Click on the link below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: The dilemma of decision making when choosing trees/shrubs
I had a corner of my house where, last year, I got rid of a very large and impressive yew. One of my friends thought I was crazy but the darn thing was at least 7 feet in diameter and about 3 ½ ft tall. I took my time researching other options to replace it.
I wanted a Witch Hazel shrub but it just wasn’t right for this southeast corner.
There are plenty of small crabapple trees that could work. Oh but therein lies the fun of perusing plant catalogs and surfing the internet to see what’s out there while I couldn’t plant anything!
But today is really about the dilemma of decision making. When we purchase trees, we’re really making an investment. It’s important to take many factors into account.
- Sun/shade conditions
- Soil conditions
- The mature size of the tree or shrub.
- The COST of the planting
- What is the goal of your planting? Shade? Color? Texture? Or a host of other things?
I wanted something different! Dashing! Daring! Doable!! I love the Chinese Fringe tree but it would get too wide. Darn.
Oh, and then there’s the Smoke tree! Yowza… this could be The One!. ‘Royal Purple’ grows to 15 feet tall and about 10 feet wide and is dazzling to look at.
Dark foliage, smoky blooms, and warm fall colors PLUS it can be underplanted with dwarf blackeyed susans for some extra drama!
This brings up another question, how much time do you want to spend on pruning it to fit the space? Now is a great time to do your research. Consider the questions I’ve posed before you purchase!
Here’s my process and what I ended up with, and I’m happy with it!
