environment, because this tree grew anywhere.  Rather it fell victim to careless breeding and commercialization that weakened the species.  While Chinese and European varieties were being imported for breeding to create fancy bark or brighter fall color, no one realized that they were weakening the species and importing a deadly disease that would bring the native species to its knees. 

Today, on very rare occasions you will find an old native specimen, but almost always it will be diseased.  For the most part this species is kept going in nurseries where young shoots are maintained as seed stock only to be hybridized with other varieties.  Many of these hybridized varieties are wonderful and are contributing to the urban landscape in a positive way.  Still, long lost, or at least hiding like a hermit in the remote corners of woods, is the majestic tree that once symbolized the industrial revolution, and the America Beautiful movement.

Pinus palustris (Longleaf Pine / Southern Yellow Pine):  The Longleaf pine was on of the signature trees of Southeast coastal regions.  This tree is very unique in that for the first eight years of its life it grows like a fireproof grass with no trunk elongation.   Then it shoots up and it sensitive to burns, but once it reaches about 10′ it becomes fire proof again and soars to heights of up to 100′.  This burning process is crucial to its reproduction and the culling of healthy forests.  The lush wild look this process creates was the image that was burned into the minds of explorers when the new world was being discovered.  The unique habit created by the juvenile plants provide habitat to all sorts of foul and wildlife and as their habitat has become endangered so have some of them.  Red-cockaded woodpeckers and indigo snakes are most at risk, but tourtouses are in line right behind them.

The fate of this tree has been doomed by two demands.  First and foremost the lumber industry.  Only a small percentage of these trees make it from the grass stage, which is most prevalent, to the full grown tree form and mature species have been harvested at an unsustainable rate.  Secondly it has suffered from development.  Its native habitat starts at the first dry ground rising from coastal marshes and rises up to about 600′ in elevation.  These are the prime development lands in coastal areas and as a result the first habitat taken to build homes and resorts.  What is not built is often cleared for agriculture.   The development has also led to fire control, and disrupted the natural growth and reproductive cycles of the species.  One final negative effect on the ecosystem is that these habitats were the primary riparian buffer for water coming off of the Southern Appalachian and Ozark mountains.  Along with their removal came the disappearance of lower level cold water streams, the silting and swamping of what were once fast moving rivers, and a host of other problems.

Quercus virginiana (Southern Live Oak):  Yes, this tree is the one we have embedded in our heads from movies like Gone With the Wind, and every other great southern movie or novel.  As we see them in all the urban settings and plantation gardens you would not think something this majestic could be in any sort of danger.  The Spanish soss and fern growing on its branches make it look as thought this species is drooping from the weight or its virility.  However, in its native habitat it is almost gone.  The boggy soil and forests of the deltas where it thrived have mostly been drained for drilling, sugar cane, and development.  These trees made up the buffers that used to protect New Orleans from the onslaught of hurricanes.  There ability to be uprooted and fall apart but continue to grow in the loamy soil that was once its home was the constant stability that held the delta together.  Now their native habitat is down to a few remaining national and state controlled forests.  Of course other species have been impacted, but the most famous impact was the damage from Katrina that was exasperated without the natural buffers these trees created to protect it.

Tsuga hetrophylla (Western Hemlock) & Tsuga caroliniana (Carolina Hemlock):  Both of these trees have suffered similar fates.  Both are the victims of over logging.  Unfortunately both were thought to be invincible as they grew like the Red Cedars of the Midwest on either coast.  In the East the Carolina Hemlock was hardly ever used for lumber,  They were usually casualties of careless Chestnut and Oak harvest and turned into pulp or used for fuel.  By the time the species was decimated people had realized it was a beautiful lumber and turned to the bountiful west coast for the Western Hemlock in its place.  Neither were able to come back as fast as they were being harvested and as a result the faster growing Tsuga canadensis (Canadian Hemlock) and various Pines have taken their respective places.

This has greatly changed the ecosystem of the forests elimating wildflowers and other shade tolerant plants that don’t tolerate the heavier shade of the pines.  Also, these native varieties could fully develop as smaller sized trees in the shade of canopy trees.  Whereas the Canadian Hemlock can grow in the shade but is naturally inclined to become more of a canopy tree.  The Canadian version is also more prone to the woolly adelgid do to the flat placement of the needles compared to the rounder needle placement of the native varieties.  Now the adelgid has set in, the Canadian Hemlock is dying at rates comparable to those of the Chestnut blight casualties.  This has forever changed the ecosystem of all the warmer climate mountain forests where the adelgid thrives.  Since the Hemlock also likes moist soils its decline is also increasing the light on mountain streams destroying native trout and salmonid habitat. 

Picea sitchensis(Sitka Spruce):  Another victim of logging, this species is also succumbing to the woolly adelgid.  One of the more tragic consequences of this parable is that this tree is the home to the endangered Spotted Owl.  When the fight over protecting the owl versus the right to harvest came to a head the harvest rate increased dramatically as it turned into a race to see how much people could harvest as while they still could.  As timber containing adelgid infested lumber moves up and down the highways it just spreads it even more.   In the end both the owl and the loggers are losing out as they are losing the tree they both covet so much.

Thuja plicata Western Red Cedar:  This tree has been devastated in its native habitat due to logging for pulp.  However, it is thriving and making a surge in cultivation.  As the Hemlocks and Junipers used in landscapes have become  more problematic and disease prone, this tree grows with relative ease.  It struggles to outpace the pines that are moving into the native habitat because the Pines grow larger and shade them out.  While in the landscape people are finding this to be a great native alternative to give the feel of a Canadian Hemlock without the adelgids or chemicals to keep the bugs at bay.  However do to massive logging its natural disbursement patterns have been disrupted permanently and it may never be able to reestablish itself against the more aggressive species taking it’s place.

These trees are just a few that are becoming more and more endangered everyday.  These trees I have chosen mainly because they have been in some way symbolic of American culture, have been a crucial part of the fabric of our forests, and have helped to convey the essence of the places we call home.  The point of this article isn’t just to create awareness of a few trees, but also to make us realize that everything we do effects far more than us.  As humans we have a capability that other species don’t:  to make a conscious decision regarding an other’s fate.

The causes and the impacts I have discussed in this post are far from all that has contributed to or been a consequence of these changes.  However with the ability to determine another being’s fate also comes the moral responsibility to do what is right for everyone and everything, not just ourselves.  Also comes a responsibility to learn as much about the situations, plants, and creatures whose existence we can alter before we make an impact.  Everyone makes mistakes unknowingly, but what determines the greatness of society or individual is how they use their abilities to correct or make amends for those mistakes and how what they use what they have learned moving forward.  Hopefully this will create another ripple in that pool of awareness that we can all pass on.

Having grown up in Northwest Missouri, where the winter winds of the plains from Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas converge on the bluffs of the Missouri River like three tornadoes of ice converging into one, I learned to appreciate anything in the vegetation that glowed with warmth.  In the surrounding landscape it was the golden tones of the fields laying fallow, especially when they sparkled from the frost glistening in the sun.  In the sky it was the amazing sunsets as far as the eye can see even after a long day of nothing but cold blue skies that seemed as if you were peering into ice.  On the highways it was the oasis that always formed about a half mile ahead of you on the road and what appeared to be steam rising from the asphalt that was the only thing absorbing the sun since there wasn’t a tree in sight.  The warmest memories of all were of course inside, with the smell of what some would call “farm food”.  The pot roast on Sundays, fried chicken on Saturdays, and of course spaghetti on Wednesdays.

However, when you arrived at someone’s home, it was usually one of the coldest sites of all.  In the midst of the pastures would be the perfectly green lawn.  The houses would always be white, to not show the dirt blowing off the fields and gravel roads, and they would be perfectly adorned with a straight row of yews, or junipers tortuously pruned into a shape they were obviously not supposed to be.  Green it would be, even in the evergreens with hedgerows of White Pine, Junipers, or Arborvitae perfectly marking the borders of the lawn.  Someone might occasionally get crazy and throw in a prized Blue Spruce (assured to have lights at Christmas), but when you needed that blue the most, it always seemed to look green if not brown from the burn of the winter winds. 

Quickly in my career as a designer I had to overcome this hurdle.  Being a plantsman first this wasn’t hard.  I grew up in nurseries, so my challenge as a designer wasn’t finding plants to use, it was learning how to restrain my pallet.  One thing I learned early on was that it was hardest to make a landscape look great in winter.  However, if you could accomplish that, making it interesting the rest of the year was a piece of cake.  I am not talking about using all kinds of colorful evergreens that look like they came out of a crayon box.  I love interesting conifers, but not when the color overpowers the essence of the plant.  So in this post I thought I would focus on plants with interesting barks.  Conifers are too easy.  The following plants are some of my favorites, but by no means all that I use.  They are also a mix of native and non-native varieties, but none should be invasive.  What they do have in common is a sense of warmth and life they can invoke in the dead of winter.

Betula (Birch):  Betula nigra (River Birch) is probably the most common.  There are several varieties of the species including ‘heritage’.  All have the indicative papery tan exfoliating bark.  They also are usually multi-trunked with a few large leaders reaching for the warmth of the sun and small horizontal branches wisping out from the sides . The vertical structure of the trunk makes it move in the wind and provides a nice contrast to the broad, heavy and  horizontal branching of  Spruce and Pine.  My favorite Birch is actually Betula populfolia ‘Whitespire” (Japanese Whitespire Birch).  It is a white or “paper” barked variety that has proven to be borer resistant.  The parent plant is now almost seventy-years old and remains borer free.

Cornus sericea (Red Twig Dogwood):  This is one of the few shrubs with colorful bark in the winter.  It is also native to much of the United States.  This plant has a bright red twig in winter that can be seen from a distance but isn’t overpowering.  The vertical branching habit makes it feel more like a grass or thicket plant than a shrub, but the fullness makes it work well for a border or foundation plant.  The plants are a lush green in summer with a nice white flower and prolific white berries birds love.  Along with this you must include Cornus alba (Variegated Red Twig Dogwood).  It is very similar to Conus sericea, except it has a variegated leaf.  This species can be prone to anthracnose but the variety Cornus alba “Ivory Halo” seems to be disease resistant, and keeps a more compact form than other varieties.

Hydrangea quercifolia (Oakleaf Hydrangea), and Hydrangea anomala var. petiolaris (Climbing Hydrangea):  Both of these plants have a birch like bark that is exquisite in winter.  The Oakleaf Hydrangea looks great against evergreens or lawns, and another interesting feature is that if you leave the flowers on they will dry in place all winter.  This almost makes it look like it is in bloom.  Climbing Hydrangea is wonderful on a fence, and especially brick walls.  The bark really pops out against brick.  It also has a very fibrous attaching root that give it an almost Gothic feel compared to other vines.  It is also a self attaching vine with makes it even nicer.

Physocarpus opulifolius (Ninebark):  There are two predominate varieties of this plant ‘Diablo’, a purple leaved variety, and ‘Dart’s Gold’a yellowish leaved variety.  Both have a Birch like texture in winter.  If left alone they grow very vertical and develop a thick trunk like structure.  They seem to max out around six feet in height and four feet in width.  This makes them great to tuck behind low growing evergreens and if left natural will look almost like a very small Birch.  Ninebarks are extremely hardy, fairly fast growing, and drought tolerant.

Acer palmatum ‘Sangu Kaku’ (Coral Bark Maple):  This plant his a vivid pinkish coral bark in winter.  It can almost take on an orangish tone.  The tree itself is very delicate and rarely exceeds twelve feet in height.  It has a ferny maple leaf and wispy texture.  It does not develop the distinguished branching habit that other Japanese Maples do, so it does look good as a stand alone specimen.  However, it is fantastic tucked into evergreens or against a foundation.  The only downfall to this plant is that it is prone to winter kill.  Winter watering will cut down on this, but expect it to develop some dead wood in winter that will need to be removed in the spring.

Lagerstoemia indica (Crepe Myrtle):  There are dozens of varieties of this plant in production.  It comes in all sorts of colors and sizes.  The trunks are usually clumped and have a blotchy exfoliating bark, rather than papery bark like a birch.  Many people think of them as trashy because they drop flowers and seed pods constantly and sucker which makes them require pruning to keep nice trunks.  Regardless, with all of that, it sure looks good most of the time and especially with its late summer bloom and winter bark.  Both features shine at times when other plants are lackluster.  On top of that it can survive the abuse of just about any parking lot in the south.

Acer griseum (Paper Bark Maple):  This is a very underused and overlooked tree.  It averages about 25-30 feet in height, so it can be used for shade on a patio, a specimen in the lawn without killing out the grass, or as an ornamental in a foundation planting.  It is not overly showy.  It doesn’t have an amazing flower or incredible fall color, but it is classy.  The fall color is nice, and the foliage is very clean and green in the summer, but this plant is sought for the bark.  It is a favorite of collectors.  Sometimes I compare plant collectors to book collectors.  If I were to compare it to a book you just had to have on your shelf it would be Catcher in The Rye.  It is not a huge tree, but does she rextremely well written, reliable as a recommendation, full of inspiration and bound to create memories.

Platanus x acerifolia (London Plane Tree) and Platanus occidentalis (American Sycamore):  These are two of the great majestic trees of urban parks everywhere.  They are messy, and drop limbs, leaves, and seeds all of the time, but the mess is worth it.  They are extremely hardy, pollution and drought tolerant, and capable of living in swamps.  There is not much this plant can’t take, but what it gives is irreplaceable.  The bark of the London Planetree exfoliates on the lower portions of the trunk.  The American Sycamore is reversed and exfoliates on the upper trunk and branches.  Both create very tall and open canopies making them ideal for street trees.  As their branches cross the road they create the feeling of a nave.  Given the space of a park, where they can be 100 feet from the next tree, they can form a cathedral unto themselves with branches hanging all the way to the ground 60-80′ wide.  When it comes to habit, they can rival the grandest of any Oak, but what makes them stand our is that glorious white of the bark exploding in winter.

I am sure I have left out plenty of others, like some of the Poplars, Tree Lilac, Ironwood, and countless others.  After all, I need to leave something for later.  I am already craving the cold walks amongst the Sycamores in the valley through the thick fog of winter, and winter isn’t even here yet.  I need to leave something for January when we are really sick of winter and dreaming of spring.  Hopefully these will just give you some motivation and help you think outside of the box of the evergreen hedge.  There are lots of options for winter interest when it comes to evergreens and even grasses, but when it comes to design, working with bark requires a subtlety the invokes class.  Most importantly since barks encase the heart of the tree they also exude the warmth of their essence, something we are all about to need.

Of course, all of the trees and shrubs profiled in this post may be found in Botany Buddy’s Tree and Shrub Finder for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

It was another beautiful fall morning in the Southern Appalachians, and as I was driving my daughter to school I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by the clouds in the valleys, the orange hue of fall on the mountains and the vivid colors that were taking over the roadsides.   Escaping in all of natures beauty was perfect for taking my mind off the Radio Disney that was poisoning my ears.  However, just as the Radio Disney was creeping in and squeezing my brain like a vice, those colors on the roadsides did as well.  All of the sudden I realized I was missing the beautiful tones of the White Oaks and Sourwoods against the Hemlocks for the bright red of the Burning Bush against the Honesuckle and Maiden Grass.  As for that beautiful American Holly, I couldn’t even tell what it was for the Wisteria and English Ivy that had taken it over.  By the time I was headed back to the house, what started out as a beautiful relaxing drive was grinding me just as much as that Radio Disney even though I had put on Abbey Road.

That brings me to this.  It always amazes me how as designers and gardeners we are always looking for the next best thing and failing to recognize and reveal the essence of the environment we are in.  In our desire to make our space more perfect, some of the greatest damage to our environment has been done by some of the greatest minds our industry has known.  Here is Asheville the Oriental Bittersweet, Japanese Wisteria, Tree of Heaven, and English Ivy that are taking over our national parks were all the gifts of Frederick Law Olmstead.  In Kansas City it was Arnold’s Red Honeysuckle that George Kessler brought us with America Beautifulc movement.  All of these people have good intentions, but in todays world we can find the information we need to plant responsibly and still have plenty of great options from a  design standpoint.

There are thousands of invasive plants out there, both exotic and native that when taken out of their native habitat can do incredible harm to the environment.  This list is limited to the ten that I see most commonly used and pushed by the horticulture industry.  These are plants that are known to be doing damage to our native habitat and continue to be sold every day.  Why do they do it?  Because of demand from customers (hobbiests and professionals) that don’t know better, existing inventories (that keep getting replenished) and the ease of growing these plant in production and in one’s yard.  When I set out to create Botany Buddy one of my goals was to get this information out, and not only make it accessible, but make available in your pocket at any time.  This list is a fraction of the information consumers need but these plants account for a huge amount of the damage being done.

Ten Commonly Planted Invasive Woody Plants

Burning Bush / Euonymous alatus  This is one of the most popular fall color shrubs in production.  It’s vivid red fall color gives it the name.  It is tolerant of drought, ignorant pruning with gas shears extreme cold and keeps on growing.  As a result it has become a favorite in commercial landscapes and roadside plantings.  In zones 6 and up, the little red berry it gets is extremely viable and is spread by the birds that eat it.  Typically a simple hedge planting in the wrong location can spread to a radius of one mile within ten years.  The native plants they displace include Mountain Laurel, Rhododendron, and Hydrangea.  Which would you rather have?

Bradford Pear / Pyrus calleryana  I can remember when this plant came out in the 80’s and was marketed as “America’s Most Poplular Tree” for the fall color, spring flower, nice tight shape, hardiness, and its fruitlessness.  Besides being prone to ice and wind damage due to that “desireable” branching habit, this tree turned out to be anything but fruitless.  The small crabapple sized berries are a favorite of birds and so is its branching habit.  As a result these can now be found in pastures and waterways throughout zones 6 and up.  Even worse in waterways they are replacing canopy producing trees and raising water temperatures which hurts species such as the Southern Appalachian Brook Trout.

Japanese Wisteria / Wisteria floribunda  Introduced as a favorite for Japanese gardens, its agreesive vining habit will take over anywhere zone 5 and below if left unattended.  It can reproduce by rooting if the brances touch the ground, and in zones 7 and up has vibable seeds.  It is commonly found in Eastern forests along the Blue Ridge  Parkway at elevations between 2500 and 4000 feet.  The populations are highest around cities and especially the Biltmore Estate.  While the flowers are beautiful with the Dogwoods they can girdle and kill any tree they wrap around.  There is a native variety that is finally making it into production.

Japanese Spirea / Spiraea japonica  ‘Norman’ or ‘Anthony Waterer’ is the variety that is the main culpret as it spreads by root as well as seed.  There are many varieties that are supposedly not invasive.  However, all of them have the ability to revert and spread by seed.  One positive is that it is not a favorite of birds becasue the seed is so small.  It has to fall and touch the ground to germinate so some of those parking lot plantings might not be doing as much damage as we think.  If it does escape.  One single stem of this plant can flower and germinate into a colony ten feet wide two years.  This plant is destroying our native wildflowers throughout the Southeast.

Japanese Barberry / Berberis thunbergii  This plant is most commonly planted at your local McDonalds due to its attractiveness with the golden arches.  It is just an invasive as the chain in zones five and up and is as bad for the environment as their food is for you.  The plant aesthetically is probably as numbing to your palet as their food is to your culinary sophistication.  The beautiful red berry entices the birds like a toy in a Happy Meal entices my child.  The red leaves hypnotize the plant’s buyers from a distance like the arches that can be seen from a mile away.  As a result this plant litters our forests like McDonalds’ wrappers do our cities.

Empress Tree / Paulownia tomentosa This plant is not commony found in nurseries, but it is pushed by many major seed catalogs for its ability to grow ten feet a year.  I would think that would tell you something in itself, but people want instant results and that pretty purple flower in May and June.  The tree has nice leaves and a habit like a Catalpa, but most of the year its appearance is cluttered by the seed pods that will spread anywhere they can find soil and light.  This is one of the few invasive trees that wasn’t brought here for planting.  Instead, before there were packing peanuts there were Paulownia!  Before there was styrofoam the seed pods of this plant were used in wooded crates from Asia as packing peanuts, and the trees can now be found along all of the railways throughout the United States.  Unfortunately one of the first places those rails went was our national parks.

English Ivy/ Hedera helix  What would a formal garden be without it?  It would be a lot more interesting and a lot more sustainable.  It is defnitely time to give this plant a rest.  It should really only be used in the concrete jungle and even then limited.  There are many more intersting alternatives live Pachysandra or an all out perennial bed.  This vine spreads by root and can climb in the forest greatly weakending larger trees if not contained.  When allowed to reach heights of 20 and 30 feet it will often start to seed and spread even more.  I haven’t used this plant in over five years, and to be honest with you, my designs, clients, and environment are far better off for it.

Butterfly Bush / Buddleia davidii  This plant is finally starting to make people’s radar as an invasive.  It is one of those that has exploded in variety and popularity over the last fifteen years.  It is still new enough the effects are just starting to take root.  However, in all zones, if these seed falls into a wetland or moist area and gets temperatures above seventy degrees for over a couple weeks, it will germiante and spread.  It is most commonly a problem in warmer mountain and piedmont areas thought the US where moisture running off the mountains provides just this environment.  The seed is a favorite of finches so they move the seed form the plant to summer wilflower patches that share ideal growing conditions.

Scotch Broom / Cytisus scoparius  This plant is to the West and coastal areas what Japanese Spirea is to the rest of the country.  It has naturalized throughout most of the West Coast.  The low growing bushy habit takes out everything in its way, and it has beautiful flowers and evergreen foliage to boot!  This makes it a favorite of growers.  There are hundreds of varieties in production, and the tollerance to drought and long bloom time make it a favorite of retailers.  As for all those little California and coastal wildflowers look out!  This one is eating them all up.

Norway Maple / Acer platanoides  This is probably the most planted invasive tree, but most unknown to be invasive.  This plant had been quietly taking over Poplar forests for the last hundred years.  Poplar being fast growing, straight  and light is now the most popular trim lumber.  It is often selectively harvested leaving just enough light for the seeds of the Norway Maple to germinate and establish quickly.  With yellow fall color like a Poplar’s, from a distance youwould never know the forest had changed, but the natural progression of the forest has.  As the Poplars get older, weaker ones are supposed to fall and thin over time allowing room for grand Oaks to establish along with the legacy surviors.  However, the  fast wide growing maples stunt the forest progression  making 100 year old forests look like they are only thirty years old.

This is just a start and I could go on forever, but these are the ones that I see go out on trucks every day and find hiking in nature every day.  Some people take it personally against invasives and think of the plants as “Evil” or “Bad”.  A wise 90 year old piano teacher once told me…”A weed is nothing more than a flower in the wrong place at the wrong time.”  What we have to remember is that the weed didn’t put itself there.  Either we did, or we created the conditions for it to get there.  There is no greater pervention to the spread of invasive plants than knowledge and education, and both of those are far cheaper than trying to repair the damage that they do.

All of the plants in this profile can be found in Botany Buddy’s Tree and Shrub Finder, along with more photos and information including the native habitats, native ranges, and  cutural information.  Botany Buddy currently profiles 1300 trees and shrubs and our library is constantly growing to bring you the valuable information like this that you need.