Yet more trees and shrubs in the ground — I wanted to take advantage of the fact that it is still winter, a great time to prune woody plants and plant woody prunes others. Of course, it being winter means that I mostly planted sticks.
Sticks are not the easiest to take photographs of — and not the easiest to admire in photographs, for that matter. But there is something remarkably fun in having your neighbors walk by as you dig a big hole in the ground and then put in… a stick.
Here’s my Texas Ash stick. We (and by we I mean my husband) dug a hole among the roots of one of our ancient Arizona Ash trees, the idea being that the Texas Ash will one day take the place of the non-native, way-past-mature Arizona Ash trees that were probably planted the same year the house was built. My job was dealing with the Texas Ash’s encircling roots, which I discovered upon removal of the plastic planter. What a tangled, sad, sad mess. I ended up having to cut quite a few of those roots so they wouldn’t lead to the tree strangling itself. I’m counting on the hardiness of the Texas Ash to recover.
For the birds, I chose a Red Mulberry tree. Plant in hand, I walked around the yard looking for a perfect spot. It turned out that the perfect spot was near our yard’s other Mulberry tree, which I’d apparently forgotten we’d had. Ah well, the more the merrier!
The Red Mulberry already has just a few leaves showing themselves, and a bug nymph stopped by for a visit.
And who wouldn’t want this adorable Mexican Buckeye? The challenge here is not stepping on it. I’ll need to put a cage around it else I manage to do just that.
Aside from budgetary reasons, the reason I plant small trees is that they have a better chance of adapting to Texas’ inconsistent water conditions and extreme temperatures than larger trees do. Their roots will grow where they find nutrients and space, instead of circling around each other because of forced confinement, like the Texas Ash we bought rescued.
Sticking with small plants also allows me to increase native diversity while keeping costs low. And I’m patient, knowing they’ll take a while to grow. I’m mostly patient, that is.
Though I primarily grow natives from Central Texas, of course, I’m experimenting with a couple of species that belong more in southern Texas, mainly because global warming is affecting our hardiness zone. A hard freeze might cause some dieback, but as I said, it’s an experiment. Mexican Olive is one I’m very excited about, if it makes it.
Among other Texas plants new to the yard, we added American Smoke Tree, as well as the shrubs Berlandier’s Wolfberry (it has thorns!), Coralbean, Narrow-Leaf Forestiera, and probably a couple of others I’m forgetting.
I keep saying that I have no more room for trees, and I really do think that if all these trees grow as planned, I’ll likely be at that point almost officially (I have one or two more remaining on my wishlist). Well, there’s always room for more understory trees….
They won’t be sticks for long!
I’m always amazed that the deer around here eat bare sticks almost as readily as anything else, at least at this time of year. I hope you don’t have that problem!
Meredith, Where do you find some of these trees? At Austin nurseries, online, or gifts?
I think they have enough green stuff, so hopefully they won’t be interested in my little sticks. You’ve made me nervous, though!
Carol, I get some of my plants from the Wildflower Center’s plant sales, and the rest I seek out at local nurseries. Sometimes I have to be patient to get the harder-to-find plants, but I’m always on the lookout. Also, sometimes fellow gardeners share their seedlings — that’s the best, because they come from friends!
I’m such a terrible tree parent that I’m afraid to try anymore. A Texas ash is valiantly trying to survive in my front yard; it keeps resurrecting itself. The three-year-old Mexican plum did not make it through the drought. I would really like a smoke tree, however!
Bare root plants are always so exciting!
They always look so dead and hopeless but with time and love the explode with life and vigor.
Really enjoyed your writing, will come here often!
Reed
I love growing trees and shrubs from seeds and cuttings. I grew some wafer ashes and Mexican buckeyes and then donated all the extras to Lady Bird Johnson for one of their plant sales.
You might love wafer ash. It is also called hop tree because the settlers used it for hops in beer. It is a host for a couple of the swallowtail butterflies.
Thanks Meredith! I’ve taken note of the trees you mentioned and will check around here. I need to run down to Austin one day. Been trying to pull all these weeds that are overtaking us! Thankful for the rain & wet soil.
Im a fan of planting sticks too. Not every stick seems to get planted in time, so we have a selection of sticks in pots growing on and waiting their time to eventually go in the ground.
I know the feeling, Cynthia, but I have to keep trying! Most are luckily doing okay.
I do love watching them come to life, Reed!
I do love wafer ash — it’s one of my favorite understory plants!
Carol, I was doing so well and then the rain came. No complaints though — none, none, none!
I wish I could be that good with container sticks, Gaz. I tend to kill things too quickly in containers, so I try to get the plants in the ground quickly, even if they are small.