Botany Buddy

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.

Get to the root of the issues!

There are two main things to consider when choosing a plant to purchase. First, choosing the right plant for the right spot, and second selecting a quality plant to buy. As for choosing the right plant for the spot, there’s an app for that!  Botany Buddy’s tree and shrub finder was designed specifically for this purpose. As for choosing a quality plant to purchase, this post for that.

Trees and shrubs come packaged for sale in three main forms: containerized, balled and burlapped and bare root.  The best of these to buy will depend on what you are using them for. Containerized trees and shrubs are ideal for planting in prepared beds, individual holes in the ground, or in pots. Balled and burlapped plants are best when planting in beds, or individual holes in the grounds, but do not do as well in containers.  Bare root plants do best in pots or directly in unprepared ground. Larger bare root plants (shrubs over 6″ tall or trees over 12″ tall) perform best if planted in pots in the spring and allowed to root out before planting into the ground later in the season.

There are several factors to look at when choosing a plant to purchase depending on the packaging.

1.) Bare root plants can never be allowed to have the roots dry out. Healthy bare root plants will have small white fibrous roots it they have been properly cared for. If they have dried out they may be brown but still be viable. This can be determined by scratching the root to see if it is green or white underneath. If it is, pruning them back by 20% and immediatelysoaking them in water and root stimulator (Vitamin B1) can cause the roots to sprout new growth. If the roots are dry and brittle or soft and smooshy don’t buy the plant.  The roots are probablydead.

It is also important that bare root plants have an equal or greater amount of root growth than plant growth.  Pruning back the top can solve this but it not done correctly may hurt the plant’s eventual shape and removes valuable nutrients stored in the bark that can be used for establishment.

2.) Container plants should never be allowed to dry out. Whenever purchasing a containerized plant, remove the pot and inspect the roots. The rules on healthy roots are the same as for bare roots. If the plants have small white fibrous roots they have been properly cared for. If they have dried out they may be brown but still be viable. Just scratch the root to see if it is green or white underneath.  If it is, score the roots and rough up the ball when planting.  With immediate watering they can be caused to resprout.  However it typically takes an entire growing season for the roots to get back to a really healthy state.  This can greatly affect survival and slow down growth.  The energy stored in the branches of a plant can keep it look completely healthy for an entire season even if the root system is dead.  This is why you should always inspect the roots.

There are also signs to look for that you should completely avoid. Some plants may have been left in a pot so long that the roots will have girdled themselves. They will have circled around the pot so many times that they are strangling themselves and will eventually cut off their own circulation.  Another symptom of being in a pot too long is that the plant may have used all the soil in the the pot and be nothing but a mass of roots.  They can still be kept alive in the pot with daily watering and regular fertilizing, but once planted it creates an air pocket that eventually causes the plant to dry and freeze out over winter.  If the pot is big but fells surprisingly light, or blows over in the nursery with just the slightest breeze this is probably the case.  This makes them easy to spot from a distance.  These roots are a little tight, but healthy!

Finally, the plant needs to have enough root mass to support the plant. A plant should have ten inches diameter of pot for every 12” of height on top. On trees, they should have 20” diameter of root for the first caliper inch of truck, and 10” for every inch of trunk after. If an evergreen is grown in a pot, the width of the foliage and branches should not be more than 50% wider than the width of the pot. It is acceptable for a plant to have been pruned back to stay in a pot and can be benefitial to the long term habit of the plant, as long as the roots have not out grown the pot.

3.) Balling and burlapping plants is typically reserved for very large shrubs, over 24” in evergreens and 36” in deciduous plants, or for trees. Very rarely are plants bug by hand in the field due to labor costs.  As mechanical digging has grown in popularity, so have the problems associated with it.  As a result it is recommended that if all possible you hire the person selling the plant to install it with a warranty on both the plant and the labor.  I would never buy balled and burlapped material from a mass retailer that doesn’t specialize in plants.

Healthy balled and burlapped plants will have been dug when the soil is moist but not soggy. They are typically grown in soil with a little clay to help hold the ball together, and will be wrapped in natural fiber and bound with biodegradable twine. Balled and Burlapped plants should always be shipped within 24 hours of being dug and immediately covered in mulch or gravel, and watered upon receiving. The roots or outer edge of soil should never be allowed to dry out. Once they have, it can take over a year for active root growth to resume. Any time roots can be seen emerging from the burlap into the surrounding mulch you can be assured the root system is healthy and has been well cared for.

These balls are actually a little small.

There are a few things to always look out for when selecting a balled and burlapped plant. Never buy a plant that has a mushy or crumbly ball.  Most likely the roots have been broken apart. Balls that are dry and hard with no sign of new root growth emerging from the fabric are probably not viable no matter how good the top looks. When the ball is lifted from the ground, if the bottom falls out or the burlap sags like a wet diaper, the plant has been sitting in water for a prolonged period of time and the bottom has rotted out.  At the top of the ball there should be a string encircling the trunk of the tree or base of the shrub. If this sting has cut into the bark, or the bark has grown around it, the plant has probably been girdled and will most likely suffer or die. Finally, many nurseries will rewrap the ball with fresh burlap if a plant has set on the lot too long. If the plant looks like it has been on the lot awhile, but the ball does not, don’t be afraid to look under the burlap to see what is underneath.

Sizing the root mass compared to the top.

There are a few standards that should be met regarding the size of the ball. The size of the ball needs to be proportionate to the top of the plant depending on what type of plant it is. Also when selecting a tree, it is best if the ball is large enough to support the top without need for staking.  Some good standard ratios for ball size are detailed below.  These numbers are based upon ANLA standards, and adjusted for the reality of current digging equipment and techniques.  The are also chosen to make sure you get the best stock, not the minimum standard.

Coniferous and Evergreen Trees 18″ of ball for the 1st 3′ of height and 10” of ball for each additional 1′ of height.

Coniferous or Evergreen Shrubs 10” of ball for the 1st 1′ of width, and 6” of ball for each additional 1′ of width.

Deciduous Trees 18” of ball for the 1st caliper inch of trunk and 10” of ball for each additional caliper inch of trunk.

Deciduous Shrubs 12” of ball for the 1st 1′ of height and 12” of ball for each additional 1′ of height.

Broadleaf Evergreen Trees 18” of ball for the 1st caliper inch of trunk and 10” of ball for each additional caliper inch of trunk.

Broadleaf Evergreen Shrubs 12” of ball for the 1st caliper inch of trunk and 6″ of ball for each additional foot of height.

Balled and burlapped plants are always best handled by experienced gardeners or professionals.

There are many more things to take into consideration when selecting plants such as the branching structure, disease, the shape, and variety, but the most important thing to the health of the plant is the roots.  We will bring you more on pruning and shape later, but when buying at tree or shrub they almost all have pruning issues.  Mainly becasue the are being pruned to grow roots, fit in a retail space, and sell…not Grow!  That topic needs its own post. 

As for disease and insects, those are common as well in nurseries.  However, on deciduous trees, as long as the damage is limited to leaves it won’t matter.  They will fall off in the fall, and you really don’t want much growth in the first year.  So if the plant has a nice shape and is green some spots on the leaves won’t hurt.  As for evergreens, if it has an orangish or brown cast avoid it.  There are probably mites in there!  Evergreens with a determinate growth rate cannot grow from old wood if it the loose branches, so be sure the plant is healthy.  However, if nurseries killed everything that got on their plants they would probably killing you too. So if you see a tree that doesn’t have scarred up bark, and broken branches everywhere, but has a few spots on the leaves, as long as it has the root system and has been handled as described above you should be successful.     

The bottom line is if you want to be successful you have to dig a little deeper and get to the root of things.  As long as you water a plant well and keep it wet until you get it in the ground you should be succesful if you start with a healthy plant.  Have you ever wondered why retailers guarantee plants?  It is because they know if you get it home, it has a better chance of  surviving than if it stays with them. 

Next Weeks Blogs…Planting and Watering: Learn how to keep things alive and make them thrive!