Wish List

Reply to: you need larger things.. to hide the hill.. and when you plant larger things.. they have to be planted far enough away form the house.. that you dont have to start cutting on them too soon.. if properly planted.. never ... you can see in the second pic.. where the large trees are properly sited away form teh house.. and that is where you should put some shrubs ... so that form the street.. your foundation and the slope will be hidden ... do not make the next common mistake of planting things with HUGE potential.. ON THE FOUNDATION... such plantings are planted to hide the foundation.. no on the foundation ... also.. with the carport.. and the porch that leads straight across to it.. i cant fathom why you would put in an arching sidewalk out the front door ... i dont get it.. form the pix.. perhaps if a were a visitor walking up the driveway.. i might better understand ... just fyi.. zone is predicted min winter temp.. it tells no garden anything else.. ergo.. we needed to know you were in atlanta ...or so .. did someone add the lower brick at a later time.. ..if so.. they did a great job disguising it ... ken

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Reply to: I would definitely want a large and very dark green conifer/broadleaved evergreen at the left hand corner, something with enough visual mass to anchor/ground the entire left side of the home. IMO it needs it, it looks too 'floaty' to me..

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Reply to: Here are some ideas:

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Reply to: Chrysalids, yours is beautiful! It’s spreading nicely. Now that it’s three it may be a good time to inspect limbs and cut back any that are too long and thin. I don’t know your zone, but in 5b, Milwaukee WI, mine came back beautifully after a hard prune a couple of years ago. As a1lan said, better to have a stem that will flower next year. debra

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Reply to: My limelight standard (year 2) is now in full bloom.... I had to have one after seeing yours Debra.

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Reply to: Dont feel bad Jessie. Im in Park Ridge, IL and bought 50 Em Green Arbs from HD and had them professionally planted in my yard in mid-August this year. 15 of them have now died and another 5 might too. Had an arborist come look at them and he told me a lot of HD trees die because they come from climates much different from Illinois and theres transplant shock. Also, due to recent heat waves and lack of rain, the trees need extra watering to ensure the root ball gets enough water for roots to spread out. I have the 1 year warranty but i think that i might just get a refund going forward and buy new ones from a local nursery.

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Reply to: but being dug from a field.. you really dont know if you have dug a good root mass ... ergo... they were doomed at potting. if they were pot grown.;.. did you do any root surgery.. to insure the roots werent as then bus wheel goes.. round and round??? your soil looks sodden.. dig a few holes with hand trowel 3 t o 6 inches deep.. around some ugly pants.. and around some good ones.. see if you can intuit any difference ... report back ... i am basically due east of you.. below ann arbor.. this time of year.. you should water the plant in heavily at planting .. and if mulch3d... you might not need to water again.. until mid july or august.. as the heat of summer starts pulling moisture from depth ... with cold nights.. and rain.. there just should NOT be a lack of water at root depth.. unless you didnt water them in properly at planting ... wait.. you said mulched.. but the sodden pic. shows no mulch.. so figure it out per above ... dig holes .. ALL OF US.. if we planted 32 of anything.. would expect a few losses ... nbd.. get over it ... water properly ... and see how they go.. and plan on buying some replacements in fall .. aka.. the next proper planting season .... imo.. its already too late to try again now.. summer heat is coming too soon ... if the store has more.. hold them in the pot until fall planting.. your plants are severely stressed.. they are not hungry.. fert is not a proper response .. ken ps: and if they have only 5 gals in fall. so what.. why do they all have to be the exact same anyway ....

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Reply to: Big box stores are not known for their exemplary plant care. I would guess these trees have been stressed at some point in their transport (from who knows where) or their stay at Home Depot, and your subsequent purchase and planting has brought the already-existing stress to the forefront. Looks to me like either sunburn or freeze-burn, but that’s just an educated guess.

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Reply to: These were potted plants from Home Depot. The problem trees seem to mosty be random. We got a heavy rain on Monday of ~2 inches and the soil is still moist under the mulch and a few inches down.

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Reply to: Re pruning. You say you snapped of dry branches. Use a pruning saw or secateurs and cut more or less flush. Don’t snap. You get those ugly snags.

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Reply to: For now, just take your hose and give the tree a good washing, using some pressure. That'll slow them down for a while.

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Reply to: Msmity In Chicagoland, the river birch would be the best choice among birches. It handles heat better than the northerners paper and yellow birch, both of which are decidedly happier in cooler zones. River birch can suffer from chlorosis if your soil pH is too high. Soil sulfur, which is simply granular sulfur, can be applied quite heavily, and then covered with mulch. Bacteria in the soil slowly convert this to sulfuric acid, thereby lowering the pH. This works well, but may need to be redone occasionally. The material is inexpensive, and IMO, a better choice than the commonly recommended aluminum sulfate. +oM

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Reply to: All of your selections are fine trees, but many of them will not offer great privacy or shade. The Redbud is very upright and medium in size, the serviceberries bloom tremendously in the spring but are a very light tree with respect to shade and privacy. The white dogwood will likely survive unless you have a lot of wind as this would increase the windchill danger on these plants. The riverbirch love damp ground. I have one near a low area in my field and the tree has grown 3 feet per year for the past three years. They are ususally in clump form and are much stronger that way versus an individual specimen. Great trees but will get very tall in a hurry when established. I would put the flowering Dogwood in front as long as there is ample sunshine for it to bloom properly. It will be vase-shaped and flower for you every year. In the rear, the riverbirch in the middle of twin serviceberries would look great and give you the plants and look that you want. The privacy protection form these plants will be okay, but nothing like a conifer or maple might give you. Goodluck,

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