I've managed to scavange 7 Navaho crepe myrtles. The are white and spread 15-20 feet. Any ideas what to do with them, besides the usual -- plant them. What to plant with them? How to arrange them? With what? I do have the space -- 2 acreas. Would need to be in the front yard that thus far has shrubs along house foundation and 2 fruitless mulberry trees in front of house to help shade in the evening. Front yard is very large. 75 feet from road and about 3-400 feet wide. I've been in the house for 6 months and have no love for any of the shrubs along foundation and plan to someday remove them. All ideas appreciated. Thanks!
crepe myrtle ideas??
We used ours to line the driveway on one side. Didn't want them at the foundation of the house.
I'm not familiar with "navaho". I'll take a wild guess that this variety is more drought tolerant than the ones named after woodlands tribes?
They will dribble flowers the whole time they're blooming, so don't put them anywhere you don't want covered in petals. Birds will come eat the berries, so you'll probably get some poop, too.
Other than that, it depends on what you want your yard to look like. I like naturalized, so I would probably cluster them in 2-3 spots and just let them grow, with an idea to add some more trees and shrubs in those areas to make a natural looking mott. Other folks like a more intentional landscaping, such as spacing them along the road or the drive. They'll stand a good bit of pruning, so you might want one as a bit of a specimen plant closer to the house, and take advantage of the texture of the trunk. It's all good...
First things first, cut the Mulberries to the ground and then dig up the roots and burn them. Now we can make a fresh start. Can you tell Mulberries are not my favorite tree.
I am not much on making rows with trees or bushes and prefer the two to three to a group. They will need to be cut back when transplanted to keep a good root, foliage relationship. Then after that, they should only be lightly pruned to keep their shape, no cutting back to an ugly stub. White flowers look best behind a dark green background to help them show up. Always plant a 2$ tree and dig a 20$ hole and make sure it is well amended. They will take care of themselves after that.
The only thing I can add to the great advice given to you by realbirdlady and kenboy are reasons for getting rid of the mulberry trees which can get up to 60' tall as just as wide or wider with shallow roots. They produce shade so dense nothing will grow under them. There are many other yard friendly shade trees that you can plant in their place.
You know, with 2 acres of mostly open land, an interest in gardening, and now 7 bright white flowering trees, yall might be thinking beehive. Maybe not to set the hive up right this second, but planning the infrastructure of your landscape with a thought towards what would be attractive to pollinators. Even the big shade trees, we don't usually tend to think of them as flowering, but of course they do.
Pollinator Partnership has a nice list of plants by region. (Looks like Wichita Falls is in "Great Plains Steppe and Shrub". So, um, probably yall could make up a little gardening dance to go with that.)
Thanks for all the great advice.
Let's see, getting rid of the mulberry -- I know, I know. . . but you know, they sure do manage to shade the west side of the house from hot summer sun. It is real hard to tear that help down. I've thought about it. I know they can be a pain, as they are considered "trash" trees by those who are in the know. I know they are not suppose to live long, but gosh, I bet these are close to 20 years and actually look quite healthy, though I do need to go in and do some cleaning out -- they were terribly neglected by prior owners. And no matter how many times I think they should go, I keep going back to the reminder of the shade they provide the west side of the house. And I really don't need the space for plantings. And the kids love climbing them, so does the cat. So guys, I think the mulberries are here to stay for a while. Besides, do you know how much trouble it is to remove two huge grown trees? Which I am really wanting to do with the two cottonwoods that are in front of the mulberries, that I did not mention.
Planting crepe mrytles in small groupings sounds good, i had not thought of that. But, I think I will heel them in for the winter and figure out how to landscape them over the winter. . .with the bee in mind. Good idea. I've never seen bees on my crepe mrytles, but then again, I never looked for them. We had thought of getting into the bee business, but bee friends are trying to talk us out of it because of all the work involved. Though I do use a lot of fresh honey (theirs!). Hm-m-m. Now to go check out that garden dance. I'm supposing Pollinator Partnership is part of Dave's garden forums.
I could drop those Mulberries and have them cut up into fire wood in no time. A wood burning stove is my only heat. The problem with waiting to cut it down is that it will take that much longer to plant a real tree. Lice oaks are considered a medium growth tree and will grow even faster if trimmed every year.
Okay Ken, come and get them! I'll even let you have the cottonwoods.
Lice Oak?? I'll have to research that. never heard of it.
P.S. Coffee's on. . . .
OK Live Oaks.
Pollinator PArtnership is at http://www.pollinator.org/ . They're an outreach effort to get people (individuals, as well as municipalities and businesses) thinking about pollinator (bees, butterflies, birds, etc) habitat. It just sounded like you've got plenty of space to play with.
(The issue of trees for climbing came up recently in our neighborhood planning process. Austin, of course, has many tree-promoting public programs, because we are all a bunch of commie pinko tree lovers, so we had the Urban Forester out for a chat. Our neighborhood includes a lot of lower-rent dense residential, which means a lot of kids with no yard and no playground, so we were trying to figure how to get undeveloped green space, with all its vegetative benefits, but also a place for kids to run and jump and climb. So we asked the forester guy, What are the best trees that would grow well here and be good for the kids to climb? Which seemed like a very reasonable question to us, but completely horrified him at the thought of packs of large young mammals breaking branches and clawing at leaves on his precious trees.)
LIVE Oak -- must have been late last night, this never occured to me. Thanks for the correction. Sure glad you corrected before I started my research, who knows what I would of found. . . scary.
realbirdlady -- thanks for the web site. I am trying to plant for bees and butterflies. Almost afraid to plant for birds -- I have a fiesty cat who actually goes after my chickens. And a dog who keeps too close of an eye on the birdhouse in the yard. Loved your description of the forester guy's impression of kids in trees. Funny!
Wichita Falls, grin, what no mesquite yet? cottonwood is definitely higher on my list of eradicators then mulberry, but I like the flowering ones best. Where about are you in WF? some of that area is plains open, n I lived there in 1979 when the twisters hit. They like that open plains area off southwest parkway real well. Live Oaks grow slow. Russian Olive does well up there but is also a very major nuisance with only color n bird feeding properties for good points. Wish ya luck
Hi Kittriana, I'm north of WF (between the base and Burkburnett) out in the country, kinda! There are people with 2 and 5 acre lots on this particular road. We have two acres. All houses were built with very large front yards -- houses had to be a minimum of 75 feet from the road. It is so large, I'm trying to figure out how to landscape it with the mulberry, but without the cottonwood. And probably minus most of the shrubs that were planted way too close to the house. The backyard is coming along nicely. I removed most of the privacy fence that fenced in a small part of the yard. We have 3 goats (so far) in the wayback and side yards, plus a few chickens.
I would also love to do a fruit orchard, probably in the side yards. And maybe pecan trees, but thinking I'm already too old to start those to expect any real benefit. My dad planted some years ago -- now he is 90 and unable to really tend them. I ask him if he realized when he planted his pecan orchard that it would be this much work this many years later. He just laughed. I suppose they served his purpose. It was a great hobby for many years -- now it is just a lot of work. So wtih this in mind, I am trying to be wise.
Wish I knew someone who could really landscape my area and my brain.
gretagreenthumb,
One alternative to a pecan orchard, even a very small one, would be to find a good grower who sells retail and concentrate on establishing a fruit orchard using dwarf and semi-dwarf trees. They are so much easier to care for and to harvest than standard sized trees. Another advantage is you can have a much greater variety of trees and or shrubs in the same space as would a few standard trees.
There are a number of landscaping software programs around, but a much cheaper way would be to use graph paper and circles representing mature trees.
Yes, I'm thinking dwarf fruit trees. I knew a gardener in MT who highly recommended those. He was another very experienced man whom I respected greatly in the garden.
Trust me, I've gone through reams of graph paper! So many designs both in the garden and in the kitchen remodeling. I was looking for someone who'd take over for me. You know, take my ideas and desires and lay it out to look wonderful, keeping ease of care foremost in mind. I can dream!
if the mulberry is healthy and not a problem to you, only cut it down when and if it becomes one......I have acreage and love the mulberry........one man's trash another's treasure.....