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l-r: Bald Cypress & Dawn Redwoods, 'Peve Minaret' Dwarf Bald Cypress and Weeping Larch

"Deciduous conifers lose their needles and are bare all winter." Not exactly what some homeowners want to hear, but try telling them about their other features and they may quickly change their minds! Here's a quick overview of the three we carry: 

Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) has a very neat, conical habit with feathery needled foliage that emerges bright green in spring. It has awesome reddish brown bark that becomes fluted with age. The needles turn a coppery brown in fall and drop leaving a soft carpet underneath the canopy. It's a fast grower at 3'+ per year. Tolerates moist soil. Great for larger areas. Was once thought to be extinct but was found in a valley in China in the '40s. Check out  'Ogon' with golden needles.  

Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) has bright yellow-green needles that emerge in spring, darken in summer and turn an orange brown in fall before they drop. It has a smaller stature than Dawn Redwood and is one of the most adaptable trees we have as far as soil condtions - wet, dry, well drained and submerged conditions. It is known for the knees it develops when planted in wet soils or near water. The bark is a reddish brown and will buttress if in wet conditions. We have two cultivars at the moment - 'Shawnee Brave' which is an interesting narrower form, and 'Peve Minaret', a dwarf - slowly growing to 10' x 5' in 10 years.  Great as an unusual, smaller specimen or in a rock garden.   

Weeping Larch (Larix decidua) 'Pendula' also has bright green needles in spring which darken through the summer and turn yellow-ocher in fall. It has a soft elegant look making it a perfect specimen. It'll grow about 10x12' getting wider than tall.  Plant in moist soils in full sun. Intolerant of dry or shady conditions.  

Check them all out on your next visit. All these are cold hardy, deer resistant  and guaranteed conversation pieces!   

"Some leaves on one of my Japanese Maples are curling up and turning brown. The whole tree is not affected, just certain areas, the rest seems fine. Any idea why?"

Frost damage on tender new growth of Mt. Fire Andromeda

Answer: While the unusually early warm spring weather was welcomed with open arms, at least in terms of all of us being able to start working, it has caused some concern about the health of some plants in regards to frost damage. The early warm temperatures caused many plants to start early physiological activity with sap flow, leaf bud expansion and even emergence of leaves 2-4 weeks earlier than average. We all knew this was early and we held our breath waiting for the inevitable... a cold frosty night that would kill tender early emerging new spring growth. Yes, it looks awful, dead flaccid leaves, the cells ruptured with their sap spilling out in a mushy ooze just hanging there on the plant, looking as bad as it can get. Mother Nature knows this will happen from time to time and has a contingency plan. Namely - "latent buds".  In every stem, twig and trunk, mother nature has provided latent buds that just sit there doing nothing, held back by a growth regulator called indoleacetic acid that is emitted by the normal expanding terminal new growth. Once this hormone is removed by frost, killing this new growth (or by pruning for example), the latent buds are set free to start growing and in a short time the plant will look as good as it did before the frost damage, it just takes a little time.  

What can you do to help? When practical remove any dead dry leaves to help prevent opportunistic fungi from infecting twigs. Apply a light fertilization, as this whole process does use a lot of energy reserves that the plant has stored and will need to be replaced. Provide any other cultural practices that are unique to the plant in question and be patient - mother nature has a plan and your plants will most likely recover and look great once again!  

Submit your landscaping question via email to sbarbier@planterschoice.com and you'll be entered in a monthly drawing to receive 10% OFF your next purchase (pick up only, does not apply to deliveries). Please use "Question of the Week" in the subject line and let me know if you want your name and business mentioned.  

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Geranium maculatum

Here's a list of a few great looking perennials - in stock and in good supply - ready for your next job!   

Hemerocallis 'Hyperion' (Daylily)

Hosta 'Golden Tiara'

Filipendula rubra 

Geranium maculatum

Peony 'Krinkled White' 

Peony 'Monsieur Jules Elie' taken May 2010

Excellent landscape plant that welcomes spring with a serious punch of color and fragrance! Easy to grow with little maintenance. Pick up some peony rings to help support the stems when heavy with bloom.

Choose from many  in bud, some early varieties beginning to open up! Check out 'Bunker Hill', 'Festiva Maxima', Krinkled White', 'Sarah Bernhardt', 'Scarlet O'Hara' and many others. 

Stop by either yard, mention this email and receive 10% off 10 or more - mix or match!  

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*Price is net. No further discount applies. 

Removal of large Concolor Fir

The 25'+ Concolor Fir we had outside the lunchroom in Newtown was carefully removed by a large tree spade this past Monday and brought to the town green in Roxbury. 

The digging was over in a matter of minutes, the tree was leaned back on the truck bed and tarped for the short ride north.  

It will be missed!